CRM Update – Apr 13 : 1:41 pm

If you were the right age in the late 90s, movies left a real impression on you. Think The Matrix; it was the first introduction to bullet-timing to most American audiences.
In 2001, Max Payne brought that same slowed-down, action element to gaming audiences. Game developers Remedy said they were inspired by John Woo’s movies and The Matrix.
Now with Max Payne 3, the game brings bullet time back in a beautiful way. Rockstar says it’s a way to turn the gameplay into almost an art, as you slow down Max in dramatic ways to get epic level kills…

After about the ninth demonstration of the latest mobile application or social network or collaboration software you have to ask: where have all of the top technical minds gone? They are not in business software. Picture sharing on an iPhone? Really? Social Search turning up more flotsam than is pushed by the North Pacific Gyre into the Pacific Trash Vortex.  Usually I criticise myself as being out of touch, and as a sanity check I turn to my Monday/Friday carpool of 15 year olds. I know what you are thinking: sanity check and 15 year olds is mildly oxymoronic – ok, so I will weight the responses…

In a truly awful job market, employees will put up with all manner of indignities managers subject them to. When things are OK, people start to stand up for themselves and walk away, confident in their prospects. That’s why it may be good news for the economy that the number of people who quit their jobs surpassed the amount of layoffs in February.

CNBC cites the government’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, which says quitters made up 51 percent of total job separations that month…

A few years ago, we ran a post about the secret and kind of awesome way to do some shopping at Costco without purchasing a membership. Just give a member you know some cash and have them pick up a gift card (Costco Cash Card) for you. Great system if your nearest Costco is far away, or you just don’t go often enough to justify joining. In theory, anyway. Justin took the advice in our post, but was turned away at the door by an employee who wasn’t aware that a cash card entitled him to enter the store…

Getting to know today’s customer requires a new level of engagement.

DigiDeals, the online daily deals site that offers great deals on digital products such as music, apps, software, domain names, and web hosting services among others, has come up with a new plan to raise funds for expansion. It is now crowd sourcing funds from potential users who can contribute as little as a dollar. Those who donate will get a free web hosting package worth $2,000. This win-win deal is the first of many exciting offers promised by DigiDeals.
The company plans to use the funds to register the DigiDeals domain name, develop a great website and market it…

Facebook’s latest $1 billion acquisition smacks of a desperation that LinkedIn consistently manages to avoid.With all due respect to Facebook, paying $1 billion for Instagram smacks of desperation.It’s as if CEO Mark Zuckerberg is terrified of becoming irrelevant and is willing to spend insane amounts of money in order for Facebook remain on the forefront of cool.Read more: Full coverage of the Facebook-Instagram dealThat’s a hopeless quest, though. Facebook may be many things, but it’s not cool any longer…

Curt Finch is the founder and CEO of Journyx, a company that offers time-tracking and resource management software. Connect with him and Journyx on Facebook and Twitter.
Justin Palmer of Palmer Web Marketing has run dozens of social media contests for his clients, and gaining “likes” and “followers” is something he does with relative ease. So, for any company that wants to run a social media contest to gain new business, Justin has the following advice: Don’t.
SEE ALSO: 10 Companies That Hit the Bullseye With Online Contests
According to Palmer, contests and giveaways are effective at bolstering social stats, like the number of followers…

Seven things you must do to make sure your campaign is measurable and effective.Until recently, my Web design business had been turning down work that involved creating social media campaigns. We watched other agencies launch, struggle, and fail with them. We would hear of the good ones, of course—the campaigns that hit the lottery. But most, especially for small businesses, tended to fail.The challenge they all face is getting a good return on investment. Although we had plenty of demand for business, we weren’t sure we could deliver good ROI on a small budget…

No more excuses. Tweeting, even for c-level execs, can be surprisingly productive. Here’s why.I’ve heard the complaints about Twitter. It’s a time suck. It’s meaningless chatter. It’s just filled with upset customers who want to drag your company’s reputation through the mud.But I beg to disagree. I’ve seen Twitter’s value for customer service, business marketing, and connecting with my “millennial” employees.Here are five no-brainer reasons why every CEO should tweet:1. You can connect personally with your employees…

ClothingAeropostale: [Apparel] $25 Off your $150+ order w/ Coupon 25SPRINGChildren’s Place: [Apparel] 20% Off Entire order w/ Coupon A3H2012Smart Bargains.com: [Apparel] 10% Off Entire order w/ Coupon MOTHERS10

Computers and Electronics

Best Buy: [Electronics] Sony 98315 Media/Blu-ray Remote for PS3 $14.99 with Free ShippingB&H Photo & Video: [Electronics] Nikon s8200 Coolpix 16.1MP Digital Camera $209.00 with Free ShippingDell Small Business: [Computers] [Dell Vostro 460 Mini Tower Intel Core i7-2600 Quad Desktop (4GB/500GB) $649]

EntertainmentAmazon: [Entertainment] MLB 12: The Show (PS3) $49…

Why an English-only Web site won’t cut it.

Apple rejected the Department of Justice’s claim that it colluded with publishers to raise ebook prices, according to multiple reports.
An Apple rep told Reuters and The Wall Street Journal that the DOJ’s charges were “simply not true.” Apple rep Natalie Kerris told both publications that, “the launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry.”
Kerris could not be reached for further comment…

We’re typically taught not to talk about size in polite company, but savvy entrepreneurs need to understand the pros and cons of working with small vs. large companies.Entrepreneurs commonly partner with other companies in order to strategically build their businesses. Our company has done so with great results. And while they aren’t hard and fast rules, we’ve definitely found that there are some distinct differences when partnering with larger versus smaller companies. We quickly learned that factoring in the trade-offs upfront is a must if you don’t want to get caught feeling like you’ve ended up with the lesser of two evils…

Want to win a free ticket to the largest online social media marketing event of the year?Social Media Examiner has worked hard to bring you our fourth-annual Social Media Success Summit. This is our best event ever! And we’ve come up with a fun way to get you involved.First, what is this event?Social Media Success Summit 2012  is a large online conference dedicated to helping marketers and business owners master social media marketing.More than 1400 businesses have already signed up, including Wells Fargo, Motorola, Kraft Foods, Fox Broadcasting, Autodesk, Salesforce…

Studies show all that time in front of the computer is withering in-person social skills. Luckily, you can fight back.Working a room was never everyone’s cup of team, and the introverts among us are constantly dreading the hand-shaking and small talk of events with strangers. And now research says, young people are generally getting even worse at face-to-face interaction. “If you’re a digital native, you should be aware that the Internet may have partially re-wired your brain in such a way that when you meet people face to face, you’re less capable of figuring out what they’re thinking,” John Mullen recently wrote on the HBR blogs, citing a handful of fairly alarming studies…

Facebook has introduced a new initiative that automatically syncs your Timeline address and your Facebook email address.
The program, which will be rolling out over the next few weeks, means that if your Timeline address is facebook.com/janesmith.19, then your Facebook email address will be janesmith.19@facebook.com. Anyone who already selected an email address will be unaffected.
Facebook reps could not be reached for comment on the move. The impetus for greater email and profile integration could be driven by Google+, which is heavily interlaced with Gmail…

If your company has a social mission, you might find a whole new universe of funders willing to back your company. If you know how to pitch them.For most entrepreneurs, there’s a pretty standard hierarchy of outside funding. Who you approach depends on what stage your business is in. You start with friends and family, then maybe move on to angel investors and bank loans. Some companies will seek out venture capital or strategic partnerships.Social entrepreneurs, on the other hand, bring in money from a whole other universe of funders: venture philanthropists, impact investors, and foundations…

Welcome to this morning’s edition of “First To Know,” a series in which we keep you in the know on what’s happening in the digital world. Today, we’re looking at three particularly interesting stories.
Apple Dismisses Ebook Price Fixing Charge
Apple has rejected DOJ’s accusation of collusion, claiming it’s “simply not true”. “The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry,” said an Apple spokesman in a statement…

Sophos has released a free on-demand Virus Removal Tool. The program previously was available to the company’s larger customers to help them clean up infected PCs, but now to anyone to download.
The Virus Removal Tool is extremely easy to use, with no settings to configure, no scan modes to figure out: it’s purely about on-demand full system scans. But this simplicity does mean you should be able to install the program and run it alongside just about any other security suite, as there’s no real-time access component to cause conflicts…

The language barrier isn’t quite the impenetrable wall it used to be. These days you can often muddle through when confronted by what appears to be a stream of gibberish in some random foreign language, but if you find yourself regularly dealing with another tongue, it helps to arm yourself with the right software.
One desktop tool for Windows users worth checking out is TranslateClient 6.0.618, which gives you translation services from within any open application, including your web browser. The free version provides services from Microsoft Translator, while a paid-for Pro version adds Google Translator as well as a number of other additional options…

Troubles keep piling up for the JetBlue pilot who melted down last month. Not only was he suspended, but now he’s been indicted. In a federal court in Texas, he was charged with interfering with a flight crew.

According to CNN, court documents say the pilot “did knowingly and willingly interfere and attempt to interfere with the performance of the duties of a flight crew member and flight attendant.”

Last week, the U.S. attorney’s office suggested the pilot — who was wrestled to the ground by passengers after he started ranting and raving — is possibly mentally incompetent and may not be able to comprehend the charges he faces…

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Name: Kaleidoscope
Quick Pitch: A curated feed of street-style images for your iPhone or Android phone.
Genius Idea: Human curators help you shop products similar to those featured in the feed.

Another fashion discovery app? Really now?
I know, I know. Between Pinterest, Fancy, Have to Have, Pose, Fashism, Lucky Shopper, Thre…