Over the past few weeks, thousands of Twitter users tinted their profile pictures green to show support for protesters in Iran. In a similar vein, UK-based Lovebox encourages charity-minded social network users to replace their current profile picture with one of its digital Lovebox icons and then make a donation to the charity it represents.

A different charity is selected for support each month, represented by an icon of a different colour, making it the digital equivalent of silicone 'awareness' bracelets/wristbands. The green Lovebox, for example, supports WWF-UK, while the pink one signals support for Cancer Research UK. As the site explains, "social networks and the internet help us share information quickly. Lovebox is a simple but effective way for you to show your support for charities." Recently Lovebox also launched #charitytuesday, a Twitter-based effort to mobilize supporters one day each week.

Will Lovebox icons become as ubiquitous as awareness bracelets? Time will tell. Meanwhile, it's an interesting experiment in using the power of social networks and the viral effects they can create—both for commercial or for nonprofit purposes. (Related: Users choose ads for their social web pages — One-stop-shop for creating viral promotions.)

Website: www.lovebox.org.uk
Contact: info@lovebox.org.uk

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

If a Twitter user tweets, but no one is following them, do they really tweet at all? Aiming to make such philosophical gymnastics less necessary, Tweet My Bumper helps Twitterers recruit new followers by targeting one of life's few remaining captive audiences: drivers in traffic.

Twitterers seeking followers need only visit Tweet My Bumper, enter their Twitter user name along with the usual other basic information, and Tweet My Bumper will print and ship them a bumper sticker that shows their Twitter name along with the tag line, "Follow me in traffic. Follow me on Twitter." A standard bumper sticker—which also shows the Tweet My Bumper URL—is priced at USD 5; without the promotional URL it costs USD 6.

Offroad, Twitter users already have StickyTwits; now, courtesy of BlakeMakes.com's Blake Killian, Tweet My Bumper makes the most of onroad audiences as well. It's all part of the OFF=ON melding of the offline and online worlds. What can *your* brand do to include, support and further the efforts of the Twittering masses? ;-) (Related: Food blogger turned intermediary and purveyor.)

Website: www.tweetmybumper.com
Contact: www.tweetmybumper.com/contact.htm — @tweetmybumper

Hard on the heels of our coverage of Kult—the vintage-arcade-machine-turned-3D-magazine—comes word of another paradigm-busting publication. Rather than breaking the mold on its form, however, this one shatters the norm by virtue of the fact that it was created and produced in 24 hours.

The clock began at 3 pm Central European time on June 27, when an all-volunteer team of designers, photographers, writers and others began to work nonstop on 24Hour Magazine, beginning from scratch with no design and no content. Twenty-four hours later—at 3 pm on June 28—the magazine was ready for the printing press, featuring articles, photos and illustrations on topics including lifestyle, fashion, music and design. The point was not just to create a product, however. Rather, the concept focused heavily on the experience of the process as well. With that in mind, the Kortrijk, Belgium-based team meticulously shared the day’s experience with the world through a variety of social media and other online avenues, including live video feeds, Twitter updates, continuous blog posts and a behind-the-scenes Flickr stream. The 47-page magazine itself was produced using Issuu—the publishing platform we covered last year—and is now available online. The 24Hour team expects it will soon be available in print as well, both for order online and through select bookstores, priced somewhere between EUR 20 and EUR 30. Also on the way is a “making of” DVD and music created specially for the experience.

No word yet on a next issue—or, indeed, on reactions to the magazine-cum-experience—but in the meantime, 24Hour Mag is actively seeking sponsors and advertisers. One to get involved with?

Website: www.24hourmagazine.com
Contact: tuffer@24hourmagazine.com

Digital publisher Zinio has teamed up with Starwood to offer guests free digital copies of their favourite magazines. As of last month, a variety of well-known titles can be downloaded at Starwood's Element hotels, with Aloft and Four Points by Sheraton joining at the end of the year.

Zinio's 'digital newsstand' can be accessed on guests' laptops in their rooms, or via a kiosk in the lobby. After logging on to the Starwood portal and registering with Zinio, guests can select as many single titles as they wish, choosing from a wide range of popular publications like Caribbean Travel & Life, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, Field & Stream and Ski Magazine. (Prices for magazines purchased through Zinio are normally similar to those paid for paper copies.)

With editions that can be read online or off—and that are identical to their printed brethren—travellers are freed from schlepping around a bag full of paper. Zinio gets the chance to demo its service to new users, and Starwood can offer its guests magazines they actually want to read, instead of a standard selection. And there's an environmental benefit too, of course, which is fitting since Element is Starwood's new 'green' brand. Reminds us of another download service for travellers we spotted recently: airline alliance offers free audiobook downloads at airports.

Website: www.zinio.com — www.starwood.com

Spotted by: Raymond Kollau

When Singapore creative agency Kult launched a self-titled art magazine earlier this month, it didn't just produce print and online editions, as most publishers might. Rather, the group also created a touring, 3D version of the magazine crafted out of a vintage arcade machine.

With a premier issue focused on the theme of "trust," Kult Magazine aims to visualize its topics through the work of young artists from Asia and around the world. Emphasizing photography, illustration, graphic design and other visual arts, Kult hopes to use the free publication to "blur boundaries and encourage the viewer to participate in a visual dialogue with the works," in its own words. Toward that end, the Kult ArtCade is a roaming, vintage arcade machine that serves as a 3D version of the magazine. Instead of a traditional control panel, the ArtCade features a selection of art, illustration, photography and personal vignettes on the magazine's current theme.

Indeed, if magazines can be published on bottles or reconceptualized as objets d'art, why not a vintage arcade machine, which stands just as much chance of surprising and delighting consumers while the publishing industry recrafts itself? One to be inspired by! (Related: Smoking is bad, art is good.)

Website: www.kult.com.sg
Contact: alvin@kult.com.sg

Similar in many ways to Hollrr, the site where consumers help promote the products they love, Thinglink is a new global catalogue for design that enables designers, brands and enthusiasts to connect and converse on the web.

Currently in invitation-only beta, Thinglink launched at the Milan Furniture Fair in April with 10 design brands: Arabia Finland, Design Eero Aarnio, Fokus Fabrik, Helsinki Design Week, Iittala, Harri Koskinen, Martela, Selki Station, Ilmari Tapiovaara Design and Woodnotes. Designers and brands can use the site by uploading their catalogues and building a community of fans around their products. Enthusiasts, meanwhile, can use the free service to post messages about their latest design discoveries, flag products they own, ask and answer questions about new and vintage products, and share photos of their favourite design objects in real-life settings. The Thinglink catalogue includes a wide variety of products from classic and contemporary designers and manufacturers, ranging from serially produced products to limited edition items and unique one-of-a-kind objects; on Thinglink, any of them can become the center of a conversation, with photos and discussion by owners and fans.

Besides giving enthusiasts a place to connect and learn more about the brands they love, of course, California-based Thinglink also gives brands a way to keep tabs on consumers' impressions of them. Next step? Do more than just create conversation and actually put consumers to work for the brand—tapping into their design suggestions or their grassroots marketing muscle. Ask the crowds, and ye shall receive—just make sure to thank them in kind! ;-) (Related: Consumers get paid for input on new products.)

Website: www.thinglink.com
Contact: info@thinglink.com

Spotted by: John Greene

Air passengers everywhere may soon be getting a literary boost, thanks to a new offer from the Oneworld alliance. As of June 2009, travellers passing through Brussels, Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino airports can download three audiobooks for free.

Oneworld, which includes American Airlines, British Airways, JAL and 7 other airlines, offers the service over wifi at the aforementioned airports. Consumers can download audiobooks to their laptops, smartphones andPDAs—any device that connects to the airports' wifi networks. They can pick from forty titles, covering fiction, business, society and travel; available in English, Dutch, French and Italian. And for customers who always get in a forgetful flap at the airport, an email reminder can be requested for the day before the flight, reminding them of the freebies on offer.

The initiative complements Oneworld’s Travel Stations, which enable users to download travel advice and information onto mobile devices, and its Charging Stations, which give gadgets a bit of extra juice. In an unusually inclusive move, all travellers, whether Oneworld customers or not, are invited to make the most of the perks—as Oneworld hopes to be the alliance of choice for the user’s next journey.

It’s a relatively cost-effective way of treating customers, requiring little infrastructure or installation to get up and running. And a great example of what our sister-site trendwatching.com calls free love, or the art of (relevantly) giving away stuff to build your brand. (Related: Personalized in-flight magazines at Heathrow’s Terminal 1.)

Website: library.oneworld.com
Contact: www.oneworld.com/ow/contact

Spotted by: Raymond Kollau

Traditional search engines like Google excel at finding objective information in the vast network of pages on the web, but what about when you want a local restaurant recommendation? Going far beyond general reviews or even those of twinsumers with similar tastes is a new search site that aims to get more personally relevant by asking your own extended network of friends.

Users of Aardvark begin by adding the service to their email or IM buddy list, and then sending it a question in plain English via either medium. Aardvark then checks the user's social network of participating friends and friends-of-friends to see who might be able to answer it. Friends must have signed up with Aardvark to be considered, and they can control whose questions come to them, and when. Factors taken into account by the algorithm that chooses respondents include how closely connected they are to the person with the question, what topics they know about—gleaned from profile data on Facebook and around the web—whether they have similar tastes, where they're located and whether they're currently available to answer. After zeroing in on a small subset of the user's social network, Aardvark finds someone who can answer the question in real time and, within 5 minutes or so, sends their answer back to the person who asked.

"If someone's looking for a recommendation on 'great music' or a 'hotel room in London', not even 20 percent of people are going to be satisfied with a search result" from a traditional search engine, ex-Googler Max Ventilla, now Aardvark's CEO, told BusinessWeek. Rather than objective listings or the opinions of anonymous strangers on the web—which is mostly what one gets from Google—or the highly curated yet heavily numerical answers that are generated by Wolfram|Alpha, Aardvark aims to provide advice that's subjective and customised to the person who asked the question.

San Francisco-based Aardvark requires no software download or installation; there are currently more than 10,000 users testing out a private version of the site, according to BusinessWeek. Its revenue model includes referral fees paid by companies—including Amazon and Zappos so far—when answers include a link to their sites, BW reported.

Will social search provide the new way to get answers to everyday questions? It seems likely, but only time will tell. In the meantime, one to watch, partner with—or generally get in on as soon as possible! ;-)

Website: www.vark.com
Contact: info@aardvarkteam.com

Spotted by: Diricia De Wet

Cash-strapped consumers are increasingly looking to their spare rooms, their backyards and even their furniture for ways to earn some extra money. Now they can offer up their photos for sale as well thanks to Fotomoto.

Currently in invitation-only beta, Fotomoto enables anyone with photographic content to sell their photos directly from their website or blog. A single line of code is all it takes to add the customisable Fotomoto toolbar, which analyzes the site's web pages, adds a "Buy" button to each photo for sale and enables viewers to purchase and pay for photos on the spot or send them as free e-cards. Fotomoto handles all order processing and then prints, packages and ships the purchased photos to customers. Its control panel, meanwhile, allows users to set the pricing and availability of their photos, manage their orders and even track analytics data such as how many times a particular photo has been viewed or sent as an e-card. There is no subscription fee for using the service; Fotomoto simply deducts the cost of each print sold plus a 15 percent transaction charge from each order amount, sending the rest on to the user. Photographers in 25 different countries are already using San Francisco-based Fotomoto, which will soon be able to handle transactions in local currencies as well, it says. International shipping is also available. Greeting cards, postcards, calendars and signed prints are coming soon.

Creative consumers have long enjoyed being rewarded for their efforts, but the global recession has added a new level of urgency, spurring what our sister site calls sellsumers to hawk everything from their storage space to their online profiles in their quest to stay afloat. Those who help them do that, of course, will see their own ships rise as well! ;-)

Website: www.fotomoto.com
Contact: www.fotomoto.com/site/contact

Spotted by: TechCrunch

Back in 2006 we wrote about Scoopt Words, an agency that set out to connect bloggers with press outlets. Sadly, Scoopt closed its doors earlier this year, but now a new contender out of Israel is taking a different approach to getting bloggers published—and paid for their efforts.

With a content network of niche websites on topics ranging from poetry to business, sports, travel, health and more, Triond accepts original content in any format, including written articles, pictures, audio and video. Users begin by registering for free and creating a public profile on the site, then submitting their content. Next, Triond reviews their submission; once approved, it publishes the work on the participating site that's best suited to it, handling all the technical, marketing, operational and financial details. Even better is that as soon as that happens, the content begins generating revenue from display and contextual advertising that's placed on the same pages, with 50 percent of any earnings going directly back to the blogger. Tools on the site allow content creators to easily monitor their content, give and receive feedback, and interact with others in the Triond community. Users' profile pages, meanwhile, can be customised with all of their creations, in effect serving as a dynamic online portfolio of their published work. Triond is a service by Tel Aviv-based Stanza Ltd.

If there's one thing that seems clear in the ever-shifting—and struggling—world of journalism, it's that blogging is here to stay. Making it widely profitable is the obvious next step, and there will be no shortage of rewards for those who make that happen. One to emulate on a localized or niche basis? (Related: Free daily pays bloggers.)

Website: www.triond.com
Contact: www.triond.com/contact

Spotted by: Bryce Hufnal