Check out this interview with DoubleTree Hotels global head John Greenleaf about how DoubleTree is using contests and sharing around photos and videos uploaded by their customers, tied to specific locations.

Abstainer, noun: A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.

So wrote Ambrose Bierce (also known as Bitter Bierce) in his cynical look on life, The Devil’s Dictionary. And let’s face it, Ambrose probably has it right as we all like a little gamble now and then to liven things up.

However, you no longer have to head over to a casino to get your gamble on because your mobile phone probably offers more gambling action than the mighty Bellagio.

So just how is mobile gambling getting ready to take over the world? Read on to find out…

Try Before You Buy

Perhaps one of the most interesting elements of casino and poker apps is the fact that you can play for free. Yes, you get to enjoy all the casino games without any of the risk, making them…well…fun.

However, it won’t take long before you wish your winning streak was happening with a real money game and the boasts of being rich on play money will become empty. However, it is great for refining your game play and sharpening your skills. You can then take your new strategies to real money play on a casino or mobile hold’em website and put them to the test.

Welcome Bonuses Are Free Money

Another highly attractive feature of mobile gambling apps is that casinos and poker sites actually give you free money to play with. And they do it just for signing up.

Well, OK, you have to actually deposit some money there – and you have to do some gambling. The bonuses are then unlocked depending on how much you play. It’s rather like getting achievements or trophies in other games – except these reward you with actual cash.

Mobile Gaming Offers Fast Access

Having casino and poker games on your mobile allows you to jump straight into the action wherever you are. Online casinos and poker rooms have responded to this by offering games that require no waiting times to keep mobile players in the heart of the action.

This means that if you have a few minutes spare you can always spin some slots reels, or play a few hands of poker.

Not All Poker and Casino Apps Are the Same

Poker sites and online casino do vary in their offerings. While many of the games they offer are quite similar, the bonuses and promotions the sites give out can be quite different. So it is worth shopping around and checking out some comparison sites (and reading a few reviews) to get a feel for who is offering the best.

Poker players should also be aware that the ability to find opponents is directly related to the popularity of a site. The more popular a poker room is, the more people play there, and the fuller the tables are. Bear that in mind when signing up.

A Final Word of Warning

Do remember that online gambling is illegal in some countries and some US states. Check out a specialized website to make sure you are playing within the law.

Also, don’t gamble with money you cannot afford to lose. Gambling is a bit of fun – so keep it that way. If your ability to pay the rent, or eat, depends on the spin of a roulette wheel then you are doing something wrong.

Now, with that said, don’t be a fuddy-duddy abstainer. Get out there and live a little!

Bitcoins have been in the news quite a bit lately, as the trading value of this new virtual currency has been fluctuating like crazy over the past weeks.

The scale of the recent boom and bust has been staggering indeed. At the start of the year, a Bitcoin was worth $13.51. Earlier this week, it traded as high as $266. And on Thursday, it plummeted to less than $100, as one of the exchanges where Bitcoins are traded closed temporarily. This would be comparable to the exchange rate for the British pound soaring from $1.62 (where it was on Jan. 1) to $31.90 and then falling back to $12.

The topic got even more attention when we learned that Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss had amassed a rather large Bitcoin position.

The video above provides an excellent primer on the topic of Bitcoins, along with the article linked above. It will be interesting to see whether online retailers or marketplaces started accepting this virtual currency.

Mark Zuckerberg has announced the new Facebook phone as you can see in the video above. The phone will be based on Android but it will be laid out differently with the home page of the phone being devoted to people rather than apps.

Let’s see if this takes off. Not everyone wants the world to see who is on their Facebook “favorites” list on their phone home page. I can see plenty of drama with girlfriends, etc.

Kristen Bell has become quite a star, and she’s getting plenty of notoriety for her edgy role in “House of Lies” on Showtime. This photo from her Maxim shoot gives you an idea of how good she can look!

Now her star power is being put to use in connection with a very successful Kickstarter campaign to create a Veronica Mars movie. The campaign has raised more than $1 million in a little more than 4 hours. Kickstarter has become an incredible tool for raising money online, and with Hollywood projects featuring proven stars it’s not too surprising that something like this would be very successful.

Watch the video below for more information on this successful campaign.

I have to admit that I finally saw this promo video today, but it now appears that Google Glass will cost less than $1,500, so expect to see these things everywhere. It’s a pretty fair price for what looks like a revolutionary gadget. I think Steve Jobs would be proud, and of course pissed that Apple didn’t come up with this.

This is a pretty fascinating story about a pedestrian bridge built in Rotterdam through crowdfunding when the city couldn’t come up with the money.

Tons of people love Facebook, but most will agree that the search function sucks. It’s pretty surprising that new developments have taken so long for Facebook in this area, but today’s big announcement reveals a pretty impressive evolution in the whole search concept.

Graph Search, which is initially launching as a beta product for U.S. audiences only, will allow users to uncover social connections between other members of the site and quickly identify which friends have been to certain places, “liked” specific topics or appeared in certain photos.

Friends, places, interests and photos will be the foundation for queries when the search engine launches, Facebook said. For example, Facebook explained how Graph Search could be used to find “My friends who live in Palo Alto who like Game of Thrones,” “Indian restaurants liked by my friends from India” or “Photos of my friends taken in Paris.” Singles looking to meet people could search “Friends of friends who are single men in San Francisco.” Someone trying to remember a person she’d met at a friend’s party evening before could query, “People named Drew who are friends of Peter and went to Harvard.”

We’ll see if the actual service lives up to the hype, but the potential seems significant.

Life is funny. One day we’re hiding something from our parents. The next we’re trying to find what our kids are hiding from us. Soon after, we’re helping our grandkids sneak sweets and stay up too late. As we toggle from one side to the other, we see things from different perspectives. But our online reputation lasts forever. Here’s a look at what this means for you, your life and your privacy.

Teens and Online Reputations

We enter our teens needing permission to visit a friend. We exit in full control of our lives, able to leave the state or even the country without permission. This maturation process means we slowly leave our parent’s protective shield and start making our own decisions – and our own mistakes. Many teens today post their mistakes all over social media, without appreciation for what this means later in life. Teen’s reputations are based on the coolness factor, not what an employer, future spouse or eventually their kids might think.

Adulthood and Online Reputations

Before social media, the worst thing we had to worry about was Uncle Larry showing up with those pictures from camp freshman year. Parents who grew up on Facebook and Twitter have endless timelines that prove we did everything we’re trying to tell our kids not to. It’s not just parents who need to worry. Now that we’re adults, our bosses, people who could lend us a mortgage or car loan and the guys who evaluate our insurance claims have access to this information. Reputation CEO Fertik says there aren’t sufficient laws in the works to protect prying eyes from this information.

Senior Adulthood and Online Reputations

So, you’ve raised your kids and finished your career and your online reputation no longer matters, right? Not so fast. Now that you’ve accumulated wealth over a lifetime, you’re the target for online predators, such as scammers and identity thieves. If your accomplishments are featured in articles about you, you can believe con artists bet on you having a buck or two they can shave off. It might come in the form of an email scam, stealing your credit or blackmail.

In this digital age, forever truly means forever. The high school paper or the high school prank, the way you discipline your children and how much money you’ve banked in your IRA – it’s all online for the world to see. How can you protect yourself, your reputation and everything you’ve worked so hard to earn? Visit Reputation.com for valuable advice on safekeeping your forever.

As you think about your business marketing strategy for the coming year, it’s important to consider all of the various strategies and tactics, from TV advertising to print to social media.

There’s been a lot of talk about social media, and many brands are using Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites effectively. Frankly, if you’re in consumer products, consumer services or entertainment, you really need a presence there as part of your branding efforts and also for your PR strategy.

Yet beware of the consultants out there who over-promise what can be achieved here. These so-called experts look for big fees to get companies to make big investments here. Sometimes these investments are warranted, other times they are not. Now we’re seeing some of the backlash as described in this Yahoo! article. The argument here may be a bit extreme, as they assert that most social media marketing is a waste of time. That’s ridiculous when you consider the branding aspects that aren’t even addressed in the article. But it offers good information about the over-promised benefits. Be careful on how you spend money here.

Of course there remains more traditional methods like business cards, brochures and other print materials. You can of course shop around online at places like 48 hour print so it’s not like it was 15 years ago when you needed to use local providers. Now that you can compare prices online printing is much cheaper. Also, there are still many potential customers and partners who react to nicely printed brochures, so keep that in mind for your business as well. Not every business can be entirely virtual.

Assuming the fiscal cliff gets resolved soon, there are plenty of indications that the economy is ready to take off. Consumer confidence is up, so take advantage of the opportunity and work on some serious marketing efforts for next year.