This is a great way to get involved locally while also getting an unusually generous reward of the Discover pass. Below are some more details about this great community event that Oracle has initiated to help make San Francisco and it’s surrouding waters clean and safe for everyone, including our water creatures!

Hope to see you there!

When and Where:
Saturday, September 15, 2012
9 a.m. to 12 Noon

Ocean Beach at Fulton Street, San Francisco

To register, click here.

When you arrive at the event, be sure to visit the Oracle table. You’ll get an Oracle t-shirt – while supplies last of course! – for contibuting your efforts to the event. On top of that, you can also sign up to receive an emailed code that will get you a complimentary Discover pass* to Oracle OpenWorld and JavaOne.

Here it is in all it’s glory!

Impressive San Francisco, impressive.

Social Gaming Evolves

With such a broad fan base and wide following, the medium of social gaming is obviously evolving. By understanding where social gaming is going next, it may be possible to predict the trends and get ahead of the curve when creating the next huge social game, like Bingo Friendzy or Bubble Safari. Avid gamers will also learn which traits of these simple video games to focus on when they’re developing new concepts. For those not familiar with the brand, Jackpotjoy is currently the UK’s leading online instant win and bingo site with over 4 million players and paying out in excess of GBP 90 million every month. Michael Saunders, managing director, plans to expand the brand, which is owned by Gamesys Group, and reach a wider audience while ensuring that all players are over 18 years of age and that other criteria is met. The newly released “Bingo and Slots Friendzy” is Jackpotjoy’s first Facebook app which offers real cash jackpots to users.

Gamer Demographics in the U.S.: Not What You Might Have Expected

To do this effectively, you should first understand who social gamers are. Some of the statistics may surprise you. Fifty-eight percent of social gamers in the U.S. are over 40-years-old and twenty-nine percent are married with children. Seventy-nine percent have a college degree or better and forty-four percent make over $50,000 per year. Most shockingly however, is that only eight percent of all the people who play social games actually access them from their mobile phones—meaning the vast majority are playing these games on their personal or work computers. There are a number of other important stats to note, like fifty-four percent of social gamers are female and about sixty-three percent of these social gamers are between the ages of 30 and 59, as opposed to teenagers, which you might expect. With this in mind, social gaming companies know where to market most of their games and what markets they need to pitch their message to.

Just Like In the Real Casinos

Some of the first and still the most popular social games are those in which players can gamble against each other in some way. The top Facebook game in July 2012, Texas Holdem Poker, has been around since 2007. It now has 7 million daily users and 33 million monthly active users. Online gambling poker rooms have been around for well over a decade now and are similar to actual poker rooms in casinos. These social games are not much different and haven’t really strayed too far from the most popular games of the past. Even as social gaming evolves, it will always tap into the traits of successful games from the past, namely those with large amounts of risk, chance, luck and drama.

Social Gaming Meets Fashion

However, a new wave of social games unlike any games we’ve ever seen or played before are also being developed. Fashion and social games are about to collide, even though that may seem like a pretty bizarre mix. However, anything that generates millions upon millions of “likes” is something the fashion industry will ultimately want a piece of. At Fashion Week this year, DKNY and Fashion Week Live partnered to form a Facebook game. In this game, players can “launch their very own fashion career by racking up points to win digital DKNY clothes, virtual apartment upgrades and respect points from other players,” according to a report by The Huffington Post.

With all types of people taking interest in the latest social games, and multiple industries investing, it seems like social gaming is quickly becoming a part of every aspect of our lives.

Dan Zarrella, HubSpot’s Social Media Scientist and a tweep who boasts over 50,000 followers lays out 8 proven ways top increase your twitter followers and retweets of your tweets.

If you are a social media maven, you should definitely try out some or all of these techniques. Lets us know in the comments how it worked for you!

If you even wondered what devices Apple created and when, you have to look no further than this “Apple Tree” that Flickr user Pixel Fantasy has produced, using publicly available data about Apple the company and it’s products.

Check it out! Share it if you miss Steve Jobs.

Facebook director of Engineering – Andrew “Boz” Bosworth – appears to have (accidentally?) posted a shirtless topless photo of Mark Zuckerberg, only to delete it seconds later.

But seconds is all it takes, for sites like TMZ to get a copy of the photo from tipsters and post it on their site.

“Like” and share this post if you thought Mark Zuckerberg would never be seen topless on a social network.

[ via TMZ ]

Oracle Open World At Moscone Center, San Francisco [photo via .flickr.com / oracle_images ]

Another great thing to check out while you’re there, is the Oracle America’s Cup Pavillon.  You will be able to get an up close and personal look at a model of one of the racing yachts.

Of course don’t forget about the myriad of sessions that are offered throughout the week. Topics include, Cloud computing, demos, middleware along with showcasing Oracle solutions and strategy. All of these topics can help you run a more secure and efficient company in the 21st century. It is all kicked off by the man himself, Larry Ellison, on September 30th at 5pm at Moscone Center. Ellison, along with President Mark Hurd and several high level Oracle executives will be speaking throughout the conference.

What a great opportunity to hear directly from the decision makers and know what the upcoming year will bring.

With this app, your office is wherever you are!

Natalie Rachelson has more on this app at the official Oracle blog.

If you can’t wait to get your hands on the Fusion Tap app, just click here (iTunes link).

Enjoy!