This year will be forever remembered as the year that we lost the most creative mind that Silicon Valley has ever seen, as well as one where a few rough Tech IPOs scared away potential future investors. We also said goodbye to some CEOs and tech founders, and Facebook stayed in the social networking driver’s seat.

Lets get into the year that was in Silicon Valley.

Steve Jobs

What can we say about Steve Jobs that hasn’t already been said? The founder and most memorable leader of Apple resigned as CEO in August, making way for the Tim Cook era. In his resignation letter, Jobs didn’t give an actual reason for leaving Apple, but suggested that Apple move on with its succession plan:

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

Many assumed that the reason for Jobs stepping down was his failing health, and unfortunately that turned out to be the case when he passed away on October 6th. As a Silicon Valley icon, Steve Jobs brought Apple back to life, which launched the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 this year, showing that hard work and determination can indeed pay off. Even after his death, Jobs continued to make headlines, with his biography shattering records and topping charts.

Read all about Apple’s entire 2011 in our rewind.

IPOs

2011 was a big year for going public in the tech space. With much of the year being filled with rumblings about whether Facebook would go public or not, four other companies took the huge step of going for the IPO.

Here’s a timeline of big-name 2011 IPO filings:

• January: LinkedIn found a way to make money, so the time came to go public.
• February: Pandora went from nearly being toast, to becoming to the toast of tech.
• June: Groupon took the world by storm with its group buying model, but is the sizzle gone?
• July: Zynga relies heavily on Facebook for its revenue and game players, but that didn’t stop them from going for the IPO hailmary.

Unfortunately, most of these public offerings ended up tanking, but that shouldn’t stop companies from taking the leap next year.

Facebook and Yelp are the two companies to watch out for in IPO land next year.

Silicon Shuffles

A few major notable founders and CEOs left or were booted from their positions in 2011. Some of them included companies that were synonymous with “Web 2.0″, which was the beginning of the social web.

In March, Kevin Rose decided to resign from the company he started in 2004, Digg. After a short stint as CEO of the company in 2010, Rose decided to give the big goodbye to Digg this year. In many ways, Kevin Rose was a symbol of how cool it was to be an Internet entrepreneur, serving as a way more social and popular version of Mark Zuckerberg. His resignation came after an unsuccessful attempt to revive Digg’s community with a new version that everyone ended up hating. Don’t worry about Rose, he got funding for his new startup, Milk.

In September, Carol Bartz was fired as CEO of Yahoo!, over the phone no less. With Yahoo! seemingly having no leadership or direction, the rest of the year was filled with speculation on when Yahoo! would sell, and who it would sell to. Some of the names thrown around? Google, Microsoft, Aol, and Alibaba. No sale yet, and don’t hold your breath in 2012.

HP, which Steve Jobs had noted was “being dismembered, destroyed” fired its CEO this year, Leo Apotheker. However, Apotheker’s tenure didn’t even last a year and was replaced by former eBay CEO Meg Whitman.

But it wasn’t all about high profile departures, as Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey came back to the company in March to split time as an adviser as well as CEO of his Valley startup Square, putting 8 hour days in at both companies.

Facebook gets competition, remains king of social

The existence of a Google social network had been rumored for years, but this year we finally got to see what the company had come up with. In a huge direction change for the company, Google has decided to go all-in with social by launching Google+. In doing that, it shut down previous social failure Google Buzz.

Even though Google+ shows strong growth, Facebook remained the king of social in 2011. The company told us that they had 800 million users, but what was more impressive, it had 500 million users on the site at once.

Facebook didn’t stand pat amidst numerous privacy issues and launched numerous new features this year including Timeline. But what made Facebook the real king of Silicon Valley in 2011? The fact that it could bank 1 billion dollars in net revenue this year. Growth in users is one thing, features are another, but bringing in that type of bank puts it light-years ahead of Valley darlings like Twitter.

These are the stories that in one way or another narrated the entire year of innovation in 2011 on the left coast. What were your most memorable moments in Silicon Valley this year? Share them in the comments!

Geekli.st, the social network for developers and engineers, has launched a cool integration with code repository site GitHub.

The new feature allows users to send a new achievement to the Geekli.st site along with the superstar code that you just checked in. If you’ve pushed something awesome, it’s worth telling people about. This integration makes it super simple.

Geekli.st has become a way for developers to interact with each other and share their technical achievements. It’s extremely difficult for developers to maintain a resume, since their best work is usually quite granular and rarely gets attention from recruiters.

Here’s what your profile on Geekli.st will look like when you publish an achievement at the same time you push code to GitHub:

In the video below, Geekli.st shows you how to integrate GitHub into your social experience on the site:

While LinkedIn has become the popular place for business networking, it really doesn’t cater to engineers and developers in the way that Geekli.st does. As it adds more features, Geekli.st has a shot to be the go-to place for the merit based developer resume.

Companies are looking to the site to find very specific talents, and the more achievements that a developer publishes, the more attention that they’ll get by way of high-fives and shares. Smart.

➤ Geekli.st

Interested in Web design? Take a look at 9 gorgeous examples of black & white websites.

Professional networking site LinkedIn has posted its most shared stories of 2011. It wasn’t YouTube videos that were shared the most, it was stories that focused on making you a better worker and employer. The topics ranged from how to motivate your employees, to tips on setting up a successful day for yourself.

The top shared stories by its 130M users show that the site is all business, no play. Here are the top ten most shared stories on LinkedIn from 2011:

1. 9 Things That Motivate Employees More Than Money (Inc.) Nov. 28
2. Steve Jobs and the Seven Rules of Success (Entrepreneur) Oct. 14
3. Steve Jobs: How To Live Before You Die (TED Talks) October
4. The World at Seven Billion (BBC) Oct. 26
5. Four Destructive Myths Most Companies Still Live By (Harvard Business Review) Nov. 1
6. 5 Things to Do Every Day for Success (Fast Company) March 1
7. Tech Firm Implements Employee ‘Zero Email’ Policy (Yahoo News) Nov. 29
8. The Org Charts of all the Major Tech Companies (Humor) (Business Insider) June 29
9. Here’s How People Look at Your Facebook Profile — Literally (Mashable) Nov. 30
10. 5 Ways To Keep Your Rockstar Employees Happy (GigaOM) Oct. 15

Steve Jobs clearly had an incredible impact on LinkedIn professionals, especially ones focused on Technology, as the top ten list shows. No stories about his passing specifically are on this list, but as the months have gone by, never before seen videos have trickled out to the media, complete with new meaning.

His name is Snow E. Mann, an “Independent Snow Management Consultant” from the North Pole:

When you click on the user, you come to find out that this is a well-placed Holiday easter egg from the team at LinkedIn.

Very well done, and here I thought that the North Pole wanted to recruit me for a new gig.

When we’re looking for a new job, we’re lucky enough to have the Internet by our side, along with a host of apps and sites. You’ve got Monster, LinkedIn, Craigslist, and even Twitter. But something about searching those sites seems stale and unproductive.

The iOS app Authentic Jobs, created by André and Rui Gonçalves, sets out to display the latest jobs available for creative types, especially web developers and designers. The app is beautiful and doesn’t make finding a new job a complete hassle. If you’re a company looking to hire a creative talent, simply visit the Authentic Jobs website and pay anywhere from $99 to $249 for your listing, depending on the type.

Whether you’re looking for a full-time job or a contract gig, Authentic Jobs has you covered.

You can use the Authentic Jobs website to look for jobs as well, but it’s not as useful as being able to do so from your iDevice. The mobile experience is where it’s at.

This app is a Monster

In a welcomed trend, Authentic Jobs doesn’t ask you to sign up or enter any personal information to get started. You’re shown the latest available jobs immediately, and can start your hunt for the position of your dreams straight away.

On the top bar, simply choose which type of position you’re looking for. You can choose to search for full-time, contract, freelance, or internship opportunities.

Authentic Jobs does a wonderful job taking all of the meta data about the available positions and categorizing them in a way that makes browsing a joy. You can search for jobs by company name, or by location. The app will even grab your current geolocation and display available jobs that are around you.

The fact that companies are paying Authentic Jobs directly for listings means that the job leads are high quality, which is hard to find on sites like Craigslist. Often times, you’ll find a position that was filled months ago. The only part about the service that I feel needs some tweaking is the application process. Well, currently there isn’t one. If you tap “apply”, you’re sent right to an email, which is difficult to manage on a mobile device, especially if you want to attach your resume.

I would highly suggest that Authentic Jobs creates its own resume management system to make applying for jobs a one tap function. Even though it’s nice not having to sign up for anything, you want to make a great first impression, and typing out an email on your iPhone isn’t always the easiest thing to do.

➤Authentic Jobs

With sites like Monster.com almost feeling ancient these days, some people are turning to social networks to find their next gig. Twitter is one of those places to check for available opportunities, especially if you want to work at a startup.

A lot of companies and job sites turn to tweeting to find talented developers, since most technically savvy developers use Twitter, or know someone who does. The cost is nothing for a company to tweet about an open position, unlike an ad on Craigslist.

One developer, Robin Warren, decided that searching Twitter manually wasn’t the best way to go, so he built Jobs Tractor to track all of the developer jobs that companies are tweeting.

It’s a simple app with a simple mission, but executes perfectly.

Dear Twitter, please find me a job

When you visit Jobs Tractor, all you have to do is enter your city and how close to the city you’d like your job to be. You’re shown a listing of tweets that Jobs Tractor has detected as matching calls for a shiny new developer.

Other developers have already embraced Jobs Tractor, as the site begins to find its way to those looking to land a new job thanks to Twitter.

The site will also display all of the job availability tweets on a map using the Google Maps API, which is handy if you’re concerned about your commute.

Anecdotally over the past 2-3 years, most of my friends who work in technology have found new jobs either from a Twitter or Facebook posting, or through the professional social network, LinkedIn.

It makes sense that a developer would create a tool for other developers, since none of what we use today would be possible without them.

➤ Jobs Tractor

If you’re a fan of the puzzle piece dropping game Tetris, then you’ll enjoy the app DropIn. It was created in a day by the LinkedIn team to show how useful the LinkedIn API can be.

The premise is simple, and very reminiscent of TweetBricks, which used your Twitter friends in a game of Tetris.

This game is actually fun, and can educate you on what your LinkedIn contacts are up to these days.

Playing DropIn

The blocks that are used in the Tetris game will be replaced by the avatars of your LinkedIn contacts. The neat part is that if you click anyone on the puzzle blocks, you’ll be shown the latest information about them from their LinkedIn profile.

Imagine telling someone that you learned about their new job during a game of Tetris.

DropIn is a fun way to pass the time and do a little bit of networking, too.

The controls are rather easy and use your keyboard for the interactions.

Unfortunately you can’t share or save your high scores, which kills some of the opportunities to get people to keep playing. However, for an app built in a day, what can you really expect?

I suggest playing DropIn on a larger sized monitor, as I couldn’t get the whole screen to show up correctly on my 11-inch MacBook Air. Other than that, the app is great, and might inspire you to develop new games or apps using the LinkedIn API.

When reviewing apps, two things are extremely rare; an app that sits on top of the LinkedIn API, and an app based on a premise of a book. With LunchMeet, we get both.

The iOS app was inspired by the book “Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time” by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz. The idea is that in professional networking and relationships in general, you should never have lunch alone.

With LunchMeet, you can set up impromptu lunch meetings with any of your LinkedIn connections. It’s actually a really smart idea.

The name of the app alone might make you hungry for a sandwich.

Manage your availability

When you log into the app using your LinkedIn account, you can set up multiple time slots for your availability. You can make them one-time meeting opportunities or ongoing, depending on your schedule.

Once you’ve set up your availability, LunchMeet will check your current location and suggest local restaurants and cafe’s on a map. You can choose one or just select the general area for a meeting.

The idea is that you’ll be able to find a match with the same availability or come up when someone else is browsing for a lunch meeting. This will obviously take time to catch on, but if you’re a fan of the book then you’ll get the idea of this app quickly. LunchMeet also includes the ability to share your availability on LinkedIn, so that type of virality should get people to download the app.

Interacting with your lunch date

Unfortunately, none of my LinkedIn contacts use LunchMeet yet, but you the app gives you the ability to discuss your meeting from within the app. This is a great way to keep focus on LunchMeet, and not get in the way of other emails or text messages.

If you’re unable to find a match, LunchMeet does give you the opportunity to invite any of your LinkedIn contacts directly, which is a nice usage of the API.

If you’re a power networker or just hate eating alone, LunchMeet is a great way to set up some planned serendipity. I’d like to be able to send my LunchMeet availability to Twitter and Facebook, but the app does focus solely on LinkedIn after all. The company could also integrate daily deals or use foursquare’s API to liven up the experience and save people some money. Maybe I’ll set up a lunch meeting with LunchMeet to discuss that.

Last night, I attended a gathering of some of the smartest technology minds focusing on Education for grades K-12. I didn’t know what to expect, other than Newark Mayor Cory Booker and LinkedIn‘s Founder and Chairman Reid Hoffman being there to listen to seven companies from the ImagineK12 startup incubator in Palo Alto.

In a small office within the Palo Alto aol building, teams with big hearts (and sometimes very nervously) discussed their views on the future of Education for children all over the world.

I’m going to be doing a few interviews with some of the companies in the near future, which include Goalbook, educreations, and Eduvant. This is a space that I’m very passionate about.

Each team had one thing in common, their belief in the importance of technology to make change happen in a system that hasn’t changed in decades.

That change could very well come out of the ImagineK12 incubator, which says this about itself:

We believe technology is transforming K-12 education. The infrastructure, hardware, software, and platforms are either available or being developed that will change the nature of how we teach our children in profound and far-reaching ways. A high-tech wave is beginning to sweep through the educational world largely driven by technology entrepreneurship. But the impact of those entrepreneurs will depend on the quality of their ideas, their ability to execute, and their ability to get funded.

Imagine K12 is a for-profit enterprise looking to invest time, experience, energy and resources in entrepreneurs who have a passion for education and the technical know-how to create their vision. Over a three-month period, we will draw on our extensive entrepreneurial experience, understanding of the Silicon Valley ecosystem, and knowledge of the education industry to help bring your idea to life, get your company funded, and to get your company on the road to success.

Last night wasn’t a pitch session for funding, although I’m sure most of the startups hoped that Reid Hoffman would take interest, as he is an extremely prolific VC now. Most of the nearly three hours were spent on presentation of the products, and Q&A by Mayor Booker on the nuts and bolts of education, and business advice and guidance from Reid Hoffman. For these companies, this type of audience is nearly unheard of, and each one took notes and paid full attention. And of course, vice versa.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker shared that he can no longer watch the way school systems have worked, there has to be change. Technology, he believes, can bring that change.

The theme of the night appeared to be data. Educational institutions have a huge flow of data, some not even digitized, and have no way to pour through it to make smart decisions for their schools or more importantly for their students. Some of the companies have come up with ways to use data to incentive students with behavioral issues, make better use of a Principal’s time by giving them a dashboard of student and financial data in real-time, as well as share lesson plans all over the world.

A few of these companies seemed to intrigue both Booker and Hoffman, causing Booker to set up meetings between the companies and schools in Newark immediately.

Why isn’t there more of a focus on technology in education? Lack of money. Schools are notorious for having financial issues, even though technology can help with that, and there isn’t a steady flow of VC funds for those who want to focus their efforts on the education space. It seems as if ImagineK12 is set to change all of that, and having Booker and Hoffman involved certainly doesn’t hurt its cause.

Let’s also not forget that if we put more technology in schools, we’ll have more technologists like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs for years to come.

You can view more photos from last night below:

LinkedIn, which has become the Web’s biggest professional social network is stepping up its game. Right now, Facebook is a hub for finding people you went to college with, and LinkedIn wants a piece of the action.

The company has announced a new feature it calls “LinkedIn Classmates“, available today.

Seeing who you’ve worked with, or who you’d like to connect with during your professional career could be greatly boosted by seeing what your friends from college are up to now. Who knows, perhaps the connection to someone you’d like to reach was in your junior class.

The company says that LinkedIn Classmates is great for catching up to discuss memories, and to make new connections, and this is an absolute no-brainer for LinkedIn.

The company said about today’s launch:

Because we understand the power of alumni networks, we are delighted to unveil LinkedIn Classmates – a tool for insights and networking for alumni of colleges and universities around the world.

The LinkedIn Classmates feature tells you where your college mates are working now, what industry they’re working in, and where they’re living, all in a simple glimpse. This completely beats Facebook’s approach, and since LinkedIn’s core is to gather your full resume, it’s more than likely that you’ll have a better shot of connecting with forgotten friends on LinkedIn.

It appears as if LinkedIn is taking all of the data that the company has collected about us, and is putting it to work in beautiful graphs and charts to help us discover new professional connections, which is the power of LinkedIn.

Below, you’ll see a that shows you what you have in common with people you went to college with. For example, you may not have been friends with someone during your senior year, but you may be in the same industry now.

It is well-known that the college that you went to is an important fact in getting hired, so being able to connect with someone who you went to school with who works at the company that holds your dream job is pretty powerful.

LinkedIn has taken yet another step in owning your career networking with LinkedIn Classmates, and if you find some lost college connections thanks to LinkedIn, let us know in the comments.