How we rank people

There have been many questions about rankings coming to us and we wanted to address the issue, just to clear a few things up. We can't reveal all the details, but here are a few elements that may be causing confusion.

First, while we show the number of videos, pictures, and audio uploads in the Top 100 that a person has uploaded each month, users can also earn points off of items uploaded within the past 30 days. So, for example, on September 15th, people who look at something you uploaded after August 16th will still give you points and help you rise on the charts. (This means that you should space your uploads throughout the month, you don't have to upload everything in the first few days of the month and then coast for the remainder.) This is one reason that people with just one or two uploads may be rising in the charts. Remember, you must upload at least one item in the current month to be eligible for the competition.

Second, while popularity is very important for the points you are earning, the numbers shown in the charts are a snapshot of your popularity right now. "Recent" shows how popular you have been over the past hour, "24 hours" shows popular you have been over the past day. Seeing someone with a low popularity number that's high in the ranks, or a high popularity number that's low in the ranks, doesn't mean that they've consistently had those popularity numbers. The numbers change, and as important as popularity is (it's probably the most important indicator), it's not the only aspect that helps your position.

Third, you can't just compare the views and ratings of two items and assume one is worth more points. The view count listed is the number of times it has been viewed. One person can look at an item many times (checking back for new comments, for example) and have the view count go up, but these extra views don't provide more points. There are other weightings involved in assigning points.

One final note: We have had people report to us that some people are using multiple accounts to cheat. We are identifying these cheaters. If you are using multiple accounts, you should stop now. Cheating with multiple accounts is a violation of our terms of service which can result in a disqualification for the current month and could also lead to having prior winnings withheld.

Popularity and mass e-mailing

Following the launch of popularity points -- which keep track of how many new people are looking at your uploads -- we've removed the controversial ability that allowed users to quickly mass-email their contacts.

Gone are the days when you could simply enter the account information of your free email provider (such as Hotmail, gmail and Yahoo! Mail), and have Spymac automatically contact all of your friends there announcing your new upload.

Spread out your uploads, but be creative in doing so. Instant Messengers are fast and easy, and with the new popularity point system, you'll be able to see if people you're talking to actually check out your work.

Getting serious about copyright

We have now changed Spymac's anonymous copyright reporting to encourage more members to report others who upload someone else's creation. If you have seen a video, picture or audio clip that does not belong to the member who uploaded it, you can now report it using the anonymous system.

This feature was added to increase the quality of competition, leveling out the playing field between those who upload original material, and those who do not. With the new system, we can eliminate those who are uploading content, enabling those with original content to win more money!

We need more people reporting in order to keep the site filled with original content. We're encouraging all of you to do your part in making Spymac the place to be for new talent! If you're on Spymac to simply upload non-original content, there are other sites that would be more suited to your needs. On Spymac, we're looking for stars... not grandma-falling-off-the-chair clips that have been circulating the net for years!

How it works

When viewing an upload, there is now a "Report" link located to the right of the video, picture or audio clip. After clicking on the link, you'll be taken to a page where you can submit evidence - such as links, images, and other relevant information - to let us know that the upload was stolen from another person or site. The more information you provide, and the more specific that it is, the faster we can process the report.

Be warned: the report system has also gotten more strict and serious. If a user's content gets reported and he/she admits it is copyrighted or he/she doesn't respond to the complaint, the content will now be completely deleted from the system (whereas previously, it was simply made private).

Spymac is very serious about copyrights. In order to be eligible to receive money for your uploads, promotional material or creative commons work of others is not allowed. For more information on acceptable content on Spymac, please review the Terms of Use: http://www.spymac.com/tos/

Jackpot extended this month!

We are currently in the process of unrolling the most significant update since Spymac's re-launch in January. The Top 100 charts provide a glimpse of the new system, but there's much more to come. Uploaders, please see the important action required section below.

As a result, the charts will not be frozen at midnight on July 31. Instead, they will be carrying through to the end of August and the jackpot will continue to increase until then. Put simply, there will be no pay-out at the end of July, but next month's pay-out will be effectively doubled.

We have to do this as there are new features running and collecting data in the background that are directly related to the jackpot pay-outs. The new tools will provide the community with more ways to support their favorite stars, and will dramatically improve the site for both viewers and contributers.

So hold tight and keep competing in the Top 100 table -- you're really going to be able to win big this time around, and the new features are literally just around the corner. In fact, if you want more information about what we're close to releasing, just look around the site: There are dozens of clues scattered throughout some of the less visited sections of the site. Happy hunting!

Action required to stay in the running!

Any rank and position earned throughout July has not been lost! Members will start the month of August with the same position in the Top 100 charts and ranking system that they had at the end of July, but they have to upload something new within the month of August in order for their rank and position to be restored. If you do not see yourself listed on the Top 100 table even though you should be, you need to upload something for your position to be restored.

New way of reporting new features

We've created a new section called News from the Spymac Labs where you can read about Spymac's latest new features, upcoming changes, and more! We will no longer be using the Spymac Bulletin blog to introduce new features, but keep checking back for more information on other exciting happenings around the site.

Spymac Labs will be more than just news, it will also give users sneak peeks inside development, and allow for comments and feedback.

Find out more about the recently added copyright report system in the most recent Lab entry. (As you can see from our new report system, we're very serious about copyrights. In order to be eligible to receive money for your uploads, promotional material or creative commons work of others is not allowed.)

Anonymous rating

With the arrival of the Top 100, ratings are now even more important. We received a lot of feedback from people who did not want to rate an upload accurately because of social/political reasons. Look at the five stars as being a thumbs up / thumbs down system, with just a few more choices in between for accuracy's sake.

Don't be afraid to give a full thumbs up to someone who deserves it, or likewise, a 1 or 2 star rating to an upload that you feel deserves it. The system only works if there is a wide spectrum of votes being cast. Remember though, always try to leave constructive feedback to let the uploader know how he/she can improve or continue to please.

Speaking of accuracy, rating stars can now detect fractions -- no more half or full stars. You can now have a 3 and a quarter star rating, for example. More to come soon, good luck!

Official Footage from Friday's Stunt

Stay tuned for news on the Top 100 and other great features that will be launching soon.

Orlando Spy Pictures

Here's a killer slideshow from NSMEntertainment. He went to Saturday's stunt at Orlando's City Hall, and even scored some cash from the Spymac Man. (He tossed out thousands -- literally!) And now, just by uploading pictures from an event he literally got paid to go to, he has a chance to win even more in the new Top 100. Not a bad deal!

Spymac takes over City Hall

Spymac took Orlando City hall by storm today, and gave out bundles of cold cash to the hundreds of hungry-for-money onlookers. Our agents were able to follow their orders like clock-work, so thanks to everyone who assisted in the event and who attended. Official footage will be posted soon, but in the mean time, here's some clips from the community:

Spymac Stunt in Orlando TODAY AT NOON! Cash Giveaway!

Attention Orlando / Tampa Bay residents: Spymac will be holding a special event at City Hall (downtown Orlando) today (July 6th) at Noon (EST).

A secret Spymac agent will be sliding off of City Hall, and with the help of the Orlando SWAT team, will make his way through the crowds giving away thousands in free cash!

The details:

Orlando City Hall
One City Commons, 400 South Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL

Time: 12:00 Noon EST
Date: Friday, July 6

Event page: http://www.spymac.com/orlando
Back to Spymac.com

Watch the New Spymac TV Promo!

Taggin' controls

Previously, we talked about a new feature that allows members to block people from embedding things in their profiles and comments. Similar functionality is now available for tagging.

Through your Account Settings, you can now control who is able to add tags to both your uploads and your profile. You can choose to allow only your friends, everyone, or no one at all. If you are having a problem with people tagging your uploads with words that you do not feel describe your content properly, simply turn public tagging capability off, or switch it to friends only.

HUGE VIP SPYMAC PARTY IN PARAGUAY TONIGHT

Spymac is spreading like wild-fire in South America, and tonight we're officially holding a media and VIP kick-off party in Paraguay! A Spanish version of this announcement is below.

The countries top models, media representatives and celebrities will be there to help us celebrate, and it's rumored that Spymac co-founder Nostradamus might make an appearance!

The event starts at 8:30 PM, but it is a private party for the 300 invited VIPs until midnight. After midnight, everyone's welcome to come and help us party the night away! Videos and pictures of the event will be posted to Spymac as soon as they become available.

EVENT DETAILS

SPYMAC LANZAMIENTO VIP MEDIA ELECTRONIC PARTY IN ASUNCION, PARAGUAY

Liquid Disco
Paseo Carmelitas
Asuncion, Paraguay

Time: 8:30 - Midnight: VIP (INVITATION ONLY)
Midnight Onward: PUBLIC PARTY!

QUESTIONS? WANT TO ATTEND? CONTACT US!

R.JONES@SPYMACNETWORK.COM
0981 143 722

---

GRAN FIESTA DE SPYMAC EN ASUNCION, PARAGUAY ESTE NOCHE

SPYMAC esta creciendo en sur america! Esta noche estamos oficialmente para la prensa en una fiesta electronica en ASUNCION PARAGUAY Las mejores modelos celebridades y prensa estaran ahi para celebrar con nosotros NUESTRAS GANAS DE EXPANDIRNOS A EN LATINOAMERICA!

TENEMOS UN RUMOR QUE EL COFUNDADOR NOSTRADAMUS HARA SU APARICION ONLINE EN LA FIESTA!

videos y fotos del evento seran posteadas en spymac apenas nos envien los mienbros que estaran participando en la fiesta

EVENT DETAILS

SPYMAC LANZAMIENTO VIP MEDIA ELECTRONIC PARTY IN ASUNCION, PARAGUAY

Liquid Disco
Paseo Carmelitas
Asuncion, Paraguay

Time: 8:30 - Midnight: VIP (INVITATION ONLY)
Midnight Onward: PUBLIC PARTY!

QUESTIONS? WANT TO ATTEND? CONTACT US!

R.JONES@SPYMACNETWORK.COM
0981 143 722

Private, Speedy Profiles!

While we work in the background to release the new Top Charts (view this entry if you need a recap), our developers are busy adding features that are heavily in demand.

You can now set your profile to private! If you do this, only your friends can visit your profile and leave comments. Simply visit your Edit Profile page and mark your profile as "Friends Only" to activate this feature.

On the topic of your profile, we've recently been fine-tuning the engine behind the movies, pictures and audio that people embed in their comments to you. The result: profiles with lots of comments (With embedded content) should be loading a lot faster for everyone! This speed increase also effects people who embed stuff on MySpace, FaceBook, etc. Enjoy!

Special Update From the Official S12 TV!

Stop the Madness!

Don't you hate it when people slow down your profile by embedding stuff in your comments that you don't want? You can now take action! If you visit your Account Options, you will see a new option ("Comment embedding settings") that lets you:

-Block everyone from embedding anything (in either your profile, on your uploads -- or both)
-Give permission to only your friends to allow them to embed stuff on your profile or on your uploads

This is the month we are launching the charts -- stay tuned for more information on that!

Alert the crew!

Here's a new feature that has been high in demand: from the upload page, you can now notify all of your friends when you upload something new! This is a great way to keep your friends and family in the loop with what's going on in your life. If you select the "Alert the crew" checkbox, the friends you have on Spymac will get an email with a link to your upload.

Tell me when someone makes a new comment!

When you're posting a new comment, you'll now see a checkbox labeled with:

"Tell me when someone makes a new comment!"

If you select this box, you will receive an email when someone else comments on that particular upload! So go ahead and ask a question or engage in a discussion -- you'll be notified when someone answers you!

We have a lot more coming, so stay tuned!

Friends-only Video Chat and Customizable Flags

Here's two nice little features for you:

You can now make your webcam friends-only, which means that only people who have been approved as your friend can request a video chat. Do this from your profile edit page!

Also, if you've been wanting to change the flag on your profile, you can now do that through your settings page

Revamped Collections!!!

Collections are a great way to gather your favorite movies, pictures, and even friends, all in one place! We've revamped the way they're displayed: bigger thumbnails and an scroller to easily view all the items in the set. Collections can even contain other Collections, which can lead to all sorts of fun.

Here's a cool Collection of Wallpapers so you can see what we're talking about.

Tip: When you embed a Collection, (for example, on MySpace) it shows up as a slideshow! Try it out.

Spymac Visits South Beach

Spymac visited South Beach last week to film an upcoming TV show (details announced soon). Last month's jackpot winner SOCOM12 made an appearance!

This week's payout

We're currently making some changes to the way the system works so this week's payout is going to be a little bit delayed. We apologize for that, but we're sure the changes are for the better!
Stay tuned!

How it all works!

We wanted to address some questions we've been receiving since yesterday's weekly payout, and to use this opportunity to talk about our revenue sharing in general.

Spymac has new people joining every day, and the number of total uploads keeps increasing. With more uploads, there is more competition! So you're going to have to keep kicking it up a notch every month if you want to hold your position in the charts! Granted, it's hard to know your position in the charts since we currently don't reveal that information, but we're going to change that!

The Spymac Charts is where you'll be able to see who's winning the big money each month. The Charts will make Spymac feel more like a monthly-competition, because that's what the site really is! For each payout, our system automatically ranks every uploader, and the higher they are on the Charts, the larger their share of the jackpot will be. We're also working on ways to let members have more say over who wins the jackpots each month. If you know of members who SPAM, or upload copyrighted stuff, you'll be able influence their ranking and allow for higher-quality content-producers to rise to the top.

Spymac's revenue-sharing model is unique because the top uploaders get the lions-share of the weekly and monthly jackpots. If you see quality content, it's very important that you rate it and share it with your friends! Such simple actions will ensure that the members who most deserve the big jackpots will get them!

We Now Have Cover Art!!!

The audio section was already pretty cool, but now it's even better! When you upload your latest music or audio creation, you now have the chance to add a picture to be used as its cover art! This picture will be shown instead of the traditional light-show thumbnail, so use this feature to really stand out! Slick!

We have a lot more goodies coming, so stay tuned!

Moneten, Models & Monika!

If you live in Germany, you've probably heard of comedy star "Hannelore" from Freitag-Nacht-News on RTL. Guess what? She's moved to Spymac! This is a special treat just for our visitors from Germany, but everyone is welcome to check out what's going on:

http://www.spymac.com/monika/

Now That's a Cool Hair Cut!

Props to cansedipset!

Monthly Jackpot Out! (Updated)

Just a short note: It's a holiday in Germany today, and our team is taking a much-deserved break! We'll be paying out the large monthly jackpot when the office reopens on Wednesday. (Update: It's past midnight in Germany and the payout is out! You should have received a Wednesday Winners newsletter if you won, and a separate Money Makers newsletter if you have any Money Makers that won this month.

Another week, another pay out!

We've been working on some exciting announcements in the background, but we of course found time to do the weekly pay-out! Congratulations to all the winners - you should receive an email shortly...
And the best part? The monthly winners will be announced in the coming days, so keep uploading original, quality content to get your stake in this month's jackpot!

This week's winners are in!

We're sending out the Wednesday Winners Newsletter now, so check your mail (or open your virtual wallet!) later tonight to see if you won money this week! Remember, the big monthly jackpot is still coming so keep uploading and promoting!

Hot is hot!

The idea behind the "Hot" filter is to sort out the good content from the bad, and we're constantly improving how it works. With the amount of contributions we get each day, there's certainly a ton of entertaining, creative and unique content... but sometimes it gets lost in the crowd. Today we started to make a few tweaks to Hot that will help bring quality content to the top, and it's only the beginning. We're working on a major revamp of Hot that will better highlight and feature quality uploads. Together with our revenue sharing model, Hot is one of the ways we're working hard to highlight and reward the users who put serious time, effort and passion into their uploads!

Hello Wednesday Winners!

We sent out the first newsletter containing your weekly winnings. Congratulations to everyone who won money! We're always trying to improve the newsletter, so there's a good chance next week's will contain more features and bling! But remember, the only way to get this much-talked-about newsletter is to win money, so keep uploading!

And if you are a winner, make sure you check out the special badges available to you!

Where are your Money Makers?

In April alone, we've had plenty of new members come in as Money Makers, so the site is really going to start to heat up! Make sure that you check to see if you've been credited for the members you've brought in. To do this, go to Friends and click on Show: Money Makers. If friends that you've coaxed to the site don't show up there, you won't be getting 10% of what they earn. Your friends have to follow your special link that's listed with your recruiting tools. If you've invited a friend and, for one reason or another, they weren't able to successfully join your network, send us an email by the end of next week and we'll get you fixed up, or just ask your friends to rejoin using your special link.

Bye-Bye Daily Payouts, Hello Wednesday Winners!!!

We want to make sure high-quality uploads are properly rewarded, so we're constantly making changes to our system based on feedback. In the coming days and weeks, we'll be implementing changes that will better highlight and reward content providers. In order to facilitate this, we need to switch to weekly payouts. This will give the system more time to collect, analyze and rank uploads (not all of our advertisers are able to update their stats fast enough for a daily payout) and will lead to more money going to the uploaders who deserve it!

• You'll be notified weekly, not daily, about how much money you've made
• The increased time will allow us to get more accurate stats back from our advertisers
  
• First of several steps to better reward and highlight quality content
• Weekly newsletter will begin next Wednesday, will feature your weekly earnings

We're all looking forward to the first newsletter, scheduled to go out next Wednesday. In it, you'll be able to drool over all the money you made, see who's hot that particular week, and find out about what's going down in the Spymac community.

And the big winner is...

Hollywood 007 stuntman David Lyon delivers an important message announcing March's top Jackpot Winner...

Paying for comments and rates

It was already easy to make money on Spymac, and now there's a whole new way to do just that: by commenting and rating! For every quality comment that you add to pictures, movies, music or profiles, we'll credit your account $1.00 (USD). Ratings send twenty-five cents your way, which can add up quickly... Hopefully this will promote the growth of an active and vibrant community that provides interesting, relevant feedback. After all, isn't that what you want when you upload?

Now that you can get paid to comment, even those who do not produce creative content themselves can benefit from Spymac's jackpot system. What great news to start the month with! Cash for comments and ratings will be tallied at the end of each day. April Fools!

You've got thousands!

The last day of the month falls on a weekend this time around, so we just completed this month's monthly jackpot give-a-way! A few users got emails containing over $5,000 (wouldn't it be nice to receive an email saying you've won $6,000 US?), so check your mail and, if appropriate, celebrate... after all, it's Friday! We did pay out the first month of the Money Makers 10% cut, but we're expecting that to really kick in after all the Money Makers you invited had some time to earn some money on their own. Congratulations, everyone!

Monthly Jackpot Coming Soon!

We're getting ready to do the monthly payout in the coming days! There are certainly some big winners this time around, and this will be our first payout in which members will be getting extra money for all the friends they've invited. This will be the third Monthly Jackpot since relaunch and its our largest yet!

Spymac on TV (Again!)

Following our German TV appearance on RTL, here's a clip of us on the French (Canadian) station TQS! Very cool use of the FileSucker, TQS!

Homepage of the month!

We love all the great attention we're getting on TV, in magazines and around the Web. Today we found out that we were chosen as the "Homepage of the Month" by Photographie Magazine (Germany)! If you haven't noticed, we highlight some of what's being said about us right here on our blog. This isn't to brag or to show off (well, maybe it is a little...), it's mainly because these articles often provide more information about the site, our direction, and what's going on within our offices behind closed doors. You can learn a lot about us by reading the media mentions!

Where's an acceptance speech when you need one?

Thanks to Gianny for working with Paraguay-based artist Sergio Buzo to create a Spymac work of art (made from steel) that's on its way to our HQ. We'll display it proudly!

Keyboard shortcuts

You can login, search and edit your uploads all with simple key combinations! Read our new help page on the topic for more information, and send us an email if you have ideas for more key combinations you'd like to see!

Pro tip: Using the Use Menu

Many of you are just now discovering what we internally call the "Use Menu." The Use Menu used to be available everywhere you saw a little white hand icon, but today we've changed it to a more appropriate little triangle that more people understand. It contains handy (no pun intended!) ways to quickly add an item to your favorites, let's you email items to friends, and much more! It's also an easy way to preview an item and get more information about it before deciding whether or not you want to view it. Using it truly speeds up your Spymac experience and we recommend you give it a try -- it's addicting!

You can reach the Use Menu by clicking on the title bar (look for the small down arrow) of any item. Enjoy!

Earn 10% from all your friends!

We've launched a really cool initiative that helps you make money and rewards you for bringing your friends over -- You'll get 10% of everything your friends make! If one of your friends (that you invited) earns $5,000 one month, that's $500 in your pocket. Invite a lot of creative friends and this can really add up quickly. Visit http://Spymac.com/info/moneymakers for all the info you need!

Spymac plug-in for Wordpress!

Wordpress is a great place to blog, the only problem is that you can't embed Spymac videos into entries -- until now! Earlier this week, Martin Aberastegue released a free plugin that makes Wordpress compatible with Spymac and other popular video portals. Instructions are in Spanish, but installation is basic and easy. Thanks Martin!

Update: Martin was kind enough to send English instructions, enjoy:

The plugin is very simple to install and use, just upload it in the /wp-content/plugins folder, and activate it from the control panel.
If you want to insert a Spymac video in a post, you just copy the ID of the media:

Example:
http://www.spymac.com/details/?1859622

Copy the number 1859622, then go to the CODE tab on your post editor and paste the number with the WP-Vidz tag:

Example:
!–vidz:s:1859622–

Some people ask me why the plugin doesn't work? There is a common error, some people insert the code in the WYSIWYG editor instead of the CODE editor.

Spymac in the news

Spymac was featured on Germany's RTL2 News today! Jackpot winner Jafeth was interviewed in this video clip of the broadcast.

Get it, got it, good!

Big and small, Spymac members are happy to post pictures of the checks they've received in the mail for the money they made for their popular uploads!

Spymac on TV

Spymac will be on RTL2 (Germany) in one hour (8pm German time) -- catch it if you can!

And we love you, too!

You've got money!

We just paid out the second monthly jackpot of over $60,000! Many members earned a few thousand this time around.. so if you open your mail and your jaw drops... congratulations! Isn't revenue-sharing fun?

Shake it!

Seems that Spymac users are in the mood to dance! Gianny's many popular dance clips are now being joined by videos featuring her friends, and also from long-time Spymac member mac_daddy1704.

Check, Please!

We love seeing pics of payout checks, so if you have one, upload it!

Know your History

We've added History to the top right corner of the page. This is an easy way to keep track of what you've last viewed. We also have History based on Last Commented and Last Rated available - Just click on the You tab.

Video tutorials

We've posted some video tutorials. Check them out, you may learn something!

New private uploads and more

Hurrah for private uploads! Now you can upload movies, pictures and music and share them ONLY with your friends and family. You can even receive private video and audio messages from anywhere with your own FileSucker widget. Learn more about private uploads..

Browse Spymac from work? We've made some changes to force uploaders to pay more attention to whether or not their content should be blocked from public view, which means safer browsing for you and your children.

We've also made some smaller changes throughout the site - like profile pictures being shown next to your uploads. Anyway, enjoy and stay tuned for more.

You're buying!

Welcome Canada!!

Wow, we're being flooded with tens of thousands of Canadians right now. Welcome to Spymac! It would be nice to know where you're all coming from, though. Did you see something on TV or in the paper? Send us an email and let us know how you found out about us!

Spymac on TV in Germany

Television viewers in Germany: keep your eyes open for a news story featuring Spymac in the coming week. Filming with Spymac member Jafeth took place today! It will be aired on the popular RTL and RTL II networks.

Learn to play the guitar

Argentine member marcosfarhat has posted some of his free guitar lessons to the site. Learn to play classics from The Beatles, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana and more with these easy to follow videos.

Say what?

It seems journalist Nick Booth is getting a lot of attention both here and there for a phone conversation he uploaded of a former client who refused to fade away quietly.

Snow day

Spymac, like the rest of the internet, is a great place to find out more about what's going on in other areas of the world. mlgacc is one of the members who shares recent weather-related images with us, posting a few pictures from the results from the snow storm that blanketed his area last night.

How much snow is there where you live?

Cute and cuddly

Countless kinds of animals are part of krlosandres's extensive collection of images called Planeta Tierra. Nice collection!

Skilled members

harmonica shows off his musical talent in Young at Heart, one of the many songs that he uploaded today. See his harmonica skills in action in this short video clip.

Another interesting video upload from today was from Anuttama. In her latest video clip, she tells us how we synchronize our Valentine's Day with today's celestial energies in her most recent astro forecast.

Argentina, meet Spymac

We are getting tons of new members from Argentina today -- Welcome to Spymac!

Spinning spy

Wetpixels has created and uploaded this great new 3D image of the Spymac head. Click on the embedded image and then view it in full-size in order to see it spinning in all its wonder!

Winner announced in Coolest Collection Contest

It was tough decision since there were so many great entries, but after much deliberation, we managed to pick a winner. iKitKat is the lucky member who will receive either Lego Star Wars from entertainment publisher Aspyr OR iPod: The Missing Manual from O'Reilly.

Congratulations iKitKat and thanks to all who entered!

Underlining issues

We've removed underlined blue links from Leapfrog for the most part. They are now mainly used to show you your location. We like this change!

Scheduled downtime early tomorrow

We'll be working on the site and have to take it down for one hour 9AM - 10AM GMT on Feb 8th (the middle of the night in North America). So plan to do other stuff during this time!

Take your videos with you

We've added direct links on embedded videos to let viewers download the file in iPod and PSP format. Here's a popular video from Liam Sullivan to demonstrate the new feature.

First checks starting to arrive...

PixelMania: Valentine's Day card contest

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and Spymac's latest contest is asking members to create a Spymac-themed Valentine's Day card.

The winner of the contest will be able to select their choice of T-shirt from Insanely Great Tees.

Details on the contest can be found in the video.

We're only human... or... What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger

Mondays are usually really exciting for us. They're usually super busy, we get a lot done and we look forward to all that we're going to accomplish in the week ahead. This Monday sucked! We ran into some major unexpected technical problems and spent the day fixing them up. It was very stressful but we're almost nearly completely back online and running now. There are still a few comments missing on some profiles, for example, but hopefully we can restore everything tomorrow.

Featured Collections

Spymac showcases a Collection each Tuesday in its Collection of the Week.

Group together your favourite uploads, create a group of your favourite people or make music playlists of your audio uploads using Collections.

The first three featured Collections were Spymac Desktops, Apple Tattoos and Horses. Check back every Tuesday for a new Collection of the Week.

Triple The Traffic

Welcome to all the new eyeballs! Traffic levels are now more than triple of what they were last Sunday.

The check is in the mail

By now many of you should have received your first checks in the mail! Congratuations to everyone. If you won money, make sure to request a check. Here’s a picture of members of the Spymac team standing around the checks doing something funny with their thumbs.

New Collection stuff

Collections are really cool and more people are starting to discover them. If you haven’t noticed yet, the default Collection overview page now accepts comments, ratings and all that good stuff. The most interesting part though is the embed code: Copy and paste this to your MySpace (or networking site / blog of your choice) and you have an instant slide slow of the media inside the collection! We’ve recently revampled this module to include more options and controls. Enjoy!