Las Vegas Web Design

If you must ink some kind of web 2.0-related geekery on your body, there’s a whole lot of awful choices and only a couple of good ones. Within that scope, Twitter’s fail whale doesn’t fare too bad; in fact, “normal” people might think it’s just a cool looking thingamabob and won’t even notice how big of a geek you are. Twitter people, of course, will frolic endlessly.

This tattoo was not done without a cause, though (as was the case with the recent Wordpress tattoo): @Ryanatmghwom promised he’d get the tattoo if @baltimoremd got 3000 followers (funny, it was probably up to that number, but some people unfollowed, and it’s now at 2,992. What are you gonna do now, @Ryanatmghwom, remove the tattoo? HAHAHA.)

In any case, you can see more pictures of the tattoo here. And, a piece of advice for the tattoo receiver: next time you need 3000 followers, just ask Pete Cashmore, he’ll hook you up.

—Related Articles at Mashable | The Social Media Guide:SXSWTwitter SMS Will Be Free for Canada’s Bell Mobility Customers After AllPro Cycling on Twitter: 48 People Who Aren’t Lance ArmstrongXumii’s iPhone App Combines IM and Social Utility

More: continued here

Setlist.fm is not an entirely new service, but it seems to have flown under the radar of most major blogs. It lets anyone create a setlist (a list of songs played by a band at a concert) and share it with the world.

Setlists, while not that important to the casual listener, are bread and butter for the concert-going crowd; they’re thoroughly discussed, dissected and analyzed. However, to find them, you usually need to visit band-specific forums and fan sites, and Setlist.fm solves that problem.

The site already has an active community; I’m a heavy concert-goer myself, usually to somewhat obscure bands, and I was able to find the setlists for some of the recent gigs I’ve attended. Even better: most of the songs were linked to the lyrics and the live video on YouTube, and you can see the (recently added) statistics for each artist, as well as all setlists from a particular venue.

If you want to narrow down your search to a particular time, you can do that with the advanced search function; finally, you can see setlists from today, yesterday, and the previous couple of days. The authors thought of pretty much everything; the only down side I’ve found was the site occasionally being a bit slow, but hopefully it was just a problem on my end.

Setlist.fm is exactly the kind of social media site I like: it’s simple, it solves a problem, and it has just the right amount of features not to become too bloated. If you’re a music fan and an avid concert-goer, you should definitely add it to your bookmark collection.

See also: Social Music: 5 Ways to Find Concerts Near You

More: continued here
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iPhone owners have plenty of choices when it comes to merging their IM accounts. They also have over 70 options for free mobile social media apps. What we’ve yet to see done right, however, is an app that merges the convenience of IM with the social utility we need.

Xumii, a mobile social address book available for a smattering of phones, has just released their free iPhone app that almost perfectly bridges the gap between social media sharing and chat functionality for all your contacts.

With Xumii you can import your phone’s entire address book, effortlessly connect your Google, Facebook, MySpace, AOL, Yahoo, Flickr, MSN, and Imeem accounts, and get a comprehensive and feature-rich social address book on your phone.

Once you’ve connected your social accounts, you can view available friends, see everyone’s status across all networks, ping contacts and chat within the app, share photos from your library or any of the connected networks, and update your status across all networks or each individually. In the future, Xumii plans to update the iPhone offering with a feature that other mobile phones already have — a mobile wall where you can post messages, and add media and widgets, essentially giving users a social mobile home page.

We’re really liking the way Xumii combines our online social presence with mobile utility, and we’d also eventually like to see a smart integration with Twitter to give us an even more complete view of our mobile social circle.

For a quick overview of the app, watch this video from Xumii:

More iPhone Resources From Mashable

- Social Media Break: 5 Free iPhone Apps to Fight Midweek Malaise

- Top 30 iPhone Apps for Organization and Productivity

- 15+ Free iPhone Apps to Navigate Your World

- 70+ Free iPhone Apps for Social Media Mavens

- 100+ iPhone Games That Use the Accelerometer

More: continued here

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hosted a conference call this morning with media where he discussed the company’s Terms of Service, which came under fire earlier this month after the social network made wildly unpopular changes that granted them the ability to store and use your content indefinitely, even after you deleted your account.

While Facebook quickly reverted to its old ToS and launched the Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities group, the controversy put the company’s policies in the spotlight, with some users going so far as to delete their accounts in protest. Today, Facebook has released what they’re calling “Draft Principles and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities For User Review, Comment and Vote,” the full text of which can be found in Facebook’s press room.

Zuckerberg told the media that these guidelines are the “aspirational goals for Facebook and how we want to craft the service going forward.” He also noted that when they amend the document, they plan to notify Facebook users and offer them a period of time to make comments, and “even put it up for a vote” in situations where there is significant discourse about a change.

Perhaps most significantly, Zuckerberg said that “we do not own user data, users do,” and that the company is sorry for what happened over the past couple weeks.

Between the publishing of new rights and responsibilities and a commitment to keep users informed of changes to its Terms of Service, it’s clear Facebook has listened to users, and is going above and beyond to try and convince them that a similar situation won’t happen again. Now the ball is in their court to deliver on these promises.

—Related Articles at Mashable | The Social Media Guide:SXSWPro Cycling on Twitter: 48 People Who Aren’t Lance ArmstrongXumii’s iPhone App Combines IM and Social UtilityMashable Gets a Social Media Makeover

More: continued here

You’ll notice we’re making some changes at Mashable today: a new, cleaner design to help you find our content more easily, and a reduction in the number of ads. We have a new tagline, too: “The Social Media Guide”. These changes are the result of feedback from readers over recent months: we hope they improve your experience on the site.

Focusing on the Content

Mashable writers work incredibly hard to create quality content, but you told us that content was a little hard to find. Where can I get all your Twitter resources in one place?, you asked. How do I see all the Mashable How-To Guides ever written? was another common question.

As a result, our new navigation is all about the articles: a better way (we hope!) to delve deep into our archive. Many thanks to the entire Mashable team for taking the effort this required in categorizing and tagging 10,000+ articles - I think it was worth it!

Fewer Ads = Better Ads

Advertising from trusted brands is a win-win: we’re able to produce high quality content, and you get relevant messages you might be interested in. But too many ads are distracting: people learn to ignore them, and neither the advertiser nor you, the reader, get what you want.

In 2009, one of Mashable’s key aims is to reduce the number of ads on the site, but increase the relevance of those ads. As a first step, this new design has two less ad units per page than the previous one. In the coming months, the challenge is to increase the quality and relevance of these messages: when someone says “I just saw an awesome ad on Mashable!”, we’ll know we’ve got it right.

We’re only able to commit to this path because a number of smart, forward-looking brands have already put their faith in us. We hope you’ll show them the support they’ve shown us.

“The Social Media Guide”

The media is now social: we’re entering a period in which everyone is a publisher and distributor of media. Mashable aims to track this transition, and we thought it was time for a tagline that more faithfully represents what we do. We hope you agree.

Now is also a good time to mention that Mashable is growing up fast…and with your help and plenty more late nights for us, 2009 looks set to be our best year to date.

5 New Mashable Features to Check Out

1. Cleaner Category Views: Go on, click a link in the header. Try Facebook in the Lists section….that’s every list Mashable has written about Facebook.

2. Better Author Pages: So you want to read everything our Editor-in-Chief has written, and join him on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook? Try the new author page for Adam Ostrow, complete with links to his social profiles.

3. Better Comments: We admit it: our old comment section was a bit messy. But check out the comments on this post and you’ll see a vast improvement, plus some super-special features we’ll tell you about very soon.

4. Mega Lists: When you need a single reference point for the Best Google Maps Tools and Mashups, or the greatest online resources to help you Organize Your Life, our Mashable Mega Lists may help. These extended lists of web resources have earned a permanent place in the Mashable sidebar and now have their own category. What’s more, we’ll be pruning these lists more regularly: removing extinct sites and adding new items.

5. Bugs and Errors: All great websites need bugs - a little design quirk in Internet Explorer, or maybe a cutesy error message in Safari. If you see anything like this, note that these are “features” and we’ve put them there for your enjoyment. (I’m kidding: if you experience any issues with the new design, please do email us and we’ll fix it up!)

Thanks!

A final thanks to our design and development partner W3 EDGE for working tirelessly on the changes. You’ll also notice Mashable is substantially faster now: that’s thanks to the excellent services of our partner, Edgecast CDN. And of course thank you to the Mashable team for their continued hard work.

Please let us know what you think of the changes in the comments!

—Related Articles at Mashable | The Social Media Guide:SXSWPro Cycling on Twitter: 48 People Who Aren’t Lance ArmstrongFacebook CEO Zuckerberg: “We Do Not Own User Data”Xumii’s iPhone App Combines IM and Social Utility

More: continued here

Over the past few months, Google has made several moves to bolster its advertising revenue in some areas (mobile, images), while cutting off those that aren’t working, like print and radio. Today, one of Google’s more popular properties outside of search is also getting on the monetization bandwagon – Google News.

The ads appear when you do search queries for news about a specific topic. For example, search for “Apple” and you get ads for Apple’s online store, search for “JetBlue” and you get ads for a variety of online ticket vendors. Like all Google products, the ads can be purchased through an AdWords account.

Right now, the ads appear to be text-only, though Google alludes to some other formats in a blog post about the move. The company writes, “in recent months we’ve been experimenting with a variety of different formats, like overlay ads on embedded videos from partners like the AP.”

Long-time Google watcher John Battelle thinks that this move will “kick up some dust” since Google doesn’t mention anything about sharing revenue with the content providers who seed the aggregator. I’m not so sure about that though. Just like Digg, Google News simply aggregates headline and snippets, with links that drive traffic to publishers. On the other hand, if they were to insert ads into Google Reader, where the full text of stories is available, then there might be a big uproar from the publishing community.

—Related Articles at Mashable | The Social Media Guide:Twitter SMS Will Be Free for Canada’s Bell Mobility Customers After AllPro Cycling on Twitter: 48 People Who Aren’t Lance ArmstrongXumii’s iPhone App Combines IM and Social UtilityMashable Gets a Social Media Makeover

More: continued here

Chris Spagnuolo is a social media maven, blogger, cyclist, food and wine lover, and an agile software development evangelist from Ft. Collins, CO.

2009 promises to be a stellar year for professional cycling around the world. The return of Lance Armstrong has more fans than ever turning out at early season races like the Tour Down Under and the Tour of California. And in the midst of all of this excitement, there’s a new thrill in town.  The world of professional cycling has seemingly become enamored with the wonderful world of Twitter. 

Some of the world’s top cycling professionals have taken to Tweeting on a regular basis. For the first time, cycling fans are getting the real skinny about the behind-the-scenes happenings of professional cyclists as they travel the world.

It’s not just the pedaling pros who are Twittering. Team managers, mechanics, coaches…they’re all getting into the act.  We’re getting real-time updates from team cars as the races progress. And race organizers themselves are Tweeting information for fans attending the races on a regular basis: where to park, where to watch from, after race events, and much more. 

Here’s a handpicked list of 48 People to follow for your professional cycling Twitter fix:

Professional Cyclists

1. Levi Leipheimer

Follow:Levi @Levi_Leipheimer

Who he is: 3-Time Winner of the Tour of California, Dauphiné Libéré winner, 2007 U.S. Road Race Champion, 1999 U.S. National Time Trial Champion

Professional Team: Team Astana

Levi is part of arguably the best team in the pro peloton, Team Astana. Joined by his teammates Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong, it’s hard to see how anybody can beat these guys. Levi is just coming off his incredible third straight victory in the Tour of California and it sounds like it’s been an emotional high that he won’t soon be getting over.

Levi just started Tweeting this past December, but he’s been providing some good information and posting some pretty funny pics on TwitPic too.

2. Ivan Basso

Follow: @ivanbasso

Who he is: Winner of the 2006 Giro d’Italia

Professional Team: Liquigas

After serving his suspension for his involvement in the Operation Puerto affair, Ivan’s ever smiling face is back in the ranks of the pro peloton this year.  Arguably one of the best climbers in the peloton, it should be an exciting year for the Italian pro.  Ivan Tweets regularly and his Tweets are often very funny. 

3. Christian Vande Velde

Follow: @ChristianVDV

Who he is: 4th Place finisher in the 2008 Tour de France

Professional Team: Team Garmin-Slipstream

Christian has paid his dues in the pro peloton riding as a super domestique for the likes of Lance Armstrong for years.  Now, he’s stepping out into the spotlight and hasn’t disappointed.  With his new team, Garmin-Slipstream, Christian is ready to ride in the top ranks of the peloton this year.  And, he’s been Tweeting and using TwitPic to keep us up to date on his exploits in the peloton.  Besides his adventures on the bike, we’re also finding out that VDV is quite the thug:

4. George Hincapie

Follow: @ghincapie

Who he is: Veteran pro, Tour de France stage winner

Professional Team: Team Columbia-High Road

After serving for years as Lance Armstrong’s most trusted lieutenant, Big George has left the fold and joined with Columbia-High Road.  For the first time in memory, he will be riding against his team captain. Not only has George been giving us the inside scoop on his travels and his teammates at Team Columbia-High Road, but he’s also been Tweeting about his new company Hincapie Sportswear.

5. Dave Zabriskie

Follow: @dzabriskie

Who he is: Four-time U.S. National Time Trial Champion, Tour de France Stage Winner

Professional Team: Team Garmin-Slipstream

Will he have a beard or won’t he?  That’s always the question with Dave Z.  And now, if you follow him on Twitter, you’ll know.  Zabriskie is a great time trialist and has been on form again this year.  He holds the record for the fastest time trial ever in the Tour de France and we can expect to see him try to break that record again this year.  Dave’s Tweets are short and to the point, but they’re worth the follow. And in case you thought you were the only Hulu junkie, Dave seems to be one too:

6. Mick Rogers

Follow: @mickrogers

Who he is: Australian National Time Trial Champion

Professional Team: Team Columbia-High Road

Mick is one of the hardest working guys in the pro peloton and it shows.  As one of the team leaders for Team Columbia, Mick is poised to be at the top of the GC in many of this year’s top races.  He’s a great guy and fun to follow on Twitter.  He is very responsive to replies and often takes votes and input from the Twitterati about a wide range of important questions like:

7. Floyd Landis

Follow: @TheRealFloydL

Who he is: Winner of Paris-Nice, Tour of California, Tour de Georgia

Professional Team: TeamOUCH

Floyd is back and has something to prove.  After being stripped of his Tour de France title back in 2006, Floyd’s life has been in considerable turmoil.  But, after a long legal fight, subsequent suspension, and hip replacement surgery, Floyd is back and ready to fight again.  Floyd just recently started Tweeting but has been getting down with regular updates as he returns to the road.  There are also a few “fake” Floyds out there and it looks like the Real Floyd L thinks they’re pretty funny (even though his PR people don’t).

8. Jani Brajkovic

Follow: @janibrajkovic

Who he is: World Under 23 Time Trial Champion, Winner of Tour de Georgia

Professional Team: Team Astana

Jani is the future of professional cycling. He’s young, vibrant, and incredibly talented.  And now, he’s riding for Team Astana alongside Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, and Levi Leipheimer and learning from the best.  Look for great things from Jani in the future. And look for some great Tweets and posts to TwitPics as well.  You’ll also find out very quickly that Jani loves Snickers.

9. Tom Danielson

Follow @tomdanielson

Who he is: Winner of the Tour de Georgia, Vuelta a Espana Stage Winner, Mt. Evans Hill Climb record holder

Professional team: Team Garmin-Slipstream

Tom has been in the pro peloton since 1999 and has ridden in support of some of cycling’s greatest names, including Lance Armstrong.  Tom is riding with Garmin-Slipstream this year and has been Tweeting about his daily racing and training routine and posting pics to TwitPic too.

10. Taylor Phinney

Follow: @taylorphinney

Who he is: World Junior Individual Pursuit and Time Trial Champion

Professional Team: Trek-Livestrong U23 Team

Taylor comes from great cycling stock. He is the son of former professional racing cyclist Davis Phinney and former Olympic gold medal racing cyclist and speed skater Connie Carpenter-Phinney. And now, he’s in the Lance Armstrong fold on the Trek-Livestrong U23 team.  Taylor’s had a lot to Tweet about lately with his recent U.S. record in the Individual Pursuit.  He also posts tons of pics to TwitPic and often asks his followers to help him give them funny captions.

11. Ben King

Follow Ben: @BenKing89

Who he is: U.S. Junior National Road Champion

Professional Team: Trek-Livestrong U23

Ben joins Taylor Phinney in Lance Armtrong’s Trek-Livestrong U23 team.  Together, they’re proving to be junior powerhouses honing their skills for bright futures in the pro peloton.  Ben’s updates are informative, usually detailing training rides and his teammates on the Trek-Livestrong team.

Professional Teams

12. Team Astana

Follow: @teamastana

Possibly the strongest cycling team ever assembled, Team Astana looks poised to compete for every major cycling race this year.  With team members like Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer, Jani Brajkovic and Andreas Kloden on the roster, it’s hard to believe anyone can beat Astana this year.  The team has been providing great Tweets about everything from promotions and race schedules to real time updates from the races. We even get some good humored Tweets like this one after Team Manager Johan Bruyneel shaved Bob Roll’s head:

13. Team Garmin-Slipstream

Follow: @TeamSlipstream

Jonathan Vaughters has managed to assemble a great new American team to ride in the pro peloton. And, he’s been using social media to get the word out about the team and their successes.  Vaughters himself provides many of the Tweets for Garmin-Slipstream, including in-car updates during races.  The team also has an active blog and a good presence on Facebook as well.

14. Cervelo Test Team

Follow: @cervelotestteam

After a long relationship with Team SCS, Cervelo has broken away and formed their own test and development team, featuring the 2008 Tour de France Champion Carlos Sastre and the ever speedy sprinter Thor Hushovd.  Cervelo Test Team is using Twitter to keep us updated on race results, team news, information, and really exciting announcements like this one.

15. Rock Racing

Follow: @rockracing

Rock Racing is sponsored by internationally renowned lifestyle brand Rock & Republic and owned by CEO and Creative Director Michael Ball.  It’s almost become a team of refuge for cyclists returning from suspensions.  Rock Racing had a very successful season in 2008, winning 45 races and four national titles, while putting a rider in the top-three overall 106 times. They look poised for another good season in 2009 and have been Tweeting plenty so far, including live updates from team cars during races.  These guys are Twitter pros!

16. TeamOUCH

Follow: @teamOUCH

HealthNet/Maxxis returns in 2009 with a new sponsor and a new look.  TeamOUCH, presented by Maxxis, is back and ready to be reckoned with as one of the strongest pro continental U.S. teams.  And, they’ve packed their roster with the returning Floyd Landis.  The team just started Tweeting this year at the Tour of California and they’re providing live team updates from the races at a phenomenal pace.  If they keep this up, they’ll be one of the best teams to follow on Twitter.

17. Bissell Pro Cycling Team

Follow: @bissellcycling

Bissell has been involved in pro cycling for a very long time and this year, they’ve assembled a very good continental team.  Their roster includes a future star in American cycling, Ben Jaques Mayne.  Look for great things from Bissell in 2009.  The team is brand new on Twitter and just started providing live Tweets from the 2009 Tour of California.  There isn’t much there yet, but it looks promising.

18. Team Type1

Follow: @TeamType1

Founded in 2004, Team Type 1 fulfilled the dream of two collegiate cyclists living with Type 1 diabetes. Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge initially had a standing bet: the rider with the highest blood sugar would buy the post-ride burrito. Now, they aim to instill hope and inspiration for people around the world affected by diabetes through Team Type 1’s professional, amateur and triathlon teams.  Team Type1 Tweets at a furious pace about races, promotions, and advocacy issues. With over 900 updates already, expect to see a lot more from Team Type1 in the coming season.

Cycling Celebs and Notables

19. Eddy Merckx

Follow: @emerckx

Who he is: He’s won more than we can ever list here.  5-Time Tour de France Winner, Winner of the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana.

“The Cannibal” is arguably the greatest cyclist ever.  There isn’t a notable race that Eddy hasn’t won.  He retired in 1977 but has remained a dominant force in the sort.  He has a successful bike factory manufacturing Merckx bikes, has been a commentator on Belgian television, been a member of the Belgian Olympic Committee, a coach of the Belgian National Cycling team and an advisor to the Tour of Qatar.  Eddy is new to Twitter, but his Tweets are amusing so far.  He Tweets in broken English as he provides sage advice and gentle taunts to his followers:

20. Johan Bruyneel

Follow: @johanbruyneel

Who he is: General Manager for Team Astana

Johan is the man with the plan.  He is the mastermind behind Lance Armstrong’s 7 Tour de France wins.  And now, he has assembled the powerhouse that is Team Astana.  Johan has a great sense of humor and now you can see it for yourself on Twitter.  He provides frequent updates, including TwitPics and live reports from the team car. He’s really funny and sometimes gives us a glimpse into how boring it can be to ride in the team car on those long flat stages.

21. Chris Carmichael

Follow: @trainright

Who he is: Lance Armstrong’s Coach

If Johan is the man with the plan, Chris Carmichael is the guy who makes sure Lance gets it done.  Chris has been coaching Lance since his early years and was the first person to tell Lance that he’d win the Tour de France someday.  Chris also runs Carmichael Training Systems (CTS) and offers a wide range of athletic coaching services.  He Tweets and posts TwitPics about Lance’s training regimen and races, as well as news, information, and promotions at CTS.  And when he gives the details of Lance’s regimen, he gives the details:

22. Robbie Ventura

Follow: @RobbieVentura

Who he is: Former professional cyclist, commentator on Versus, cycling coach

Robbie Ventura raced professionally for 12 years, spending his last four years as part of Lance Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service Squad. Robbie was a criterium specialist and amassed over 70 victories over the course of his pro career. He also runs Vision Quest Coaching. According to the guys in the peloton, Robbie is one of the friendliest people around.  Robbie has been posting plenty of pics to TwitPic, and we’ve learned that he has some fun outside of work too.

23. Jake Jacobson

Follow: @JakesJournal

Who he is: Jake from Garmin.  He’s Garmin’s official blogger

Jake follows the Garmin-Slipstream team and reports on their racing.  He also provides updates about promotions and other cool things from Garmin.  He writes a great blog for Garmin and has over 1,000 updates on Twitter.

24. Axel Merckx

Follow: @axelmerckx

Who he is: Former professional cyclist

Everyone know him as Eddy’s son,  but Axel Merckx had a very successful cycling career of his own.  He rode most of his career as a domestique, but always had a presence in the major races.  Axel is relatively new on Twitter and TwitPic. Axel has Tweeted about moving to Canada and enjoying his retirement from cycling in some interesting ways:

25. Ben Coates

Follow: @trek_ben

Who he is: The Trek team liaison to Team Astana

When he’s not trying to find replacements for Team Astana’s stolen bikes, Ben manages the relationship between Trek and Astana.  Ben is great on Twitter and TwitPic as he discusses his travels with team Astana, product development at Trek, and how the latest technologies are being used to propel the Astana team to victory. 

26. Brian Dallas

Follow: @cyclingmechanic

Who he is: Veteran professional bike mechanic and Mavic Special Services Course member at the Tour of California.

A great bike mechanic with over 15 years experience servicing professional continental teams.  Brian has most recently been providing live update Tweets and TwitPics from this year’s edition of the Tour of California.

27. Rory Masini

Follow: @rorymasini

Who he is: Cannondale liaison to Liquigas

Rory is the man who keeps Ivan Basso and Daniele Bennati in bikes.  He’s got one of the coolest jobs on the planet next to Ben Coates.  Rory is a very frequent Tweeter and his updates cover the Liquigas team and lots of other good things from the Cannondale family.  Rory is great on Twitter and TwitPic, and it looks like he’s an iPhone user:

28. Chris Brewer

Follow: @chrisbrewer62

Who he is: Development Services, Livestrong/Lance Armstrong Foundation

Chris does a lot for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, including blogging on the Livestrong website.  He also attends races and mans the Livestrong booth.  He’s been very busy giving us updates and TwitPics about Lance’s travels, the Livestrong Army, and special promotions and efforts that LAF is involved with.

29. Liz Kreutz

Follow: @LizKreutz

Who she is: Lance Armstrong’s official photographer

If you really want to know what Lance is up to, follow Liz because she follows Lance…everywhere.  She is Lance’s official photographer and she gets the inside scoop like nobody else.  She’s a huge TwitPic poster as you’d expect from a photographer, and she really gives us some insights into how much work Lance is doing off the bike in his fight against cancer:

30. Phil Liggett

Follow: @PhilLiggett

Who he is: Cycling commentator extraordinaire for Versus

Phil Liggett is the voice of professional cycling.  He has been the voice behind the calls for some of cycling’s most exciting races ever.  He has also been a writer for Cycling Magazine as well the The Guardian and The Observer.  He has also written several books on cycling.  This man knows cycling.  Phil is brand new to Twitter and hasn’t posted much. In fact, his profile was being held by a fan until Phil was ready to Tweet.  Well, Phil is ready and just started out, and should be a good follow if he keeps it up.

Major Races

31. Tour Down Under

Follow: @tourdownunder

The Tour Down Under is quickly becoming the headline event kicking off the professional cycling season. Recently released numbers show that the 2009 Tour Down Under was the biggest event ever staged in South Australia and all of the major pro teams were represented at the race.  The race organizers used Twitter to great effect to communicate race related events, fan information, as well as live race updates.  They’re done for this year, but be sure to follow them throughout the year for route announcements and other interesting TDU tidbits.

32. Amgen Tour of California

Follow: @AmgenTourofCali

The largest cycling event in America, the 2009 Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style cycling road race that includes the world’s top professional cycling teams competing along a recently expanded, 750-mile course from Sacramento to Escondido.  The tour organizers have been using Twitter to keep fans informed of special tour events, race results, and live race reporting.

33. Tour de France

Follow: @tourfrance

The Grand Boucle.  The big daddy.  The maillot jaune. The Tour de France is it when it comes to professional cycling.  The first Tour de France was way back in 1903 and every year since then (with the exception of a few war years), the TdF has delivered the most exciting cycling the world has ever seen.  The tour organizers are now using Twitter to announce routes, stages, team invites, tour news and more throughout the year.

Magazines, Bloggers, and More…

To round out the list, here are some top cycling magazines, bloggers and special cycling Tweeters to help you get all the pro cycling information you’ll ever need:

34. @velonews: The social media outlet for pro cycling magazine VeloNews.  Complete cycling news, including race coverage, rider profiles, bike reviews and general commentary on the world of cycling.

35. @BicyclingMag: Bicycling Magazine’s official Twitter face.  Lots of cycling news and information as well special deals and promotions via Twitter.

36. @espn_cycling: ESPN goes Tweeting with cycling news and information.

37. @theroaddiaries: The Road Diaries takes you behind the scenes with SRAM to meet the world’s greatest cyclists at the world’s biggest races.

38. @neilroad: Neil Brown from Road Magazine brings you live race updates plus plenty of juicy cycling news stories from inside the pro peloton.

39. @roadbikereview: Road Bike Review heads to Twitter with live race updates, cycling gear reviews, news, and classifieds.

40. @bikeradar: Gary Boulanger, editor of Bike Radar delivers daily Tweets including live race updates, and plenty of other cycling news and information.

41. @interbike: Rich Kelly, marketing manager for Interbike, the largest gathering of the bike industry in North America. Rich Tweets about life and bikes.

42. @cyclingfans: Pete Geyer of Cycling Fans is your Twitter guide to live race coverage, all season long. He also provides plenty of news, photos and commentary.

43. @bikeride: Brent Soderberg from BikeRide.com provides live race updates and news about bicycling events and cycling in general.

44. @cyclelicious: Richard Masoner from the Cyclelicious blog Tweets race updates, photos and his take on the wonderful world of cycling.

45. @bikesbelong: Bikes Belong is a bike advocacy group working to create better places to bicycle and get more people riding.  Lots of good information about bike advocacy in their Tweets.  Event announcements are Tweeted as well.

46. @TourDeTweets: Tour de Tweets provides live race coverage from the major races as well as interesting commentary and questions about the pro peloton.

47. @livestrong: The official Twitter face of Livestrong and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  Tweets about Lance, cycling, the foundation, special events, and how you can become involved at Livestrong.

48. @mellowjohnnys: Lance Armstrong’s own bicycle shop in Austin, Texas, Mellow Johnny’s has been touted as Austin’s friendliest bike shop. Lots of fun Tweets about the Livestrong cycling team as well as shop specials and other news about the Austin cycling scene.

Alright, so maybe you really DO want to follow Lance. Here he is:

Lance Armstrong

Follow: @lancearmstrong

Who he is: Cancer survivor, 7-Time Tour de France Winner, Livestrong Founder

Professional Team: Team Astana

The 7-time Tour de France winner has been Tweeting like crazy since he announced his return to professional cycling. He’s been giving us the inside scoop on his travels around the world as he spreads his message in the fight against cancer. He’s also providing great behind-the-scenes coverage of the major races he’s been in. Lance has been posting tons of great pictures on TwitPic as well.

More Twitter resources from Mashable:

- The 10 Users You’ll Meet on Twitter

- 25+ Celebrity Twitter Users

- 40 of the Best Twitter Brands and the People Behind Them

- Twitter Professors: 18 People to Follow for a Real Time Education

- HOW TO: Build Community on Twitter

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, chichi

—Related Articles at Mashable | The Social Media Guide:SXSWTwitter SMS Will Be Free for Canada’s Bell Mobility Customers After AllXumii’s iPhone App Combines IM and Social UtilityMashable Gets a Social Media Makeover

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Mashable added a new feature today powered by StumbleUpon, allowing you to explore Mashable pages, rate them and get recommendations for Mashable content you might like.

StumbleUpon, as you may know, is a way to discover interesting web content based on your interests. Realizing that our readers would love to see a custom version of Mashable tailored to you, we’ve chosen to become a StumbleUpon Premier Partner, and we’d love your feedback on the new feature: To Start Stumbling Mashable, click here!

This feature is also accessible by clicking the “Start Stumbling” button in the Mashable menu, as shown in the screenshot above. Once you see the StumbleUpon toolbar, you can “Like” an article, rate it, or hit “Stumble” again for another article. And of course StumbleUpon can recommend articles from other sites you may enjoy.

In addition to the ability to explore, rate and get recommendations for Mashable articles, you’ll also see a “Stumble counter” on selected Mashable blog posts - like this one! - that tracks the number of times that post has been Stumbled (note that we also include buttons for many of StumbleUpon’s rivals, and have done for some time).

We hope you enjoy the new feature, and please do give us feedback on how we can continue to improve.

—Related Articles at Mashable | The Social Media Guide:Delicious Toolbox: 80+ Updated Tools and ResourcesHOW TO: Make Firefox Your Productivity MachineSocial Music: Top 5 Sites to Build a Playlist25 Great Blogger Widgets

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Something must’ve been lost in translation between Twitter and Canada’s Bell Mobility. On Tuesday, Biz Stone told Twitter users, “if you’re a Bell Mobility customer, you can update Twitter via SMS and receive updates from Twitter via SMS. There are no limits and no added fees (beyond your normal texting plan).” Meanwhile, Bell Mobility issued a press release, telling their own customers that they could “access SMS service for Twitter for 15 cents for each message sent or received.”

Of course, when customers of Bell Mobility discovered this, they were outraged, mainly because the carrier wanted to charge 15 cents for what amounts to a standard text message. A company spokesperson defended the policy as of yesterday, but today, we’ve seen a reversal, and Bell Mobility has indicated that there will be no additional fees for Twitter messages.

Twitter updates users on their blog again today, writing, “Twitter and Bell have agreed that Bell customers on the company’s text messaging bundles will be able to receive unlimited incoming Twitter SMS messages at no extra charge.” Meanwhile, The Vancouver Sun confirms the news with Bell Mobility, indicating that Twitter itself – more specifically the angry Tweets of Bell Mobility customers – lead to the change.

Twitter’s post on the issue doesn’t mention the whole mix-up, and the company has not responded to our request for comment. They did however acknowledge the issue in a tweet yesterday that read, “There’s some confusion about Bell Mobility pricing of Twitter SMS. We’ve been investigating this and will clear it up to tomorrow.”

In any event, it’s a bizarre series of events that seems to have been resolved, but it reeks of sloppiness on someone’s part. Nonetheless, I’ve always thought that Twitter offers an attractive value proposition to carriers, in that its service provides an incentive for customers to upgrade to unlimited texting plans. Whether or not there is a financial aspect to the Bell deal, we don’t know, but it certainly seems like Twitter could play that hand if it wanted to.

—Related Articles at Mashable | The Social Media Guide:SXSWKeep Your Mind Sharp with Memory Matrix for iPhonePro Cycling on Twitter: 48 People Who Aren’t Lance ArmstrongXumii’s iPhone App Combines IM and Social Utility

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There are already plenty of ways to get the weather online, on your desktop, or as a browser extension, but nonetheless, AccuWeather’s new Adobe AIR app is worth a look if you want something more lightweight and always-on.

Once downloaded, AccuWeather sits in your taskbar and can be opened up or placed on the desktop if you’d like to see the current conditions or a 5-day forecast. You can also store essentially an unlimited number of locations (AccuWeather says “up to 65,000”) and toggle between them, providing you a convenient way to make small talk on long distance phone calls.

Probably the best thing about AccuWeather’s app is that it’s Adobe Air, versus the more cumbersome downloads offered by competitors. That means it will run on Windows, Mac, or Linux, and also work when you’re without an Internet connection (with the most recent data pulled from AccuWeather).

So far as I can tell, there is also no advertising attached, though AccuWeather does encourage click-thrus to its website for more detailed forecasts by only providing the basic weather information in the application.

AccuWeather’s Adobe Air application can be downloaded here.

More Resources from Mashable

- 25+ Online Tools For Information On Weather

- 8 Tools for Tracking Weather Forecasts in Firefox

- 30+ Great Adobe AIR Apps for Designers and Developers

- 20+ Great Adobe AIR Apps for Photos & Videos

—Related Articles at Mashable | The Social Media Guide:Imeem Lets You Sync Your Music Library With Your Android Mobile9 Must-Try Adobe AIR Apps for Better ProductivityThanks to Mashable’s Valued SponsorsFlash On Most Smartphones: Not Yet. Flash on the iPhone: Maybe Never

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