Many experts say Zuckerberg deserves the position because he planned it, dreamed it and worked it out. He focused on his mission on making Facebook the number one social network in the world.

Facebook became a public company on May 18, 2012, and the first American company to debut in NASDAQ with a valuation above $100 billion. It was another big success for Zuckerberg’s influence on the social network that has changed the way people relate to one another.

During the early days of Facebook inception he said,

“When you give everyone a voice and give people power, the system usually ends up in a really good place. So, what we view our role as, is giving people that power. By giving people the power to share, we’re making the world more transparent.”

Surprising Zuckerberg facts

Mark Zuckerberg started “Thefacebook” because he wanted one online directory where all students could be listed at Harvard University.

Zuckerberg didn’t like the concept of putting banner ads on the site. He rented a house near Stanford after he dropped out from the university and to cover the cost of staff and running the site, he started looking into other advertising systems.

“We hate banner ads…lately we’ve been putting thought into other advertising systems that would be less offensive.  Right now we put up what we need…it’s not that cheap — we have to make $40,000 a month or something, but it works,” he said.

In 2011, Mark Zuckerberg tops the ranking of the 100 most powerful media person published by the Guardian newspaper, ahead of Rupert Murdoch, Larry Page and Steve Jobs.

Zuckerberg now owns roughly 28 percent of Facebook. By Facebook’s current valuation, he’s richer by another $24 billion.

With the current asset valuation of Facebook, the entire GDP of Afghanistan ($17.9 billion), Nepal ($18.3 billion) and Jamaica ($14.7 billion) is lower than Zuckerberg’s company market value. In addition, the entire earnings of the porn industry of the US (at $10 billion) is also lower than Mark Zuckerberg’s current value.

Moreover, the combined salaries of all NBA ($2.09 billion), MLB ($2.9 billion) and NFL ($3 billion) players is smaller than Mark Zuckerberg’s worth. And U.S. video game sales for 2011 were estimated at about $17 billion, still smaller than the assets under Zuckerberg.  Comparatively, at 28 Bill Gates had earned just $100 million, about $23 billion less than Zuckerberg’s worth at the same age.

Indeed, at 28 Zuckerberg is exactly half the age of the average S&P 500 CEO, but the IPO offering makes his company worth more than iconic companies such as Disney, Ford and Kraft Foods.

On a personal front, Zuckerberg doesn’t own a T.V. and he doesn’t like public gatherings, especially if he has to make a speech.

His friends on Facebook have access to his e-mail address and his cell-phone number. Zuckerberg has granted them access to browse his photograph albums, including the one titled “The Great Goat Roast of 2009.”

He’s like an addict when it comes to programming, and works like robot. More often than not he would stay awake, coding for days when he started the social network.

“I keep programmer time sometimes…programmers tend to stay up really late and work when everyone else is asleep. So it’s not really uncommon for me to stay up until 6 or 8 in the morning,” said Zuckerberg. “But the business world does not operate between 5 pm and 8 am, so that requires some waking up for.”

The lighter side of Mark

On the eve of Facebook’s IPO, Mark Zuckerberg published an unusual witty letter to potential investors.

“For years, you’ve wasted your time on Facebook.  Now here’s your chance to waste your money on it, too,” Zuckerberg said. “Facebook is the most successful social network in the world, enabling millions to share information of no interest with people they barely know.”

He continued, “Every time someone clicks on a Facebook ad, Facebook makes money.  And while no one has ever done this on purpose, millions have done it by mistake while drunk.  We totally stole this idea from iTunes.”

“Finally, if you invest in Facebook, you’ll be far from alone.  As a result of using Facebook for the past few years, over 900 million people in the world have suffered mild to moderate brain damage, impairing their ability to make reasoned judgments.  These will be your fellow Facebook investors.”

And some most interesting things about Zuckerberg have appeared on various social media sites with the full intend of headlining Zuckerberg’s life. On the day of IPO, CDZA music wrote a musical that’s all about Mark Zuckerberg (see below).

Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker made this music video about the history and future of Facebook just before the IPO.

And here are some more funny videos, including Facebook in Real Life, and The Social Network Parody Movie.

The Best of Mark Zuckerberg is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• Facebook Waited Too Long to Go Public: Initial IPO Reactions
• IPO Websites’ Speed Test; Fusion-io Oddly Fails
• Will Facebook Enter IPO Sooner Than Expected?
• Can Microsoft’s New So.cl Network Revive Bing Search?
• Pinterest Joins the List of $1 Billion Dollar Enterprises
• Facebook IPO Sets Sights on $1 Trillion as Zuckerberg Inspires His Engineers

After getting $100 million in investment funds from Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, the new kid on the social media block got a valuation 50 percent bigger than that of Instagram when Facebook brought it for $1 billion.

So what does the future hold for Pinterest that would justify a $1 billion valuation for the cloud-based vision board?  Pinterest still has a ways to go before it becomes a true platform player for social commerce, marketing and user recommendations.  Here are some areas in which Pinterest will need to develop its business:

Advertising in pictures

Pinterest is the third most popular social media site behind Facebook and Twitter, letting you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the Web. The site also includes built-in ways to incorporate mutual respect, authenticity and properly crediting your sources.

The social sharing site shows tremendous growth in its user base. Over 80 percent of pins are actually re-pins of other people’s stuff, according to findings from RJMetrics.

“Pinterest demonstrates some of the strongest user engagement, retention and virality metrics I have ever seen in an online business,” wrote Robert Moore of RJMetrics. “The company has found tremendous success among its core demographic, and the potential reach of its appeal will be tested in the coming months as attention from broader audiences continues to increase.”

Pinterest can use the existing social platform as an advertising marketing tool for businesses selling easily photographed products and services. The company can look at developing their own tools to render itself a relevant business model with its current platform and projected growth.

To do this, Pinterest can build up an e-commerce platform overlapping e-commerce and social networks where both retailers and consumers can communicate, discover, and curate to make the experience more entertaining.

Charging Advertisers

Several brands are beginning to make Pinterest pages, pinning their own products to the site. Pinterest could potentially sponsored pins in the stream that are paid for by advertisers, similar to the model Twitter’s used to build out advertising on its microblog. Pinterest can also work with advertisers to create customized Pinterest-connected campaigns and pages.

Mobile App

Pinterest has yet to explore the mobile space, lacking a mobile app on any major platform and limited mobile-specific options for the mobile web (like pinning). Pinterest could potentially create a mobile marketplace by developing mobile apps where users/advertisers, instead of pinning products on the site, could upload product photos, price, description, and price etc. on their mobile devices itself.

The mobile marketplace could be modified further into a monetization platform where users can buy the pins and seller would be obligated to ship the product.

The biggest benefit of mobile integration is the added context of location to uploaded pins.  Pinterest is likely going to develop some recommendation tools around its site activity, and as retailers and marketers become more interested in user-generated pins, promotions for local venues can leverage Pinterest as a mobile outlet as well.

Pinterest API

Pinterest has the potential to become a notable marketing tool, but for that, the company needs an interface to interact with social and content feeds – an API could accomplish that requirement.

The API could create an environment where retailers can better integrate their offerings for two-way collaboration and sharing with their customers.

Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann hinted in recent past that the company will acknowledge an API in the near future (although the page was listed for only a short time on Pinterest’s site).  In the post Silbermann said the Pinterest profiles will be very different to those of Facebook and other social networks, and will show a snapshot of what you’re really about. Through an API, Pintrest-related app development would further spur the rapid growth of the site, which already reached 11.7 million unique users in January.

Can Pinterest Build a Business Model to Justify $1 Billion Valuation? is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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• Pinterest Joins the List of $1 Billion Dollar Enterprises
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Rakuten said that this investment helps the site grow in the U.S. and its 17 overseas markets, including entry into Japanese market.

“While some may see e-commerce as a straightforward vending machine-like experience, we believe it is a living process where both retailers and consumers can communicate, discover, and curate to make the experience more entertaining,” said Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani. “We see tremendous synergies between Pinterest’s vision and Rakuten’s model for e-commerce. Rakuten looks forward to introducing Pinterest to the Japanese market as well as other markets around the world.”

Pinterest has become the sensation of recent social media history, and has positioned itself as the third largest social network in the US.  Pinterest, where users can share their photos, has grown rapidly in recent months–the website has become the sixteenth most visited site in the US, according to Alexa.  In April alone their user base has reached more than 20 million, up from 1 million in July 2011.

“Our goal is to help people discover things they love, by connecting people through their shared interests. Bringing Rakuten on board gives us an amazing opportunity to move a step closer to this goal,” said Pinterest CEO Ben Silberman.

A partnership with Rakuten could open many doors for Pinterest to expand its presence in Asia. The company sees great potential in markets like France, Germany, Japan, Portugal and Spain.

Pinterest Weekly – New Platform to Keep Users Engaged

Pinterest remains undefined in its business model, at least publicly, and the company has yet to disclose its revenue.  But faced with such high expectations and an outstanding valuation, it’s time for Pinterest to start developing its user engagement and monetization strategies.

One step in that direction is the introduction of Pinterest Weekly, a weekly email board. The company has started sending users a weekly e-mail featuring basic account stats, like their top pins, and other popular boards in an attempt to keep them engaged between pinning sessions. This week’s feature is user George Takei’s “Cats and Dogs” as he shares “Pins You Might Like” from users’ friends.

Pinterest as a social network is more popular amongst the ladies, and has been nicknamed the “Tumblr for girls” as women trust product recommendations reviews from this social networking site. Amazon recently integrated Pinterest to their service in an attempt to drive more consumers to their retail outlet, particularly including women, and power more recommendations.

Pinterest Joins the List of $1 Billion Dollar Enterprises is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• Can Microsoft’s New So.cl Network Revive Bing Search?
• Pinterest Goes to Amazon, BBM Friends Facebook and Twitter
• Android’s Google Play Faces Rising Competition from Amazon, Facebook and China
• The Best of Mark Zuckerberg
• Can Pinterest Build a Business Model to Justify $1 Billion Valuation?
• Facebook Waited Too Long to Go Public: Initial IPO Reactions

And the strategy paid off well.  Fab reports 15% of all visits to the Live Feed result in a purchase, and that’s an amazing conversion rate for any online retailer.  It’s no surprise Fab’s upping the ante on their social features.  There’s four important new updates to the Live Feed: you can now purchase directly from the feed, post to Pinterest straight from the feed, view your Facebook friends’ likes and purchases in real time, and see what’s trending overall in real time.

The most notable of the new features are the first two–direct purchases and Pinning.  Similar to Amazon’s one-click button, direct-from-feed purchases on Fab are sure to increase their sales.  One thing Fab wants to ensure on the site is the excitement of discovery is maintained without overwhelming the user.  That’s a tough balance for any flash sale site, and many have lost my attention by trying to incorporate new features that don’t add value or interest, or by merely adding more categories to an already saturated site.

The interesting thing about the new Pin It button is that it’s essentially replaced the Google+ button that was once present on every product page.  Fab reports 2% of referred traffic from Pinterest, even before they added the Pin It button.  If Fab wants to stay serious about their social network integration, they’ll continue to follow the users.

“What’s great about Pinterest is it’s similar to Fab in that it’s an individual’s own curation of images,” says Melissa Klein, VP of Communications at Fab.  “We have to follow the member.  They indicate on which platforms they want to share.”

In many ways, Fab is looking to become a platform for retail, layering social, search and commerce for an inclusive experience that thrives on its built-in broadcasting tools.  This is what’s helped Fab really stand out, especially in an emerging culture of curation.  We see this trend developing on Pinterest, of course, but also newbie sites like Threadflip.  Fab’s finding ways to expand the user experience beyond just purchases, building loyalty around brands and designers as well.

Another notable update to Fab is the new Smile pages, which highlight the stories behind the designers featured on the site.  “Every designer has a story, and we really wanted to shine a spotlight on that,” Klein continues.  “We’re looking at ways we can help our designers…we’re more than just a place for business, and the designers are part of our family.”

Fab.com Social Upgrade Swaps Google+ for Pinterest is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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So far it’s evident Facebook’s purchased Instagram for its presence and popularity, while its latest buy, Lightbox, was for talent.  Whatever Facebook’s reasons, it’d be a good idea on your part to save your photos and personal data.

Here’s how.

Instagram

There are a lot of ways to quickly export your data from Instagram.  One example is by using Instaport.ME.  Here’s a step-by-step tutorial of how to export photos from Instagram:

Step 1: Go to Instaport.ME and login your details there. Before you can use this service, you will need to provide your instagram details.

Step 2: After you might have entered your instagram login details into the box provided, then proceed to login.

Step 3: You will also need to authenticate the app before it can log you in into your Instagram account before you can then download your photos.

Step 4: If you that one successfully, then, select which photos you wanted to export in these variations: photos other liked, all photos, X-days photos and some other variations.

Step 5: If you do that very well, the next thing for you to do is to start exporting your data from their server.

Step 6: Click on Export  and the download will be executed immediately. The file would be downloaded onto your computer’s hard drives immediately.

Glancee

Glancee, the social discovery app for iOS and Android users, was also acquired by Facebook.  The service will soon shutdown as the Glancee team will be joining Facebook’s roster.  Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to download your Glancee data:

Step 1: Go to Glancee.com

Step 2: You will be notified that Glancee will soon be joining Facebook.

Step 3: Near the bottom of the Glancee home page, you will see a box containing this: “If you are a Glancee user, download your data. If you want to connect with us, send us an email.”

Step 4: Click on “download your data”

Step 5: You will be redirected to Facebook or Glancee’s message page

Step 6: You will see this message: Hello Mellisa Tolentino
These are all the messages you exchanged with people nearby on Glancee
You can also keep everything by downloading the zip file.

Step 7: Click on “zip file”

Step 8: This will automatically download all your data to your computer.

Lightbox

Lightbox, the photo-sharing app, was the latest acquisition.  The service will be closing on June 15 so users still have ample time to export all their photos from the service.  Here’s a step-by-step instruction on how to export your Lightbox data:

Step 1: Go to Lightbox.com.

Step 2: You will be immediately informed that Lightbox is joining Facebook and the service will shutdown on June 15.

Step 3: At the end of the message you will see this: Read more – Download your photos

Step 4: Click on “Download your photos”

Step 5: Enter your email address on the space provided then click the “Export” button

Step 6: You will see the following message: “You should receive an email with a download link within the next few minutes.”  Your data has been exported to your email account and from there you can download your data and save it to your computer.

HOW TO: Export Your Instagram, Glancee and Lightbox Data is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• Lightbox Is the Latest Mobile Photo Acquisition for Facebook as IPO Nears
• Waiting for Instagram for Android? Try These Apps First
• More Facebook Talent Buys in Mobile. What’s the End Goal?
• How Facebook IPO Affects Its Ad Network: the Need for a Mobile Ecosystem
• Instagram: Rise of the Billion Dollar App [Report]
• Ben Horowitz and Dalton Caldwell Speak Out on NYT Instagram Post

What’s Facebook’s plan?

Facebook is getting aggressive with their acquisitions in recent weeks.  Aside from Lightbox, they also took in Instagram and more recently Glancee, the social discovery app for iOS and Android that lets users find new people based on their location.  Users can download their Glancee data here if they’d like to back it up.

You can also export your Lightbox photos here.

Glancee co-founders Andrea Vaccari, Alberto Tretti and Gabriel Grise will be joining the Facebook team at the Menlo Park HQ.

So is everything just about talent acquisitions?

I don’t think so.  Sure, Facebook needs great people in order to create great products, but what they are also doing is eliminating potential competition.  It’s better to eliminate the weeds from the roots than just cut it from the top.

The other possible goal is Facebook’s likely preparing to launch a unifying product for mobile devices and the web, a necessity for the social network moving forward.

Analysts see the acquisitions as less than subtle hints of things to come for Facebook.  The social network doesn’t have a long history of buying companies, but it’s jumped into the acquisition pool with zeal this year, indicating some impending changes at Facebook.  The common denomenator so far seems to be a heavy interest in mobile content sharing.

“Facebook’s interest in a particular area can hint at a shift in strategy or a new feature of the service.,” said an article on the New York Times.  “For example, the company’s recent purchase of Tagtile, a customer loyalty service, suggests that it is gearing up for a move into coupon deals, an area in which Google, Amazon, eBay and Foursquare have begun to dabble.”

More Facebook Talent Buys in Mobile. What’s the End Goal? is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

In the same vein:

• HOW TO: Export Your Instagram, Glancee and Lightbox Data
• Lightbox Is the Latest Mobile Photo Acquisition for Facebook as IPO Nears
• A Breakdown of Facebook’s Goals with Instagram Acquisition
• Sosh on iPhone Expands Social Discovery Trend
• Lightbox Shines Its Light on Android Market, Opens Photo App to Public
• Facebook Breaking Holiday Records with 750M Photo Uploads

The company is traditionally very secretive about their stats and growth, which makes them very difficult to pin down; but we’ve seen this company rise up from a strange place and become a mighty force in the social media market.

CNET’s Don Reisinger points out that Twitter’s UK numbers comes out just a short time after their latest announcement that they have 140 million active users across the world,

Twitter’s announcement today comes just a couple of months after the company revealed that it now has 140 million active users around the world. The company’s users send out 340 million tweets each day, and average 1 billion tweets every three days. To put that into perspective, it took Twitter 3 years to hit its first billion tweets.

Twitter has been around for some time now, yet they’re still waffling on an actual business plan but this hasn’t caused investors to shy away from the social media powerhouse—mostly because users don’t shy away from it. In March, SiliconANGLE writer Saroj Kar did a run-down of the statistics that outline Twitter’s current state-of-the-tweet and it’s obvious that they’re constantly growing: but where are they growing to?

We’ve seen the social media giant ponder participating in political advertisements, the dreaded “promoted tweet” campaign, and even other attempts to monetize advertisements into tweet streams themselves. However, it’s hard to tell where the company is headed towards making money in of itself—so far, with those 140 million active worldwide users, Twitter has been a springboard for apps, communication, and third-party integration.

If anything shows as much, Microsoft’s Xbox support Twitter account hit 1 million tweets. Twitter is a distinct avenue for keeping track of and engaging with customers.

And very recently we saw Twitter get hit with the fear of a massive breach when 55,000 Twitter credentials were leaked to Pastebin.com—although it’s starting to look like they’re mostly from a spambot, made up of one-third duplicates, and possibly have their origins in an older LulzSec leak from last year. Twitter is so popular now that it’s commonly targeted (like Facebook) for clickjacking scams involving the deaths of celebrities and other news.

Twitter is a global phenomenon.

And they’re not sitting on their laurels: last month the company’s vice president of products, Satya Patel, said that their goal is 2 billion worldwide users… Well, 14% of the goal isn’t too bad—perhaps they’ll just have to step on the gas to get the rest on board.

Twitter UK Boasts 10 Million Active Users, Majority on Mobile Devices is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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• Already, HP Employees Getting Recruited on Twitter
• Can Microsoft’s New So.cl Network Revive Bing Search?
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Apple filed claim for iPhone 5 domain

It looks like Apple will be naming the next iPhone the “iPhone 5” as they filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization for the iPhone5.com domain name.  Anyone who visits the site will be seeing smartphone ads and forums with discussions regarding the rumored iPhone 5.  Apple doesn’t own the site, but they want to.  Currently, there’s an on going forum as to whether Apple should be given the rights to the site, while another forum is asking people to help stop Apple from getting the rights to the domain.

Apple has a history of filing claims to domain names that are closely related to their brand or their products, even if they don’t actually use them.

In other Apple news, the iPhone maker agreed to drop their patent claims against Samsung in California just so the case could be ready for a hearing in the Summer.

Apple “offers a truly impressive narrowing of its infringement claims in that action, roughly cutting them in half, and five hours later, Samsung offered to drop five of its 12 asserted patents but argued that Apple’s case is still far too big to go to trial this summer,” said Florian Mueller in his Foss Patents blog.

“Apple’s filing accused Samsung of being uncooperative in the build-up to these filings, but Samsung puts all the blame on Apple and says the case still isn’t ready for a summer trial.”

T-Mobile to offer Passpoint

T-Mobile, the fourth largest carrier in the US, is planning on deploying Passpoint – the technology that allows wireless users to automatically access Wi-Fi hotspots from 3G and 4G cellular networks.

Carriers who commit to Passpoint-certified devices and gear, users will be able to seamlessly access WiFi hotspots without the need to set it up or enter a password, drastically reducing the cost of browsing for consumers.  The Wi-Fi Alliance will start certifying network gears and end-user devices, like smartphones and tablets by June.

TwitPic for iPhones

TwitPic launched their iPhone app to provide their users an easier way of sharing photos and videos, see photos of the people they follow, and view popular content across the network.

“We’ve always relied on third-party developers … but we wanted to provide a better experience for our users,” said TwitPic founder Noah Everett in an interview with VentureBeat.

TwitPic is very popular among Twitter users, as it is one of the most convenient ways of sharing photos on the the microblogging site.  They now have a reported 35 million users, and the TwitPic for iPhone app is expected to lure in more users.

AT&T app for shoppers

VeriFone GlobalBay Solutions from AT&T launches today to help shoppers checkout their items quicker.

VeriFone GlobalBay Solutions works like this: sales associates armed with mobile devices roam in retail stores and they can scan items, apply coupons and discounts, and complete credit card transactions from any location in the store.  Aside from the roaming sales associates, the tablet-based solutions provide the ability to sell items from inventory not available in the store – helping to prevent lost sales.  With this solution, associates can remain engaged with their customers, quickly and efficiently.

“Customers don’t want to wait in line or stand around as a sales person runs off to find information on a product — they want great service in a timely manner,” said Chris Hill, Vice President, Advanced Mobility Solutions, AT&T Business and Home Solutions.

“The addition of VeriFone GlobalBay Solutions(TM) from AT&T to our mobility portfolio helps businesses complete transactions efficiently and attentively, ultimately helping to drive new revenue generation and increase competitive advantage.”

Qello HD streaming now available on iOS

Qello, the streaming HD concert app, debuts for iOS devices to bring the world’s largest library of the highest quality concert films and music documentaries to Apple users.

“Qello represents a new dimension in HD concert entertainment that offers music lovers an easy-to-use way to engage in the live music experience whenever they want to – on any iOS device,” Qello CEO Brian Lisi said.

Qello is a premier source for HD concert films and music documentaries streamed on demand across multiple touch points. Outfitted with an extensive selection of HD concert films, from the hottest new shows to a vast vault of legendary concerts, Qello brings music aficionados to the front row of the concert anytime, anywhere.

Apple and Samsung Lower Patent Claims, Apple Seeks iPhone 5 Domain is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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• Apple Takes a Bite out of HTC with Latest Patent Court Win
• iPhone 5 Release Confirmed For October?
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Google slapped with another antitrust probe

The Competition Commission of India launched an antitrust probe against Google’s online advertising business, AdWords, but there’s a possibility that the probe could extend beyond AdWords if the commission sees fit.

The commission received numerous complaints against Google regarding their anticompetitive market behavior, but clarified that the probe isn’t based on one specific complaint.  The complaints alleged that Google abused their market power by allowing rivals of certain brands to bid for keywords that are closely related to their brands, which forced the complaining brands to pay steep prices to retain keywords closely associated with their services.

Google declined to comment on the issue, stating that they haven’t received any notice from the Competition Commission regarding the probe.

Aside from the AdWords probe, Google is also facing criminal charges in court for allegedly failing to remove Web content deemed objectionable by Indian authorities, which, if Google is convicted, company executives could face jail time.  India’s finance ministry is also conducting a probe to determine whether the Internet company violated local rules on foreign-exchange transactions.

Google negotiates fine for Safari breach

In February, Google was caught tracking and monitoring Apple’s Safari activities.  Allegedly, Google and other advertising companies used a code to bypass the privacy settings of Safari that block tracking.

The code was spotted by Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer and independently confirmed by a technical adviser for the Wall Street Journal, Ashkan Soltani, who found that ads on 22 of the top 100 websites installed the Google tracking code on a test computer, and ads on 23 sites installed it on an iPhone browser.

When the expose was published, Google had already disabled the invasive code and stated that the WSJ misunderstood the advertising cookies and that those cookies did not gather personal information.

The incident led to an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, and Google cooperated with the probe.  If found guilty, Google will be fined $16,000 per violation, per day, totaling to about $10 million.  Now, Google is negotiating with the FTC for the possibility of lowering the fine.

Google invests in Machinima

It’s not all about legal woes for Google as the search giant invests in one of the most popular networks on YouTube – Machinima – which focuses on creating videos for and about video game players.

Sources told AllThingsD that the round of funding could accumulate to $30 million, which would bring Machinima’s valuation up to $190 million.

It’s no secret that Google pays content makers to create videos for YouTube, which the search giant makes up for in ad sales.  But this is the first time Google openly backed a content company by taking an equity stake.  This move may not go well with other video makers, as many already expressed discontent over the search giant’s apparent favoritism towards Machinima and other prominent content partners.

Google opens Hangouts On Air to everyone

Google+’s Hangouts may be the most popular feature of the latest Facebook competitor.  So to keep things interesting and fun for all, Hangouts On Air is now available for everyone to use.  Google+ users can now broadcast their Hangouts for everyone to see by just clicking the “Enable Hangouts On Air” button.

Hangouts On Air was previously available for some performers, celebrities or influencers like the Dalai Lama, which live streamed his video chat with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  This is yet another way Google+ is updating its core feature set to appeal to brands looking to use the social network as a broadcasting platform, which Google really needs in order to reel in the end users and make Google+ a true success.

Google Faces Antitrust Probe in India, Invests Heavily in Online Content and Broadcasts is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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• Google Deepens India Reach, Teams with Tata Communications
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This type of photo sharing forum allows for a multitude of varying uses. You can use it as yet another way to expand the reaches of your business, show off your collection of action figures or even as an exercise tool.

Let’s take a look at a handful creative and unique ways to utilize Pinterests features.

Storefront

These days it seems getting back to “mom and pop” shops is a growing trend. Most people would rather pay a few extra dollars to make a purchase that will benefit a small local vendor, rather than save money on mass produced, sweatshop merchandise from a huge conglomerate chain.

When eBay launched back in 1995 entrepreneurs everywhere watched their small businesses multiply with the help of internet based sales. Since then, retailers have branched out, learning how to use every tool the internet affords them. Pinterest is a prime example of one such tool. Utilizing its easy to navigate platform, vendors are able to show off their goods and provide a short synopsis of what it is they do, as well as where they are located and contact information.

This very unique way of using Pinterest not only benefits the consigner but the consumer as well. Supporters of interesting, small local shops can find treasures that may otherwise have gone unnoticed.

One such mom and pop treasure is a Ft Lauderdale local favorite, tiny and tucked out the way, this spot is one of my personal favorites for cool vintage additions to my wardrobe and a friendly beach vibe. Take a look at how ModSurf makes use of Pinterest as a storefront here.

Collection

Owning a bevy of classic comic books or action figures is considered to be an accomplishment. But what good is it if you can’t show it off?

You can use Pinterest to display your collection either in the order you obtained your treasures or in order of your favorite collectibles.

Personally, I am just the tiniest bit obsessed with Batman, so I went ahead did a search for “Batman Collection” in the search box at the top left hand corner of the Pinterest homepage. I soon found I wasn’t the only one with Batman hysteria. Check out the collections I found here.

Exercise guide

When starting a new exercise routine it is important to hold your body in proper form or you can end up with some seriously sore muscles. What about those of us who just don’t have the time to, say, attend a Yoga class?

Pinterest offers a platform where fitness savvy users take the time to pin photos as step-by-step guides to various exercise routines.

Being that Yoga is one of the more popular ways to stay in shape, we’ll stick to it as an example. There are breathing patterns, stretches and an assortment of poses to keep in mind when practicing Yoga. Pinterest allows for how-to explanations on all of this and more when performing these exercises. See a simple step-by-step yoga routine on Pinterest here.

Travel journal

Whether traveling to India in search of shamans and the meaning of life, or a weekend getaway in Cancun over spring break, Pinterest offers a platform to organize and highlight your trip.

You can start by pinning photos of spots you are thinking about visiting and letting other Pinterest users who may have visited those areas comment on your pins, giving insight to local favorites and the better tourist attractions.

Once you have mapped out your trip, go there! Take photos of your own, pinning them up minute-to-minute, daily, or after your trip is over, it’s up to you.

Great examples of travel journals I came across can be found here.

Tutorial 

Do your friends all clamor for a glimpse of your hairstyle? Why not share those talents over the internet in the form of a tutorial?

Pinterest allows you to strategically place photos and their descriptions.

A good example of a tutorial I found on Pinterest is a how-to guide to braiding hair in a very interesting way. In this tutorial we learn how to do an upside down french braid in 10 easy steps, check it out.

Whatever you can take a picture of, you can show it off on Pinterest. Get feedback from other users of the site and possibly become featured on the Pinterest homepage. By putting it out there you can get the attention your pictures deserve and if nothing else you can use Pinterest to store your photo’s giving you room on your digital camera or mobile device to keep clicking away.

5 Creative Ways to Use Pinterest, from Work Out Guides to Tutorials is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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