Facebook announced Wednesday that it would be launching it’s own “App Center”, similar to Apple’s App Store and Google Play, but within Facebook. They also said that “paid apps” would now be available as well.

Facebook plans to have a central location where users can find various apps – all neatly categorized on it’s own page within the site. Users will be able to see comments and ratings from other users for each app. But what’s wrong with the current way you ask?

Within the new App Center, developers will now be able to sell apps from within Facebook.

TV Legend Dick Clark Passes at 82

American television legend Dick Clark has passed on at age 82. He is best known for his work on American Bandstand and ending the practice of using white only performers on television. He also gave many artists their break on the show – such as James Brown, Chubby Checker and Madonna. He was also the host of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve for over 30 years. He will be missed.

American TV icon Dick Clark has died at age 82.

Best known for his work on ABC’s American Bandstand, Clark was one of the few non-musicians to ever be inducted into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame.

I may have only been about four years old, but it’s one of the first things I ever remember seeing on TV. I may not have known all of my ABC’s or even who the Jackson 5 were for that matter, but I did know A, B, C.

If you were asked to define your favorite TV ad, could you? If so what would it be? In today’s fast-paced world of digital, having an edge is more important than ever. I recently caught wind of one of the most clever and popular ones that I have seen.

The ad, for cable TV network TNT has quickly become the second most shared video on YouTube – second only to Volkswagen’s “The Force” ad from last year’s Super Bowl.

Life is a Sport, Make it Count

“Where do you want to go today?” was Microsoft’s first global advertising campaign. It was the promo for Windows95 and I remember it like it was yesterday. Why? It was well done and captured every sense of my then 19-year-old imagination. It made me think. A very powerful 30 seconds nonetheless.

That brings me to this. If you’re going to do something, make it count. That’s exactly what Casey Neistat did when hired by Nike to produce a commercial for the Nike FeulBand with the slogan “Make it Count.” Instead of making just another commercial, Neistat and his partner Max Joseph took Nike’s money and went on world tour. When asked, Neistat replied “If I could do anything in the world and make it count, what would I do?’

We’ve all seen them – they’re everywhere. Anytime you read an article or story on the web they’re there. It’s those tiny little sharing buttons at the bottom of the page that allows you to share what you’ve just read – they’re even at the bottom of this page too. It’s a social web – don’t forget to share.

If you didn’t already think Pinterest was a force to be reckoned with, think again. Amazon and eBay have now added sharing buttons for Pinterest to their pages. Along with the ability to share via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter, users now have the ability to “pin” the item they were just looking at to any of their respective boards.

Not less than a week after Android users were finally able to enjoy Instagram on their mobile devices, Facebook announced today that it has purchased Instagram for the price of $1 billion. Yes, $1 billion, that’s not a typo. Not bad for a company that’s only a few years old.

The news of the sale has created quite the buzz around the Internet. The majority opinion is that Facebook will take the popular mobile photo-sharing app and essentially ruin a good thing. Users of the app are already wondering how to back up their pictures and delete their accounts. As an Android user myself, I have only been using it for a few days – the only picture I have uploaded so far is one of my cat.

Instagram Now Available for Android

Ever since Instagram was first released for iPhone, Android users have wanted it to. Previously unavailable, Instagram is that one app that that has always been an exclusive for iPhone users. Not anymore though. Instagram finally released it popular image sharing app this week for Android users. The release has been met with much fanfare as well – the app had 1 million downloads in the first 24 hours it was available.

Pinterest is currently the hottest new thing in the world of digital. So hot in fact that it’s currently driving more referral traffic than other popular social media sites combined– and it’s still invite only. A new user must currently request an invite or know someone already using the site. It’s almost like Gmail a few years ago.

I have mentioned Pinterest a few times before, but this time I really wanted to see how the site worked. I wanted to see the great potential that it can have for businesses. Currently, businesses themselves are prohibited from having accounts – no Walmart or Starbucks fan pages here. However, an individual from within a business can have a page. I’ve had an account myself for about a month now, but it was mostly just to check out the interface and get a basic understanding of how the site worked.