5 For Friday featuring iOS 8, IPO fortunes and a vote that may have been influenced by social media.

Five quick links you don't want to miss before your weekend.

1.  iOS 8 is Here

What's so great about iOS 8?  We've come across a collection of links on the web that might show you why it's the bees-knees.  Here's how to become an iOS 8 Master.  Feel like 007 with these Secret Features of iOS 8.  And 25 Reasons iOS 8 is better than iOS 7.  Hope these tips make you feel more at home with the updated operating system.

2.  DIY Credit

Home Depot's security breach of over 56 million credit cards is on a larger scale than last year's Target security snafu.  Somebody tell them they need more than a hammer and nails to secure their credit card transactions!  Be sure to take some time to see if there is any suspicious activity on your card if you shopped at the Depot in the last year.

3.  An IPO to Dream About

Alibaba's IPO this week was hugely successful, raising $21.8 billion and a price per share at $68.  That's better than a genie in a bottle!  The stock sale could signal that the Chinese Internet industry may become the largest in the world.

4.  Social Media Informs Voters

Scotland's vote this week to possibly secede from the United Kingdom is the fruit of an era where the Internet helps to inform and convince voters.   Integrating technology in a more meaningful way since 2007 really paved the way for the referendum vote.  Imagine if Braveheart used Instagram and Twitter.

5.  Inspiring Your Weekend

Here's a quote from one of our hometown favorites.  Have a great weekend!

We'd love to connect with you on Facebook.

Fun Friday: "Thriller" Album Turns "30"

The "Thriller" music video is dubbed the most influential music video ever.  The album is the best-selling album of all time.  "Thriller" has spent the most weeks (37) atop the Billboard 200 of any album by a single artist.

A less statistical fact from "Thriller": the song and video helped to shatter the racial divide on the radio and on MTV.

Interested in a little more "Thriller" info?

"30 Cool Facts About 'Thriller'" will boggle your mind with tidbits and trivia.

Check out Yahoo! Music for little-known facts about "Thriller."

One of Jackson's co-writers remembers working with him in an NPR interview.

Check out these 10 facts about the "Thriller" music video:


 Think you've seen everything "Thriller?" Check out these inmates from the Philippines that are, actually, pretty good at choreography. How's that for rehabilitation?

 

Now, beat it.

Black Friday Infographic

Are you planning to head out on Black Friday?

Here are a few tips to get you through the day:

 
Via: NerdWallet

Friday Fun with Felix

It's Friday and frankly, it's hard to be serious with the weekend so near.  So, instead of a normal blog post, we thought it'd be fun to let you in on our preoccupation this week.  

How cool was the Red Bull Space Jump??

Since we have inquiring minds, we couldn't just leave it at an awesome video.  Here are some fun facts as well:

• It would have taken the world's best marathon runners about 2 hours to cover the 24.26 miles that Felix Baumgartner fell.  It took Felix 9 minutes and 3 seconds.

• Felix reached a maximum speed of 833.9 miles per hour.  The winning car at the 2012 Indy 500 averaged 167.734 mph.  Of course, he didn't have to contend with yellow flags.

• Feilix was Free Fallin' for 4 minutes, 20 seconds -- six seconds more than Tom Petty 

• Felix reached a maximum speed of 833.9 miles per hour.  The typical crusing speed of a Boeing 747 is 567 mph.

• Felix jumped from a record-shattering 128,100 feet- that's 88 Empire State Buildings, 427 football fields or 292,800 cans of Red Bull stacked on top of each other.

There, now that you've learned something, you can call it a day!  Tell your boss we said so!