You’re not still wearing off-the-peg sneakers, are you? Tut, tut, how very 2009. With a wealth of affordable personalization options online, nowadays you can easily create your own customized footwear.

We’ve found six online solutions that will help you design funky footwear that’s unique to you. So why not show off a bit of your creativity and stand out from the rest of the boringly-shod crowd?

If this sounds good, then put your best foot forward and take a walk through the gallery below. Let us know in the comments which design-your-own services you’ve tried out and if you haven’t yet, then the ones that you like the look of.

1. NIKEiD

Nike’s well-established customization service lets you start with one of the company’s designs and change it to suit your taste, or start with a totally blank canvas.

The service is perfectly suited to anyone looking for proper training shoes, rather than fashion sneakers. With the ability to change the color of every element of the shoe’s design, you can create a cool custom pair of kicks that will stand out from the crowd on any court where you play.

As well as personalize the color-way of your new shoes, you can change the text on the heel and then, when you’re happy with your design, share it to your social networks and add it to the NIKEiD gallery.

Sample cost: Nike Air Mogan iD — $105

2. Vans Customs

Vans keeps its service simple with just four shoe types to customize, one of which is its now-classic slip-on number in both white and black.

As you’d expect from the brand, as well as colors, there’s a wide range of contemporary patterns to choose from, and in the case of the slip-on shoe, you can mix and match designs.

As well as starting with a totally blank shoe, you can start with a patterned model and than tweak it to your heart’s content, choosing different colors for the binding, foxing, collar lining and even the elastic gore (the stretchy bit on the top!)

Sample cost: Slip-on — $60

3. Converse Design Your Own

Converse’s “Design Your Own” service is seriously fun — and offers far-reaching customization options. There are around 20 types of sneaker and baseball boot styles to choose from as your blank canvas. As well as a palette of vibrant colors to pick from, there’s also a ton of funky, and in some cases unusual, patterns.

Perfect for those who pay strict attention to detail, you can change the color of the laces, the eyelets and even the stitching! There is also an option to add text to the heel of the shoe — with a choice of two fonts to select from.

Sample cost: Chuck Taylor All Star Ox Canvas — $67

4. mi Adidas

Offering a variety of sneaks to personalize, Adidas’s take on the customization process is comprehensive and changes with the shoe you choose.

For example, with the Gazelle (pictured) you can make each stripe a different color while the mi adizero Rose design process will see your name laser-etched on the shoe’s bumper. Or you can pick a personalized number to appear on the lace’s tag.

This means it’s worth playing around with the web-based design app to see what options each shoe offers; just don’t get too carried away and order the set!

Sample cost: Mi Gazelles — $95

5. Sole Creator

Sole Creator takes customization to the extreme with its online design service offering tons of backgrounds, a huge album of clip art, the ability to draw designs freehand, add as much text as you can fit on, and even upload an image.

With brands to choose from such as Converse, Vans, DYO and Ethletic, it’s worth noting that Sole Creator offers worldwide delivery, so it’s a great option for those outside the States (because many of the U.S.-based in-house sneaker design services don’t ship internationally.)

Sample cost: From around £25 (approx $40)

6. SneakArt

If you’re on a budget and don’t want to splash out on a whole new pair of shoes, but still want to personalize a pair, then SneakArt offers flexible, durable, waterproof, adhesive skins in a massive range of patterns so that you can DIY your own designs in the comfort of your own home.

Sample cost: From $19 per sheet

More Fashion Resources from Mashable:

– 3 Ways to Design Your Own Clothes Online
– 9 Ways to Geek Out Your T-Shirt Collection
– 10 Great Geek Tees For Kids
– 6 Ways to Design Your Own Jewelry Online
– 7 Pairs of Stylish 3-D Specs for Fashionable Film Fans

More About: adidas, clothing, Converse, custom, customization, fashion, gallery, Nike, personalized, shoes, sneakers, trainers, Vans

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The 83rd Annual Academy Awards are rapidly drawing near, and the question on everyone’s (in the tech realm) mind is: Can a movie about Facebook win the Oscar?

The Social Network, the Aaron Sorkin-penned, David Fincher-directed, black horse of 2010, has trod a long road to the Oscars. While it’s now nominated for numerous awards — including Best Film — the movie was once a veritable joke.

We’ve been following the “Facebook Movie” for years now, all culminating in tonight’s festivities. Which is why we’re taking a look back now at its genesis. Check out our roundup below and let us know in the comments: Will the Academy “Like” the “Facebook Movie”?

Oh, How We Laughed

When screenwriter Aaron Sorkin expressed his interest in making a movie about Facebook, our reaction was, shall we say, less than supportive?

Aaron Sorkin Explains Himself

After agreeing to write the screenplay, Sorkin said of the film, “it’s the fastest I’ve ever said yes to anything,” signing on after getting to page three of the 14-page book proposal from Ben Mezrich that producer Scott Rudin had optioned for the film even before The Accidental Billionaires was completely written.

And Then The Film Is Greenlit

Aaron Sorkin wrote the script, which was based on Ben Mezrich’s book, The Accidental Billionaires. David Fincher (Fight Club), came on as director.

Casting Rumors Begin

Michael Cera and Shia LaBeouf? We think not.

The Film Is Cast

Jesse Eisenberg was cast as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Justin Timberlake as Napster co-founder Sean Parker, and Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, the Facebook co-founder who had a falling out with Zuckerberg as the social site started to really take off.

A Release Date Is Announced

The film was set for release on October 15, 2010. In reality, the movie came out on the third.

The First Poster Hits the Web

And Then Came the First Teaser

Columbia Pictures released the very first teaser trailer for the The Social Network. Like the poster, the teaser was sparse in its detail, but intriguing and provocative at the same time.

Trent Reznor Signs on to Score the Film

Reznor was initially going to take some time off after touring, but once director David Fincher started asking him about scoring the upcoming flick — and after the rocker had read the script — he changed his tune.

Facebook’s Founders Talk About the “Facebook Movie”

Facebook’s co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moscovitz both expressed some measure of disapproval where The Social Network was concerned.

And Then The Full Preview Hit

It spawned a ton of catchphrases.

And Then There Were Parodies

Many Parodies

One More

The Film Uses Twitter to Advertise

Sony Pictures became the latest big brand (as of that date) to buy a spot on Twitter’s trending topic list, using the microblogging site’s new ad platform to promote the trailer for The Social Network.

Mashable Talks With Trent Reznor

We decided to talk with Reznor about the experience of scoring a movie in its entirety, the state of the music industry, and, of course, social media on the whole.

The Mashable Review

Christina Warren dove into the most buzzed-about film of the year in an in-depth review.

A Cadre of Entrepreneurs Dissect the Film

David Karp (founder of Tumblr), Soraya Darabi (co-founder of Foodspotting) and Ben Fisher (co-founder of Lean Startup Machine and Adopt a Hacker) talk with Mashable about The Social Network following a screening in New York.

Mashable Founder Thinks Zuckerberg Should Like the Film

Mark Zuckerberg need not worry, according to Pete Cashmore. The Social Network ultimately paints Zuckerberg as a tireless visionary who stops at nothing to achieve his dream.

The Facebook Staff Goes to the Movies

The Facebook staff essentially rented out the Century Cinemas 16 in Mountain View, California, where upwards of 1,200 staffers saw the film.

The Film Tops the Box Office

The Social Network pulled in $23 million in its opening weekend. That’s not a soaring success (analysts expected it to do $25 million), but it was enough to top the national box office.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Take on The Social Network

Mashable‘s Ben Parr chatted with the Facebook founder about the controversial film, and while Zuckerberg skirted questions about his opinion of Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of his early years, the 26-year-old CEO did say he’s interested to see what effect The Social Network has on entrepreneurship.

The Social Network Racks Up Awards From the National Board of Review

• Best Film
• Best Director
• Best Actor
• Best Adapted Screenplay

And Then Hits The Golden Globes

Here is the rundown of nominations/wins that The Social Network received at the Golden Globes:

• Best Supporting Actor: Andrew Garfield — Lost (Christian Bale won for The Fighter)
• Best Score: Trent Reznor — Won
• Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin — Won
• Best Actor, Drama: Jesse Eisenberg — Lost (Colin Firth won for The King’s Speech)
• Best Director: David Fincher — Won
• Best Picture, Drama — Won

And Is Nominated For Many Oscars

• Best Picture
• Director (David Fincher)
• Adapted Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin)
• Original Score (Trent Reznor)
• Actor in a Leading Role (Jesse Eisenberg)
• Achievement in Cinematography
• Achievement in Film Editing
• Achievement in Sound Mixing

And The Oscar Goes To…

Stay tuned…

Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment

More About: Aaron Sorkin, david fincher, facebook, Film, mark zuckerberg, oscars-2011, the social network, Trent Reznor

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Say goodbye to the Share button because the Like button is taking over.

After months of updates to its Like button, Facebook has released an update that fundamentally changes the button’s functionality to that of a Share button. Now after hitting the Like button, a full story with a headline, blurb and thumbnail will be posted to your profile wall. You’ll also be given an option to comment on the story link. Previously, only a link to the story would appear in the recent activity, often going unnoticed by users.

Though users may now think twice about hitting the button, given how prominently it will appear on their walls and in their networks’ newsfeeds, it should ultimately increase traffic to publishers’ websites.

Facebook has slowly been rolling out updates to its Like button and has stopped developing the Share Button. Facebook Spokeswoman Malorie Lucich told us that while the company will continue to support the Share button, Like is the “recommended solution moving forward.” However, Lucich today called it a test, saying “We’re always testing new products that
incorporate developer feedback as we work to improve the Platform experience, and have no details to share at this time.” It’s unlikely that the change is just a test, however. Typically such tests from Facebook only affect a small number of users, whereas this change affects all Like buttons.

Perhaps the change was necessary. Because it was never made clear to users that the Like button would function differently than the Share button, many never understood what it meant to click Like on a piece of content. Making the result the same as the Share button could build stronger user expectations, ultimately fashioning a better user experience.

We want to know what you think. Do you “like” the new button?

More About: facebook, like button, social networking, social plugins, trending

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The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Social Printshop

Quick Pitch: Social Printshop is an early-stage startup working to significantly alter the web’s relationship with the physical realm. Its first product, the Facebook Friend Poster, is the equivalent of a real-life Facebook Wall.

Genius Idea: Capitalizing on social interactions

Benjamin Lotan is the founder and CEO of Social Printshop, a startup that turns social media connections and photos into physical prints that buyers can put on display in their homes and offices.

On the surface, it’s a straightforward printshop serving the social media obsessed. Social Printshop’s products — Facebook fan/friend posters, Twitter prints, social media stickers and mini photo books — all add tangibility to social media relationships. What better way to experience those Facebook or Twitter relationships than to observe the avatars of these “friends” on your wall, in an art-like fashion?

There’s no controversy here, except that Lotan admits to building a business that caters to the ego and capitalizes on social interactions. It’s a regular business objective, but Lotan sees himself as a Robin Hood. “We’re almost stealing money from our customers,” he says, “to reroute money into projects we believe in.”

Lotan, a Visual Arts student working toward a Master of Fine Arts at the University of California at San Diego, believes in the artistic sensibility of those around him. Frustrated by seeing friends’ and fellow students’ solid ideas fail for lack of funding, Lotan chose a road that would potentially right those wrongs.

“I saw the tech route as the easiest route to get money pretty quickly,” he says. So, Lotan built and launched the Facebook Friend Poster in a week, and used it as a vehicle to mobilize friends and create a business.

Lotan speaks of a three- or four-year plan to make Social Printshop into a profitable company, at which time he’ll funnel the money into projects closer his heart.

The immediate goal is to feed off early attention, create a brand and work on a more meta goal of adding point-of-sale to social interactions, something Lotan refers to as both “supremely nice and supremely evil.”

Though a handful of other products have since been released, the Facebook Friend Poster remains Social Printshop’s most recognized product. Mashable, as a customer, will create the world’s largest real-life Facebook Wall to put on display in our New York headquarters as wallpaper. Our interest has spawned a me-too reaction from huge brands who want a giant life-sized social canvas of their own, according to Lotan.

The look-at-how-big-my-following-is motivation has an Old Spice Guy ring to it. Look at your Facebook fans. Now back at mine. Now look at all of the people who love me, and marvel at my greatness.

Lotan, omni-conscious of the ego-appeal in his existing products, may or not may soon release SuperEgo.me, a site that could take self-importance too far into the absurd.

The name alone sounds like everything that’s wrong with the web, and that’s almost the point. The app caters to the notion that you are your greatest fan. It will hook into your Facebook profile, strip out your friends, and just show you in all your glory.

SuperEgo.me started as a way to poke fun at Facebook photo app Pixable and online start page About.me. Lotan says that the irony behind these products is that people really only want to look at photos of themselves. Though, after continuing to iterate on the app, he’s now conflicted between building a product with real appeal and releasing something that could be perceived as a joke.

That battle wages on, but Social Printshop’s 15-person team — an unusual blend of developers, writers, musicians, poets and an investor with a soft-core porn background — is currently using its $70,000 in seed funding to build two photo-centric mobile apps, with associated for-charge print products, of course.

Today, Social Printshop processes anywhere from one to ten orders per day and handles custom corporate requests. “To get to be a 100 million dollar company,” Lotan says, “we’re going to need to produce something significant.” He talks of producing a print API and creating an ecosystem of its own to make that happen.

Still, Social Printshop traffics in the ego. And, is there any less art in that? A Twitter photo print of all my followers would be a cool way to represent four-plus years of social achievement. Where do I sign-up? Cha-ching.

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

More About: art, Facebook wall, print, social media, social printshop, spark-of-genius, startup, twitter

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With the Oscars 2011 awards broadcast only hours away (it’s tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific on ABC), we can’t wait another minute — we’d like to know who’s going to win, and we want to know now. Here’s an exclusive infographic that could give us a hint or two.

However, according to Webtrends, this pre-show buzz might not indicate the real winners. When Webtrends experts were looking at the details of the data, “it was clear that this is the ‘people’s choice’ – a popularity contest and not necessarily the view of the Academy.”

How did Webtrends get this data? It scoured blogs, Facebook, Twitter feeds and other microblogs, putting a finger on the pulse of the online world, picking up the pre-buzz and figuring out who might have a good chance of winning.

So take a look at this data, keeping in mind that these “winners” might not necessarily point toward the Academy’s choices. Who do you think will win? Let us know your picks in the comments.

Image courtesy Webtrends

More About: academy awards, buzz, infographic, Oscars, trending

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As cloud and web services continue to gain speed, the upfront cost of launching a product is decreasing. Businesses can create more for less money –- and with less people.

Though in the long run this likely means fewer IT positions, it’s currently changing a different aspect of the tech job market: desired skill sets.

Unlike traditional software products, cloud and web services revolve around content, monetization and data. Much of the installation, configuration and maintenance work done by traditional data center employees is becoming automated. This means desired skill sets will move away from hands-on technical work to include managerial talents, user-experience knowledge and more.

Emerging Skill Sets

“The cloud and online services are new and different from traditional software products and, therefore, require a new type of talent,” says Eugenia Sawa, a recruiter for Bing. “It can take more than just a traditional engineering background and computer science degree.”

So what does it take? Here’s a breakdown of three emerging skill sets IT professionals should focus on to remain competitive in the job market.

• Data Mining – The online space is immense. If you’re able to combine statistics and artificial intelligence methods to spot patterns in huge data sets, a multitude of job opportunities await you. Data mining helps businesses gain an informational advantage over competitors, making the field an essential area of expertise.
• Web Analytics and Statistics – Search and driving traffic to sites are becoming more and more important as the web continues to be monetized. Advertisers are looking to get the most for their money, which means companies will need people who can analyze user interactions and trends to find weak points and identify new needs.
• Business Intelligence – As companies hire more data miners to sift through and organize information, there will come a need for people to look at that data and translate it into business speak. It requires someone with a passion for both engineering and competitive intelligence, who can help his or her team members understand their customers.

How to Prepare

These emerging skills are complements to a traditional computer science or electrical engineering degree, Sawa says. Nowadays, most university programs are shaping the curriculum to give students sufficient depth in core knowledge.

“Computer science has become so broad that it’s hard for a student to walk out with knowledge of each specific skill set to do any job in the industry,” says Justin Cappos, a University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering research associate. “The best bet is to teach detailed information at different levels of the stack, so when students go out, they know enough from top to bottom that they can figure out whatever gets thrown their way.”

That said, it’s important to get practical experience with real tools. Most cloud environments have low-cost resources, especially for students. It’s easy to get going independently and do interesting things on your own initiative. You can also seek out learning opportunities through university research projects or internships. Though you may not be keen on all the tasks you’re asked to do, the outside validation of working on an established product speaks volumes, Cappos says.

In terms of languages for web applications, the most practical choices are javascript and flash. Cappos recommends a solid knowledge of javascript. “It’s the dominant technology, and it’s not going anywhere,” he says.

Still, each job candidate has a unique combination of experience and education — and each company looks for something different.

Master One or Strive for All?

There is something to be said for both mastering one knowledge area and having an overall understanding of everything. It really depends on where you want to work.

The cloud allows companies to get much farther with just a few end-to-end developers. This is particularly important for startups that are moving rapidly to launch smaller, often niche products with just few staff members. “At a small company, you’re going to be their one stop IT guy,” Cappos says. “You might not need to be world class in one area, but have an understanding of all.”

For larger businesses, knowing how to scale up to more advanced computer science concepts is very important, Cappos says. With significantly more resources than many startups, big tech companies are able to hire for more specialized positions. At the same time, it’s good to have a deep understanding of how the overall system works. Software trends change, which makes hiring people who can adapt easily to new technology a better investment for most companies.

Conclusion

Career opportunities in cloud and web services are growing, and likely to continue on that path for at least a few years. A 2010 IBM survey shows 91 percent of 2,000 IT professionals surveyed believe cloud computing will be the primary IT delivery model by 2015. Needless to say, those poised for cloud and web development can expect job security for at least the next four years.

Like the concept itself, gaining skills for cloud and web services requires thinking outside the box. If you have a passion for it, move beyond traditional IT career preparation and be proactive about tapping into these emerging skill sets. Whether you choose to master one discipline or strive for general knowledge, you’ll have a competitive advantage in the job market by having the new and necessary skills for web development.

Tech Job Listings

Every week we put out a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we post a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the top tech job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!

• Video Programming Manager at 5min/AOL in New York, NY.
• Director of Human Resources at Vitrue, Inc. in Dallas, TX.
• VP, Creative Director at Weber Shandwick in West Hollywood, CA.

More Job Search Resources from Mashable:

– Top 5 Tips for Creating Impressive Video Resumes
– Are Cover Letters Still Relevant For Social Media and Tech Jobs?
– HOW TO: Land a Job at 9 Hot Startups
– Top 5 Online Communities for Starting Your Career
– HOW TO: Land a Business Development Job

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, jamesbenet

More About: analytics, careers, cloud computing, computer science, data mining, information technology, job search series, jobs, skills, Web analytics, Web Development, web services

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