Many of you were shocked by reports that GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons had killed an elephant. While we were rather surprised ourselves, we suspected that there was more to the story.

After a conversation with Parsons, our suspicions have been verified: There are many shades of gray in the situation; and Parsons is hardly the black-hearted, endangered-animal-killing nut that PETA and others have made him out to be.

“I’ve been going to Africa for six years,” he told us, “and I progressively became aware of the elephant situation and what a problem it is for the locals.”

The “elephant situation,” as it turns out, has been a complicated one for local governments and wildlife officials for years. As humans in Zimbabwe struggled to find room to live and farm, they have appropriated land previously inhabited only by wildlife. This has set up a natural struggle between human needs and animal habits, where subsistence farmers battle wildlife such as elephants to keep their crops from being destroyed.

The issue of human encroachment had driven several hundred of Zimbabwe’s 60,000 to 100,000 elephants out of the country by 2009, but Parsons says that in the country, elephants are still “very abundant” — at least according to the villagers whose livelihoods are threatened by elephant herds, which frequently come into a village and trample fields of corn and sorghum.

“In Zimbabwe, the people there are incredibly impoverished,” said Parsons. “They treasure an empty plastic water bottle. It’s heart-wrenching to watch … These people are all subsistence farmers, and if they don’t have a good harvest, they starve. That’s it — there’s no support, there’s no welfare, and if they starve, they will die.”

To keep elephants from trampling crops, villagers try building fires, banging drums, cracking whips and even building fences. But the light and noise are ignored, and the fences, Parson says, just get trampled. As for the idea of electric fences, Parsons asks the practical questions: Deep in the African bush, where will the electricity to power the fences come from? What contractors will build the fences, and who will pay for it?

Electric fences aren’t a realistic solution — not now, at least. So Parsons is one of a few hunters who hopes to solve the crop-trampling problem for these villagers in a different way.

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What Really Happened to the Elephants

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When these hunters are called on for assistance, generally by locals whose fields are being destroyed by a herd of elephants, they have a careful plan in place. In these circumstances, hunters avoid shooting elephant cows because of the matriarchal structure of an elephant herd. “Taking a bull has little or no impact on the social structure or herd size,” said Parsons.

“This farmer was desperate,” Parsons tells us of his most recent — and most controversial — trip to Africa. “He couldn’t get the herd out of his field. He asked us to come and deal with it.”

As his party approached the sorghum field that night, Parsons said, “There was no moon, no stars; it was pitch dark. I couldn’t see three feet in front of me. We were moving though the field, and all we could do was use our hearing to find them. That took an hour and a half.”

When the herd realized there were humans in the field about 15 yards away from them, Parsons said they turned to attack the group. At that point, the party turned on the lights they had available. “We picked out the largest bull,” Parsons says, “and we shot and killed it. The rest of the herd left and never came back.” The farmer was able to harvest what remained of his crop.

The killed elephant was then used by the villagers in that area as a valuable source of protein, a practice that even the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has green-lit during times of economic hardship and hunger.

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The PETA Reaction

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Animal rights activists have taken a harsh tone toward Parsons’ actions, saying there are many other ways the elephants could have been removed from the fields. But as previously mentioned, Parsons says many of these methods have already been tried and have failed. “If you want to go and try to chase an elephant out of a field with a beehive, I’ll video it,” he quips.

But Parsons doesn’t return the rancor of his critics. “These people look at this from the context of being Americans. We’re well-fed and isolated from the process of growing and butchering meat. We see this, and we’re horrified. Their hearts are in the right place, but they just don’t understand what’s going on over there.”

Acknowledging that the situation is complicated, Parsons posed the difficult question, “If you had the choice to take a few elephants or to let people starve, what choice would you make?”

Many have accused the CEO of gloating about his kill in a photograph of him with the dead bull elephant; Parsons said his attitude was far from arrogant at the time.

“When you see me smiling in that picture, I’m smiling because I’m relieved no one was hurt, that the crop was saved, and that these people were going to be fed — the type of smile when you get a good report card or achieve a goal.”

Parsons shared some photos from his trip; have a look, and in the comments, let us know what you think of the whole shebang. Is it more complicated than you expected?

Amazon‘s business model hit the ground running in the 1990s by revolutionizing retail and e-commerce. In recent years, the company has built on its success, transforming our reading habits and how we store data by selling e-readers and cloud computing services.

Now Amazon is bolstering its workforce to accommodate its growing line of products and services, which have doubled the company’s annual profit in the past three years. Its online jobs board lists 1,900 available positions at its Seattle headquarters alone. That’s twice as many openings the company had last year, reports The Seattle Times.

So how can you get in on the Amazon action that’s already 33,700 employees strong? Here are some tips and resources from the company’s recruiters for landing a job at Amazon.

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Who Is Amazon Looking For?

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Nearly half of the open positions at Amazon’s headquarters are tech jobs, but the company is also hiring recruiters, buyers and product managers at all levels of expertise.

Amazon has offices, fulfillment centers, customer service centers and software development centers throughout North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. There are currently openings in all geographies, says Susan Harker, director of Global Talent Acquisition at Amazon.

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What’s the Application & Interview Process Like?

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The Amazon Careers website lists all open positions by category and location. You can also enter keywords if the drop-down menus don’t quite have what you’re looking for.

After you upload your resume to a specific job posting on the site, it’s up for review. Amazon’s recruiters actively review applicants whose resumes come in through the careers site, and they reach out to those who may be a good fit, says Harker. However, many of them are very active on LinkedIn, and Harker encourages applicants to reach out there.

For most positions, the interview process begins with a phone interview. So, how do you get through that?

“Well-prepared candidates know our business and technologies, and they’re able to talk in detail about anything that is included on the resume,” Harker says.

If it goes well on both sides, candidates are brought on-site for an in-person interview with a hiring manager and a few team members. Matt Goyer, a former software design engineer candidate, says in a blog post that his interview at Amazon HQ took six-and-a-half hours. Interviewers asked questions about his previous experience, technical skills and understanding of current industry trends. Goyer says he prepared by diligently studying books with sample interview questions and problems.

Still, interview experiences vary. The best you can do is “let your passion and enthusiasm show through,” Goyer says. “Don’t let your nerves get the best of you.”

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How Is the Company Culture?

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Amazon’s motto is: “Start with the customer and work backwards.” Employees are expected to focus on the customer in all projects and innovations.

Showing signs of leadership and taking initiative is also important. “Every Amazonian is guided by our leadership principles, which include thinking long-term, innovating and thinking big on behalf of our customers,” says Harker. “We believe that every employee is a leader, whether you’re an individual contributor or a manager of a large team.”

If this sounds like you, it might be worth trying your luck at one of those thousands of current openings. If you do, remember to be prepared, confident and enthusiastic. Show you’re an innovative leader worth paying attention to.

Have you scored a job at Amazon or are you trying to? What has your experience been like? Tell us in the comments below.

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Social Media Job Listings

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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 social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!

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More Job Search Resources from Mashable:

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– Top 5 Tips for Creating Impressive Video Resumes
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– HOW TO: Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile’s New Skills Section
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– HOW TO: Land a Business Development Job

Photo courtesy Flickr, Torley.

Most of us who watched Knight Rider as a kid expected that by 2011 we would be driving sleek, self-aware cars like KITT — cars that would take us seamlessly from A to B while cracking witty one-liners.

Though that future has not yet come to pass, things are starting to get exciting in the in-car technology space. Connected cars are hitting the consumer market in a price bracket that makes them a realistic option for many. One prediction sees “near saturation” in the U.S. market in as little as four years’ time.

“In terms of connected cars, we see the growth to be significant,” says Mark C. Boyadjis, a senior automotive analyst for IHS iSuppli. “Our forecasts for OEM Monitored, Telematics-enabled vehicles in 2010 sit at 4.5 million sales, with a heavy part of that coming from the U.S. and Western Europe, whereas this industry grows to 22.7 million by 2015.

“In 2015, however, there will be a much larger portion coming from China, Brazil, and Russia, as well as near saturation in developed markets like the U.S., Western Europe, and Japan.”

So what can we expect from these connected cars? We’ve spoken to a major motoring manufacturer, a futurist, an automotive analyst and other industry experts to find out.

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1. Your Car as Your Credit Card

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You may currently enjoy contactless payment at tolls via a smart card, but in the future we will see such cashless transactions extended to other areas of motoring, such as parking charges and fuel payments via embedded tech in your car.

Skymeter is one company developing products in this area. Its Financial GPS solution could offer wide-ranging changes to the way we pay for our driving.

“With Financial GPS, consumers can get one bill at the end of the month for every car-related cost: their parking, their insurance, their lease, their roads, even full repairs coverage,” says Kamal Hassan, CEO of Skymeter Corp.

“Everything would be paid automatically per minute or per mile, based on your actual driving and parking. Drivers could then control their costs. Not driving for a week would save you money on your lease, your insurance and even your municipal tax bill.”

We asked Hassan how far off such solutions are for the average consumer. “I believe we are two to three years away from seeing consumer cars with embedded Financial GPS units. GPS navigation units like Garmin started as aftermarket devices then moved into the car. Financial GPS will follow the same path.”

BMW meanwhile is working on a smart car key that, as well as controlling some in-car electronic functions, could be used for contactless payment. Just a prototype at this stage, BMW envisions your car key as your credit card as early as next year.

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2. Your Garage as a Docking Station

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Wi-Fi technology is the breakthrough addition to the connected car platform that’s going to make all the difference. While Bluetooth is great for in-car communications and streaming music, it’s cellular and Internet connectivity that truly puts the “connected” in connected car.

Ford has recently enhanced its Microsoft SYNC-based MyTouch system with Wi-Fi, meaning cars with the tech, such as the 2012 Ford Focus, can be turned into mobile Wi-Fi hotspots.

We spoke to Jason Johnson, product development engineer at Ford, about why this is such a major development and what we can look forward to in the future. “We’re envisioning, for example, a web browser in the car for when you’re parked,” Johnson revealed, as well as the potential for easier platform updates.

“With Wi-Fi, imagine your parking garage is a docking station for your car, so overnight your car wakes up, SYNC wakes up and it grabs the latest software update via the Wi-Fi,” says Johnson. “So that’s the beauty of the connected car. Just like all your other mobile devices can get updated on the fly, why shouldn’t your car also be able to be updated that way?”

Although this OTA update concept is exciting for the entertainment and navigational aspects of cars, looking further into the future, just imagine how much more convenient it would be to fix software-based technical issues remotely via an update, rather than the current logistical nightmare a recall brings.

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3. Voice Controls for Your Car

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The connected car, typically with a touchscreen console, has one major flaw — it’s potentially dangerous to interact with while driving. The answer to this is voice control, in which you speak commands to the system.

Ford has employed voice recognition into its connected car platform and we asked Johnson about it.

“Voice control is now starting to become the primary interface in the car because it allows you to keep your hands on the wheel, your eyes on the road and focus on the task of driving. Instead of picking up your iPhone and browsing through the music, you can just say ‘play artist,’ ‘play genre,’ ” Johnson explains.

But how capable is the voice recognition technology? Do you have to memorize a ton of unnatural commands? Ford’s system can currently understand 10,000 words — an impressive vocabulary for a car.

“What you’ll see from Ford is that we want to make device integration easier to use with voice control, and over time you’ll be able to have more of a natural conversation with the system,” says Johnson. “Over time you’ll be able to say ‘Hey SYNC I wanna listen to some jazz.’ ”

We also spoke to Nuance, the company that powers the voice recognition in Ford’s systems about what the future holds in this area.

“The connected car is the present and future. In the near future, drivers will be able to dictate messages or web searches from the convenience of their car — and the system will respond accurately,” Fátima Vital, senior marketing manager of automotive speech for Nuance told us.

“This functionality isn’t just for a select few either. More and more car manufacturers regard speech recognition is an indispensable feature. A J.D. Powers report shows that drivers with a speech-enabled navigation system record the most satisfaction with their cars. Hence the reason it is now available across a whole range of vehicle segments, from luxury cars to the smallest mass market vehicles. By 2020, expect the majority of the vehicles to have in-build speech recognition.”

And voice control is going to be important for convincing consumers about the safety of driving cars with such advanced dashboards. Garry Golden, lead futurist with NYC-based FutureThink predicts this is one hurdle manufacturers could face.

“We will certainly be more social inside our cars and services such as OnStar and SYNC might serve as a buffer between friends, family and businesses. But as move towards a future where cars can command our attention as much as our cell phones, I expect to see a growing cultural backlash around this notion of distracted driving and inattentive drivers.”

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4. Apps to Control Your Car

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Currently a fledgling market, controlling certain functionality of your car via your cell phone will soon be commonplace for new car owners.

BMW, Ford, GM and Volvo have already dipped their toes into the water as far as companion apps for your car go, with some more advanced options offering the ability to remotely unlock the car, start the car and sound the horn, all from a distance. The number of such apps is expected to grow significantly over the next few years.

“From the consumer’s point of view, the connected vehicle will be largely accessible via the computer and smartphone. Application integration is growing vastly as OEMs put their daily relevance in the pocket of their buyers. OEMs are making apps for owners manuals, telematics remote controls, new location-based information, plus integrating those existing entertainment apps like iheartradio, radiotime, Slacker, and Pandora,” says IHS iSuppli automotive analyst Boyadji.

While the current crop of apps work on the driver activating the controls, Golden sees the future of this area in proximity-based sensors and related automation.

“Most operations inside the vehicle are being brought onto the web and will be controllable by secured devices. But the real innovations will be those automated systems based on machine-to-machine interfaces that eliminate the need for human commands,” Golden explains.

“As you walk towards the car, your phone will adjust temperature, turn on the music and unlock the door as you step closer.”

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Conclusion

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As the engineering specifications of rival car models get more and more in line with each other, we’re sure that consumers will be increasingly likely to take into account the car’s connected platforms before making purchasing decisions.

Each manufacturer needs to push to make its platform the leading option for the connected consumer, because as Johnson demonstrates, each manufacturer’s system will be exclusive to the brand, and in competition with its rivals.

“The unique thing about SYNC is that it’s a Ford creation, what makes SYNC is SYNC,” says Johnson. “It’s just not something you could go to another parts supplier and say ‘Hey, give me SYNC.’ ”

In the same way that consumers develop preferences for computer or cell phone operating systems, always sticking to iOS or Android, for example, we think as consumers get used to in-car connectivity platforms, they will want to stick to the same platform with future purchases.

This means that the car company that gets it right at this early stage is set to benefit greatly. As Golden says, “If the battle of the 20th century was Ford versus General Motors, the next century might be Ford SYNC vs. GM OnStar.”

Disclosure: Ford is a Mashable sponsor.

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More Tech Resources from Mashable:

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– 5 Futuristic Concept Phone Designs
– 5 Great Gadgets for Reinventing Your Road Trips
– 10 Incredible Inventions from The World Maker Faire [PICS]
– How the Auto Industry Is Embracing Social Media [INFOGRAPHIC]
– 10 Intriguing Apple Patents to Get Excited About

Images courtesy of Flickr, Ford, vxla and Charles Hutchins