GeekSugar

Would You Want to be as Successful as Sheryl Sandberg?

Emily Co — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:34:15 PST

Many of us look up to Sheryl Sandberg as a role model because she's one of the most successful female business leaders of our time. She's consistently ranked by Forbes as one of the most powerful women in the world and she's estimated to be worth a cool $1.6 billion. She's the face of women trying to crack the glass ceiling, and with so many glowing praises showered on Sandberg, I was surprised to see career blogger Penelope Trunk make the bold statement that "very few women want to be Sandberg." Trunk explains:

"Sandberg wants to be a role model for women who want big, exciting careers. But here’s the problem: women don't want to be Sandberg. It’s no coincidence that the number one woman on the list of self-made millionaires is Oprah. She has no kids and no husband. She’s fascinating, nice, and smart. But few of us would really enjoy her life.

Sandberg and Oprah represent extreme choices in life. The things they give up are not things that most women would want to give up in exchange for the wild career success they could have . . . You can't have small kids and a startup if you want to see your kids."

Everyone has a different definition of what it means to "make it." In fact, success for many women doesn't mean climbing the corporate ladder; it's having a good work-life balance, according to a More magazine survey. The Facebook executive may be one of the wealthiest women around, but her intensive job may leave her with less time to spend with her two kids. What about you - would you want to be as successful as Sheryl Sandberg?

Can You Cash in on Facebook's $5 Billion IPO?

Emily Co — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:15:10 PST

Everyone's buzzing about the Facebook IPO, and after hearing about how many billionaires and millionaires the IPO will create, you might think that it's your chance to make money off this cash cow. But first, you need to educate yourself.

What's the deal about IPOs?

Facebook used to be a private company, which means its shares were not sold to the public. Once a firm goes public, it's on the stock market and it sells a part of itself to outside investors who can afford it. The term for going public is also known as an IPO or initial public offering.

Why would a company go public?

A company that sells shares to outside investors can stand to raise a lot of money. Current estimates of the Facebook IPO are at $5 billion. Companies can do a lot with the capital raised - they can use it to pay down long-term obligations, fund new opportunities, and even acquire competitors. Further, initial private investors who wish to exit can now sell their shares to public investors.

Read to find out about buying Facebook shares.

Would You Rely on Facebook to Name Your Baby?

LilSugar — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:04:10 PST

Plenty of people rely on social media to ask for restaurant advice or their friends' favorite movies, but we'd never heard of anyone using Facebook to name their baby - until now. According to Yahoo, an Illinois couple recently turned to the social network to choose their baby's name.

Dave and Lindsey Meske had selected the name Cooper for their baby boy, but when their doctor informed them that a little girl was actually on the way, the couple launched an online poll - "Name My Child" - in which family, friends, and even strangers could weigh in. From the options Addilyne, Madelyn, Emily, and McKenna, Madelyn won out with 1,310 votes. Madelyn Rae Meske was born on January 31.

5 (Other) Big Tech IPOs

Kristy Korcz — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:05:38 PST

Facebook filed its $5 billion IPO this week, and while it's a historic amount (and the highest ever for an Internet company), other tech companies have also raised massive amounts of cash with their own initial public offerings. See who and how much here!

Now There's Hope For Your Favorite Discontinued Makeup Shades

Miriam Lacey — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:37:17 PST

If you adored a Bobbi Brown makeup shade that got discontinued, here's some excellent news. On Feb. 1, the makeup brand is launching its Bobbi Brings Back campaign on Facebook. Fans are getting the chance to revive their favorite discontinued shades; lip color is the first product they're bringing back, but soon the campaign will also tackle blush, eye shadow, and other "hero" products.

"It's important to me that I'm always listening to my fans," Brown says. "This is an opportunity for me to show my Facebook followers that I appreciate all of their support over the years and thank them. We're bringing back classic Bobbi Brown lip colors solely based on what the fans want." Voting closes on Feb. 29, and the lip colors with the most votes will be available this Fall. They'll only be for sale to Bobbi Brown Facebook fans, though, so if you want to get your hands on them, you'll have to like their page.

Like Reading GeekSugar? Then Follow Us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!

GeekSugar — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:00:04 PST

Reading GeekSugar is just one way to get all the latest tech news, trends, tips, and informative info throughout the day - we also share funny tidbits, news we don't cover on the site, cool links, and more on our Twitter and Facebook pages!

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Geek out!

Video of the Day: Beware the Facebook Police

Kelly Schwarze — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:05:50 PST

There's no way around it, Facebook Timeline is here. And as Jimmy Kimmel says, "You will like it." Don't want to take the time to update your new profile page? Expect a visit from the Facebook Police to force the social interaction out of you, as seen in a dramatic reenactment from Kimmel's late night show.

Anonymous Hacks CBS, Universal, Heading For Facebook Next?

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:15:58 PST

Internet hacktivist group Anonymous blocked traffic from CBS.com and deleted all of its files last night during Operation Global Blackout, a hackathon that began shortly after file-sharing site MegaUpload was shut down, and has its sights set on Facebook as its next target. In a YouTube video released this morning, the group (or an affiliate group) asks users to help take down the world's biggest social network at 12 a.m. on January 28th.

Your Facebook profile most likely holds tons of your most precious photos and videos, and like your computer, you should back up all that data just in case. Here, I'll tell you how to download all of your Facebook content - from wall posts to photo galleries - for safe keeping.

Download Your Data From Facebook
You can download a copy of all of your Facebook data right on the social network. Just head to Account > Account Settings > Download a Copy of Your Facebook Data (this link will be in the bottom left-hand corner of the Account Settings window). Included in the download is your contact info, photos, videos, notes, and wall posts as well as chat conversations, friend lists, events, and comments made on your wall posts. If you do choose to back up your Facebook data (it's recommended!), then be sure to keep it in a safe place, like a password-protected file on an external hard drive.

Has Social Media Made It Too Easy to Keep in Touch?

TresSugar — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 02:00:00 PST

Social media gives us the opportunity to keep in touch with thousands of people - but is it also sort of a burden? Before the creation of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking platforms, it wasn't quite so easy to keep track of old friends. Now you can communicate with that girl from your second grade class instantly across several separate mediums. It's convenient, yes, but it can also be a bit overwhelming.

Rather than shifting in and out of different relationships as time goes on, it's become easy to keep adding more friendships to the mix and expanding our social circles. Getting truly "out of touch" has become nearly impossible - unless, of course, you officially defriend people. How do you feel about it?

The Pros and Cons of Facebook Timeline Apps (and Which Ones You Need Now)

Kristy Korcz — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:24:12 PST

Facebook is an ever-evolving thing. One minute you love it, the next minute it goes and changes something and you're back to learning how to use it all over again. Such is life, I suppose. This time, Facebook has added even more ways for you to share what you're doing and when with Timeline apps. Timeline apps connect with some of your favorite websites and mobile apps to share your activities.

As we've learned to expect from Facebook, all changes come with some pros and cons. Pro: Facebook believes that in this time of openness and sharing, you can discover more awesome things by seeing what your friends are reading, eating, drinking, watching, and doing. Apps help make this a reality. The con? You already have friends that overshare about their bodily functions, babies, and daily to-do lists - do you really need to know the route they took on their 4.6-mile run today, or which vacation spots they've been to? It could be overkill. Thankfully, you have options. The new Activity Log on your timeline allows you to see all of the apps you've installed on your Facebook page, and select whether or not to show them in your timeline. If you choose not to show any apps in your Timeline, they'll still show up in the Ticker (on the top right of your news feed page), but you won't be mucking up your friends' pages with stuff they may not care about.

So now that you know what happens when you install apps into your Timeline, which apps could be beneficial to you (and your friends') lives? I'll tell you about a few in the slideshow.