As scientists at the CERN?Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland?continue their search for the elusive Higgs boson "God particle," one physicist has built a tribute to their work entirely out of?Lego bricks. Sascha Mehlhase, a researcher at the Niels Bohr … Continue reading →
蘋果推出新一代 Apple iPhone 6智慧型手機，外觀使用絕美的鋁合金機身，配備更大顯示器，iPhone 6將會推出兩種版型，4.7吋/5.5吋螢幕版本！兩者都會同步在九月公開發售，報導指出新一代iPhone螢幕會使用高硬度的藍寳石玻璃來保護鏡頭/Touch ID部位（藍寶石是鑽石以外第2硬物料）！而螢幕點距將高達441ppi比現在更加提昇！
2011年12月31日 星期六
Web gambling gets boost from Obama administration
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration cleared the way for U.S. states to legalize Internet poker and certain other online betting in a switch that may help them reap billions in tax revenue and spur web-based gambling.
A Justice Department opinion dated September and made public on Friday reversed decades of previous policy that included civil and criminal charges against operators of some of the most popular online poker sites.
Until now, the department held that online gambling in all forms was illegal under the Wire Act of 1961, which bars wagers via telecommunications that cross state lines or international borders.
The new interpretation, by the department's Office of Legal Counsel, said the Wire Act applies only to bets on a "sporting event or contest," not to a state's use of the Internet to sell lottery tickets to adults within its borders or abroad.
"The United States Department of Justice has given the online gaming community a big, big present," said I. Nelson Rose, a gaming law expert at Whittier Law School who consults for governments and the industry.
The question at issue was whether proposals by Illinois and New York to use the Internet and out-of-state transaction processors to sell lottery tickets to in-state adults violated the Wire Act.
But the department's conclusion would eliminate "almost every federal anti-gambling law that could apply to gaming that is legal under state laws," Rose wrote on his blog at www.gamblingandthelaw.com.
If a state legalized intra-state games such as poker, as Nevada and the District of Columbia have done, "there is simply no federal law that could apply" against their operators, he said.
The department's opinion, written by Assistant Attorney General Virginia Seitz, said the law's legislative history showed that Congress's overriding goal had been to halt wire communications for sports gambling, notably off-track betting on horse races.
Congress also had been concerned about rapid transmission of betting information on baseball, basketball, football and boxing among other sports-related events or contests, she summarized the legislative history as showing.
"The ordinary meaning of the phrase 'sporting event or contest' does not encompass lotteries," Seitz wrote. "Accordingly, we conclude that the proposed lotteries are not within the prohibitions of the Wire Act."
The department expressed no opinion about a provision in the law that lets prosecutors shut down phone lines where interstate or foreign gambling is taking place.
Many of the 50 U.S. states may be interested in creating online lotteries to boost tax revenues and help offset the ripple effect of a federal deficit-reduction push.
The global online gambling industry grew 12 percent last year to as much as $30 billion, according to a survey in March by Global Betting and Gaming Consultancy, based on the Isle of Man, where online gambling is legal.
Federal prosecutors in April charged three of the biggest Internet poker companies with fraud and money-laundering along with violations of another federal law, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act of 2006.
The government outlined an alleged scheme by owners of the three largest online poker companies - Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and PokerStars - to funnel gambling profits to online shell companies that would appear legitimate to banks processing payments.
(Editing by Derek Caney)
(This story version corrects the year to 2006 in the penultimate paragraph)
Top Facebook memes in 2011: planking, 'lms' and 'tbh'
Memes such as planking, “lms” (like my status) and “tbh” (to be honest) were identified as the top trending cultural phenomena for the year on social networking site Facebook.
Around the world, Facebook users laughed at and posted photos of people planking -- a movement in which people lie face down in unusual locations. The trend swept through the site, peaking in May after the son of the New Zealand prime minister posted a picture of himself planking in the family lounge (with his father in the background).
The acronyms for “like my status” and “to be honest” were also popular memes on the site in 2011.
“A new use of ‘lms’ emerged this year as a way to interact with friends on Facebook,” revealed Facebook in its annual Memology. "This catapulted ‘lms’ to become the fastest-growing meme of 2011.”
“Tbh” also went viral on the site during the year and the phrase “lms for a tbh” became the most iconic status update for 2011 said Facebook.
Status updates were closely linked to news stories and major events in 2011. Early in the year sports events captured the attention of fans around the world. Facebook users cheered on their favorite teams when the Green Bay Packers triumphed over the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the Super Bowl XLV on February 6.
Charlie Sheen’s antics transfixed the social networking world too, sparking a global trend of “winning,” “tiger blood” and “goddesses” memes.
In April Facebook users’ statuses were filled with posts about the Royal Wedding in England as Kate Middleton and Prince William tied the knot.
Facebook reveals that “mentions of the phrase 'Royal Wedding' sho[t] up nearly 600-fold in the days running up to their wedding day.”
Days later, the death of Osama bin Laden took precedence over the wedding and close to 1 in 10 status updates in English mentioned news of his death.
“The year was also marked by outpourings of sadness and memories after the deaths of Amy Winehouse in July and Steve Jobs in October,” said Facebook.
In November fans of the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 filled the site with "mw3"-related posts and helped make Modern Warfare 3 the biggest entertainment launch of all time.
On microblogging site Twitter, the highest number of tweets per second (tps) was recorded on August 26. Twitter users set a new record of 8,868 tweets per second when Beyonce revealed that she was pregnant during the MTV Video Music Awards.
Additional tps spikes for 2011 were recorded on January 1 (6,939 tps) for New Year’s Eve, on May 28 (6,303 tps) for the UEFA Champions League, on June 27 (6,436 tps) for the BET Awards, on July 17 (7,196 tps) for the end of the FIFA women’s World Cup, on August 25 (7,064 tps) when Steve Jobs resigned from Apple and again on October 6 (6,049 tps) when Steve Jobs died.
Top ten global topics on Facebook in 2011:
Death of Osama bin LadenPackers win the Super BowlCasey Anthony found not guiltyCharlie SheenDeath of Steve JobsThe Royal WeddingDeath of Amy WinehouseCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3Military operations begin in LibyaHurricane Irene
Top five status trends on Facebook in the US in 2011:
Top five status trends in the UK in 2011:
Top five status trends on Facebook in Canada in 2011:
Top five status trends on Facebook in Australia in 2011:
Anti-SOPA activists launch GoDaddy boycott
The great battle for the open Internet continues today, with opponents of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) launching a boycott of domain name registrar GoDaddy, which has written the House of Representatives to express its strong support of the controversial legislation.
Earlier today, Reddit user selfprodigy submitted a post to Reddit.com, the title of which reads, “GoDaddy supports SOPA, I’m transferring 51 domains & suggesting a move your domain day.” That ‘move your domain day’ appears to have started. The post has sat atop Reddit for hours, with countless comments expressing their support for the boycott, and many saying that they have transferred their domains to another registrar.
While Silicon Valley firms like Google, Facebook and Twitter overwhelmingly oppose SOPA on the grounds that it will usher in unprecedented censorship online, suffocate innovation, and endanger the domain name system (DNS) upon which the Internet is built, GoDaddy brushes aside all these arguments, and claims that the bill is needed to “identify and disable all types of illegal activity on the Internet.”
In addition to claiming that SOPA “[is] not going to break the Internet” by tampering with the DNS — something dozens of technical experts say is a serious risk — GoDaddy also tells the House that SOPA “cannot reasonably be equated with censorship.”
“This bill promotes action pursuant to preexisting criminal and civil laws,” continues GoDaddy in its filing with the House. “Not only is there no First Amendment concern, but the notion that we should turn a blind eye to criminal conduct because other countries may take oppressive steps in response is an affront to the very fabric of this nation – that we abide by a set rule of laws, regardless of what actions other countries choose to take or not take.”
This goes firmly against the Stanford Law Review’s take on SOPA, which is that it will, in fact, “break the Internet,” and violate the Constitution in the process.
“The Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear that governmental action suppressing speech, if taken prior to an adversary proceeding and subsequent judicial determination that the speech in question is unlawful, is a presumptively unconstitutional ‘prior restraint,’ writes the Stanford Law Review. “In other words, it is the ‘most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights,’ permissible only in the narrowest range of circumstances. The Constitution requires a court ‘to make a final determination’ that the material in question is unlawful ‘after an adversary hearing before the material is completely removed from circulation.’ The procedures outlined in both bills fail this fundamental constitutional test.”
(Here is the link for the full Stanford Law Review article. At the time of this writing, the site is, however, offline for reasons unknown to us.)
Regardless of whether GoDaddy is right or wrong about the impact of SOPA, it remains incomprehensible as to why a company that is likely in violation of the bill would support Congress voting it into law.
As TechDirt’s Mike Masnik, who has covered SOPA exhaustively, notes, GoDaddy would fall under the SOPA definition of a “site dedicated to the theft of US property,” since it offers “goods or services in a manner that engages in, enables, or facilitates… the sale, distribution, or promotion of goods, services, or materials bearing a counterfeit mark.”
In other words: GoDaddy is pushing for legislation that, as written, could kill its business.
Still, the company is standing by its support for SOPA, and reposted its letter to the House on its website, after a flood of calls and emails poured in from anti-SOPA activists.
With an untold number of customers fleeing from GoDaddy, competing registrars have swooped in to pick up the slack. Many of them have begun offering promotional codes to draw in disgruntled customers. They include:
‧ Name.com: Use code “NODADDY” for 10 percent off transfer-in domains, and 40 percent off hosting. ‧ HostGator.com: Use code “NOSOPA” for 50 percent off the first month of hosting. ‧ NameCheap.com: Use “BYEBYEGD” or “SOPASucks” or “XMASJOY” for a discount.
Of course, GoDaddy is far from the only company that supports SOPA. Check out our list of hundreds of companies that either explicitly support SOPA, or have written Congress in support of similar legislation. To see who has come out against SOPA — a much longer list — click here.
To learn how to easily transfer your domain from GoDaddy to another registrar, see these instructions.
UPDATE 1: GoDaddy Stands firm: The domain registrar has issued a statement to Ars Technica, stating that, “Go Daddy has received some emails that appear to stem from the boycott prompt, but we have not seen any impact to our business. We understand there are many differing opinions on the SOPA regulations.”
UPDATE 2: NoDaddy Day: Comments in the original Reddit thread indicate that December 29 has been declared ‘move your domain’ day. If the momentum holds strong, that means GoDaddy may yet feel the repercussions.
UPDATE 3: StackOverflow has confirmed that it will move its domains from GoDaddy due to its SOPA support, as has the entire Cheezburger Network, reports?TechCrunch — all 1,000 domains, which include I Can Has Cheezburger, Know Your Meme, Fail Blog, the list goes on — unless the registrar reverses its position on SOPA. Cheezburger’s move follows Silicon Valley investor and Y Combinator founder Paul Graham’s declaration that any company that backs SOPA will not be invited to the Y Combinator Demo Day, a twice-a-year presentation to investors of the newest batch of graduating Y Combinator startups.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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As scientists at the CERN?Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland?continue their search for the elusive Higgs boson "God particle," one physicist has built a tribute to their work entirely out of?Lego bricks. Sascha Mehlhase, a researcher at the Niels Bohr … Continue reading →
Rebecca Black, Ryan Dunn, Price Tag top entertainment searches of 2011
As scientists at the CERN?Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland?continue their search for the elusive Higgs boson "God particle," one physicist has built a tribute to their work entirely out of?Lego bricks. Sascha Mehlhase, a researcher at the Niels Bohr … Continue reading →
2011年12月30日 星期五
Alternative social networks fall from favor in 2011
Google this month released its annual Zeitgeist report tracking what the world was searching for in 2011. In addition to the winners, including Rebecca Black and Battlefield 3, Google also tracked the losers -- the fastest-falling search terms of 2011, headed by former star of social networking Myspace and with other alternative social networks falling not far behind.?
According to the Google Zeitgeist report, the social network Myspace, founded in 2003, was the fastest-falling search term of 2011 with searches for the site declining steadily from already depleted volume from January 2011.
The social networking site, once a darling of the internet, has seen a steady decline in fortune as Facebook has continued its meteoric rise to social networking dominance. The site now serves primarily as a platform for bands and was sold to Specific Media and Justin Timberlake on June 29 for around $35 million. It was originally acquired by News Corporation in 2005 for $580 million.
Social networking site Hi5 was also among this year's fastest-falling search terms, coming second to Myspace. Founded in 2003, Hi5 shares many features with other social networking sites, such as profile, photo sharing, etc.; however, Hi5 places a particular emphasis on being a social gaming platform.
Social networking platform Meebo also took a hammering, coming in third. Founded in 2005, Meebo is essentially a platform incorporating several instant messaging servers such as Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger and QQ.
In fourth and fifth place were, respectively, social networks Nasza Klasa and Netlog. Nasza Klasa is a Polish social networking service aimed at students and alumni that currently has an estimated 13.5 million users. Netlog, which began life as Facebox and Bingbox, was founded in Belgium in 2003. The site allows each member to create a web page and enables members to conduct localized searches of the social network.
German social networking platforms Wer Kennt Wen and Meinvz were ranked seventh and eighth in this year's fastest fallers.
In comparison, Google's social network Google+, which opened to the public on August 6 this year, was the second fastest-rising search term of 2011.
In 2010 the fastest falling search term, according to the Google Zeitgeist report, was "Swine Flu."
The fastest falling search terms around the world in 2011 were, according to Google:
01.?? Myspace
02.?? Hi5
03.?? Mebo*
04.?? Nasza Klasa
05.?? Netlog
06.?? Baidu
07.?? Wer Kennt Wen
08.?? Meinvz
09.?? Hotmail correo (Hotmail accounts)
10.?? Delta Airlines?
*social network Meebo appears in the Google Zeitgeist report spelled "Mebo."
The fastest rising terms around the world in 2011 were, according to Google:
01.?? Rebecca Black
02.?? Google+
03.?? Ryan Dunn
04.?? Casey Anthony
05.?? Battlefield 3
06.?? iPhone 5
07.?? Adele
08.?? 東京 電力
09.?? Steve Jobs
10.?? iPad 2?
That Was Quick: Go Daddy Pulls Its Support of SOPA
Faced with a Reddit-powered boycot, Go Daddy, the domain registrar and maker of sexy television commercials, will no longer support the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).?"Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation - but we can clearly do better," Go Daddy's new chief executive Warren Adelmanaid in a statement. "It's very important that all Internet stakeholders work together on this. Getting it right is worth the wait. Go Daddy will support it when and if the Internet community supports it." In conclusion, Reddit wins again.
Twitter-less North Korea crafts new cult of Kim
The Internet is virtually banned, there's no free press and listening to foreign radio is illegal -- if any country can build a Stalinist-style personality cult in the digital era, it's North Korea.
Following the death of its longtime "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-Il on December 17, the repressive communist regime's propaganda machine has swung into action to burnish the image of his youngest son and successor, Jong-Un.
The North's official news agency reported that on Sunday Jong-Un sent hot sweet drinks to mourners braving wintry conditions to pay their respects to his late father.
"He is such a meticulous and tender-hearted man," it said. "The loving care repeatedly shown by Kim Jong-Un for people when the whole nation is overcome with sorrow will be conveyed to posterity as a legend about love for people."
The previous day Jong-Un was hailed for rushing fresh fish to the citizens of Pyongyang to fulfil his father's last wish.
He still has a long way to go to match Kim Jong-Il's many extraordinary feats, which included 11 holes-in-one in a single round of golf.
The outlandish myths about the "Dear Leader" made him a figure of fun and ridicule in the West. But in North Korea the numerous legends helped to perpetuate his 17 years in power, along with prison camps and a massive army.
Kim's picture hangs inside every North Korean home, while propaganda posters hail the late leader and his father, founding president Kim Il-Sung. From an early age, schoolchildren sing the praises of the two men.
They are taught that rainbows appeared over the sacred Mount Paekdu at the time of Kim Jong-Il's birth there, although experts believe he was born in a Russian guerrilla camp.
While Kim's death was mocked overseas on Twitter as an "epic loss to golf", few North Koreans are likely to see the remarks.
Social media helped to galvanise Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, but under the world's last remaining communist dynasty, surfing the web is impossible for most ordinary people.
There is a nationwide intranet system called Kwangmyong but it is tightly controlled and does not provide a window to the outside world.
"North Korea is still run as if it's the 1950s or 1960s," said professor Andrei Lankov, a North Korea specialist at Seoul's Kookmin University.
"There are a surprisingly large number of computers around but they are not connected to the Internet, which is banned. All official radios have fixed tuning so you can listen only to the official broadcast," he said.
That means it will not be hard for North Korea to recreate the same kind of personality cult for the younger Kim as it did for his father, he said.
The senior Kim did show signs of being somewhat Internet-savvy. When then-US secretary of state Madeleine Albright visited Pyongyang in 2000, the late leader reportedly asked for her email address.
Yet North Korea remains one of the world's most closed nations. Most of its citizens are banned from travelling abroad and visitors to the country are typically closely monitored and not permitted to stray from the capital.
A ban on mobile phones has been lifted and the North had more than 800,000 registered subscribers as of the end of September.
Seoul activists say it is difficult for users to make or receive overseas calls because of limited service and tight oversight.
But information from outside is slowly seeping in, through smuggled mobile phones which connect to Chinese networks near the border and South Korean DVDs and videotapes imported clandestinely.
"Thanks to the spread of these videos North Koreans came to realise that the official story about poor, desperate South Korea is a lie," said Lankov.
"North Koreans finally came to realise they are lagging behind. However, few of them realise how far behind."
Even so, Pyongyang still has a tight grip on news, keeping the world in the dark about Kim Jong-Il's death for two days until the shock announcement on Monday last week by a weeping news presenter.
It is impossible to know how many of the tears shed in North Korea for the late leader are genuine, but people who fled Kim's harsh rule say that it is partly the result of years of indoctrination.
"The North's brainwashing is so strong that I found myself crying at the news of Kim Jong-Il's death even though I defected years ago and have publicly said I hate him," said Lee Hae-Young, director of the Seoul-based Association of North Korean Defectors.
"The slavery mentality is so deeply ingrained in the North Korean people because of propaganda and brainwashing."
2011年12月29日 星期四
How to ruin your reputation in one email thread: The Ocean Marketing story
For decades, we have all heard the expression that there is no such thing as bad press. This is wrong. Perhaps that may have been true 20 years ago, but things are different now. The internet can be a cruel mistress, and thanks to the whims of a socially connected world, even a little faux pas can turn a minor issue into a major one. Occasionally things that are taken out of context or misconstrued can become a defining factor for an individual or a group, usually unfairly. This is not one of those times.
It’s hard to misinterpret a company’s representative telling a customer to “put on your big boy hat and wait it out,” before threatening to sell the customer’s item on Ebay. But that is exactly what happened when a customer named Dave emailed Ocean Marketing to ascertain the status of an order he had placed several months earlier for a peripheral that works with gaming controllers, called The Avenger.
After the estimated release date came and went without notification or a status update of any kind, on December 16 Dave decided to email and ask for a status update. Enter the world’s worst customer service rep: Ocean Marketing’s own Paul Christoforo.
Now, Dave didn’t email with fire in his keystrokes. He did not begin the email with “Dear Dirty SOBs,” or disparage anyone’s mother. He was obviously a bit annoyed, but was still respectful and even ended the email with a compliment of the products and a nice goodbye:
“I ordered 2 of the upcoming PS3 controllers (invoice xxxxxxxxx—Nov 3, 2011). Any chance of getting an update of when these items will ship? I’m not really happy about being forced to pay upfront then have the advertised date of “Early December” be completely missed without any sort of update on availability. I really need one of them for a X-mas present as well. Anyways, looking forward to finally using one of these bad boys. Thanks and happy holidays.”
Apparently this was the wrong thing to do. The next few emails were a lesson in minimalism from a customer service rep. Rather than simply replying to the first email and giving a full status update, including a new shipping estimate and reason for the delay, Christoforo began to drag out the email thread with frustratingly vague responses.
The first reply came with the cryptic and vague response, “Dec 17.”
Did that mean that the item would ship on December 17? Would it arrive on December 17? Would he receive a notification on December 17? Dave replied to the email, thanked Christoforo for the prompt reply, then asked for clarification as to what specifically to expect on December 17.
Christoforo then emailed back a single sentence that was as confusing as it was grammatically painful response, “They still haven’t shipped yet on the way here from China.”
This went on for a while.
Dave continued to email Christoforo, attempting to squeeze at least an ounce of actual useful information from him. Through several emails, it became clear that the product was in the country, but had not yet shipped, and likely wouldn’t arrive in time for Christmas.
Dave, who must have been getting increasingly frustrated, then asks why new orders are promised $10 off, while he has been waiting 2 months and received no benefit for his loyalty. He suggests that maybe it would be better to cancel the order and replace it at the new discounted price. He also asks an honest question about a compatibility issue with another product. Christoforo’s answer is equal parts baffling and hilarious (for everyone but Dave, probably).
“Yes it can be used with xtend play if you remove the stand and no one is allowed to cancel and re order if we catch anyone doing it we will simply just cancel your order all together and you can buy it retail somewhere else.
Things happen in manufacturing if your unhappy you have 7 days from the day your item ships for a refund. You placed a pre order just like any software title the gets a date moved due to the tweaks and bugs not being worked out and GameStop or any other place holds your cash and im sure you don’t complain to activision or epic games so put on your big boy hat and wait it out like everyone else. The benefit is a token of our appreaciation for everyone no one is special including you or any first time buyer . Feel free to cancel we need the units were back ordered 11,000 units so your 2 will be gone fast. Maybe I’ll put them on eBay for 150.00 myself. Have a good day Dan.”
Let’s break it down, shall we? In one email, Paul goes from unhelpful to downright hostile, insults Dave repeatedly, and inflates the status of the product to near mythical levels. It is like the bad customer service rep trifecta.
Dave decides that it is time to take the gloves off. His next reply is much longer and lays out his dissatisfaction. For good measure he also CCed several gaming websites, including Kotaku, IGN, and the Penny Arcade website–who have a full transcript of the conversation.
Even with multiple parties now involved, rather than simply acknowledging that they got off on the wrong foot and defusing the situation in one of a dozen different, painless ways, Christoforo decided to go in the opposite direction, and instead insults Dave repeatedly before calling him a child, claims that he knows the editors of many of the websites included in the email, and then sort of just loses his mind somewhere along the way.
“We do value our customers but sometimes we get children like you we just have to put you in the corner with your im stupid hat on. See you at CES , E3 , Pax East ….? Oh wait you have to ask mom and pa dukes your not an industry professional and you have no money on snap you just got told.”
Now, Paul has made numerous interpersonal mistakes at this point, but perhaps none so foolish as bringing up Pax East. This caught the attention of Mike Krahulik, one of the people behind the Penny Arcade website and subsequent expos on the East and West Coasts. Krahulik replied and let Paul know he will be cancelling any booth Ocean Marketing has at Pax East. Undaunted, Christoforo decided to further ratchet up the rhetoric, and in the process not only insults one of the more influential groups in gaming, but also becomes a sources of what will undoubtedly become several ?(see image on the right).
After insulting the Pax East show and claiming that he personally knows the show organizers, Christoforo somehow manages to work in that he knows the Mayor of Boston. It was weird.
“OK Mike whatever you say lol , are you sure hour not in Boston I spoke to the person who ran the show in Boston last year. If you let some little kid influence you over a pre order then we don’t want to be a your show ,Ill be on the floor anyway so come find me , I’m born and raised in Boston I know the people who run the city inside and out watch the way you talk to people you never know who they know it’s a small industry and everyone knows everyone. Your acting like a douchbag not that it matters pax east pax west , e3 , CES , Gamer Con , SSXW ,Comic Con, Germany I’m all over the place. If we want to be there we will be there with industry badges or with a booth you think I can’t team up with turtle beach , Callibur or Koy Christmas , I can’t get Kevin Kelly to pull some strings or G4 , Paul Eibler Ex CEO of take 2 , Rich Larocco Konami , Cliff Blizinski Epic who were working with on a gears version , Activision who were working with on a MW3 and Spider man Bundle , The Convention Center Owners themselves , Mayor of Boston come on Bud you run a show that’s all you do and lease a center in Cities you have no pull in its all about who you know not what you do. I’ll see space where ever I want , with who I want when I want and where I want so many ways around you and so many connections in this industry its silly. Anyway , I have no issue with you Sean Buckley Engadget, Scott Lowe IGN and the list goes on and on. Little kids unhappy with a PRE ORDER starting trouble and you email that to us , he’s a customer unless you’re his boyfriend then you should side with the company not the customer. Be Careful”
Eventually Paul seemed to regain some semblance of sanity and tried to smooth things over with Krahulik, who doesn’t bite. Paul then signs off with series of insults to Penny Arcade and a handful of threats, including the promise to have his marketing team begin a smear campaign.
Well, the good news for Ocean Marketing is that in a way Paul was right, they are getting a lot of attention right now. So much so that the site’s Twitter feed, @OceanMarketting [sic], was flooded by so many negative comments that it changed names to @OceanStratagy [sic]. IGN’s editor Scott Lowe, who Christoforo cited as a personal reference, posted on Ocean Marketing’s Twitter page that IGN does not support any of the comments he made and that their dealings have always been marred by unprofessional behavior, and Engadget echoed that sentiment. As for the product, the Amazon page for The Avenger controller has had well over 100 reviews today, all of them negative 1 out of 5 star reviews, all citing Ocean Marketing as the problem (with the exception of one 5 star rating that was meant as a joke).
You almost have to admire Christoforo’s utter disconnect with reality. Not only did he insult a paying customer for no real reason, he also insulted a trade show organizer, the editors of several well-known websites, and seriously damaged the reputation of his own company. But hey, at least people know about The Avenger controller now, so mission accomplished.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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2011年12月28日 星期三
Chris Dodd's Defense of SOPA Makes Him Sound Like a Despot
It's pretty problematic how former Senator Chris Dodd is vehemently?defending the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) with the same argument that despots have been using to justify censorship for years. Now the head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and one of SOPA's most outspoken proponents, Dodd's logic sort of folds back onto itself. "Hollywood is pro-Internet. We stand with those who strongly oppose foreign governments that would unilaterally block websites and thus deny the free flow of information and speech," Dodd said on Tuesday at the Center for American Progress. "So I want to make it clear right at the outset that our fight against content theft is not a fight against technology. It is a fight against criminals."
Related: Bring on the Anxiety Parade for the SOPA AlternativeWe've heard this line before. Indeed, targeting "criminals" serves as a handy, sweeping justification for any ruling power to whittle away at civil rights in the name of the law. In learning more about the history of web censorship, we stumbled across some startlingly of the similar instances in which what are the anti-Internet regimes -- here's a list -- explained how they're actually fighting crime, rather than freedom when the block people from visiting websites.
Related: The Web Collectively Protests Congress's Censorship LawThe Great Firewall of China is probably the most famous government Internet censorship efforts. The government can apparently add new keywords to block certain kinds of sites or even specific kinds of content whenever it wants. Take earlier this year when China shunned the Nobel Peace Prize Committee and blocked news sites from reporting on Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Chinese dissident who won this year's prize for standing up for freedom of speech. Why'd they do that? "Liu Xiaobo is a criminal," the Chinese Foreign Ministry explained.?
Related: Hollywood Dominates the Debate at Internet Censorship HearingBut SOPA is about enforcing copyright law, Dodd might contend. Even the tech companies that oppose SOPA admit that they're open to finding better ways to protect intellectual property, though Harvard law professor Jonathan Zittrain recently told The Atlantic Wire that the government hasn't done any real data-driven research to prove that it would even be effective. The problem with the law, critics say, is less the intended purpose than it is the possible execution. Indeed, Chinese government has taken this position too and should the U.S. government join, it could open up even more censorship around the world.?"In China 'copyright' is one of many excuses to crack down on political movements," Chinese blogger Isaac Mao told CNN recently. "If a new law like SOPA is introduced in the U.S., the Chinese government and official media will use it to support their version of 'anti-piracy.'"
Related: Tech Companies Not Taking a Stand on Censorship Are Being BlacklistedThe Indian government is less consistent than China in how it censors the web, but the reasoning is often the same. Just this week, India's acting telecommunications minister Kapil Sibal spoke out about blocking content on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter in order "to remove disparaging, inflammatory or defamatory content before it goes online." (Read: keep citizens from criticizing the Indian government.) How do they justify that? The digital rights advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation explain:
The world’s largest democracy has been known to censor online content from time to time, typically under the guise of national security or obscenity. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team is tasked with issuing blocking orders, while Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows police commissioners to identify and order the blocking of material that contains a threat or nuisance to society.
Again, it's not specifically about censoring the internet. It's about punishing criminals.
Related: The Titans of Silicon Valley Rally Around the SOPA AlternativeSyria's been particularly duplicitous about misinformation lately, but blocking the internet in the name of the law has been going on there for years. In 2008, The Economist reported on the censorship problem in Syria by focusing on how the government interpreted laws quite broadly, not only to censor the Internet but actually convict bloggers of crimes:
For "defaming and insulting the administrative bodies of the state", the president of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, Mazen Darwish, was recently sentenced to a salutary ten days in jail. His real crime was to report on riots in an industrial town near Damascus, Syria’s capital. Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based lobby, said his case brought the number of journalists and "cyber dissidents" imprisoned in Syria to seven. …
For several years Syria has been an enemy of the internet. The security services keep opposition figures and even ordinary bloggers under surveillance. The main internet service-provider bans 100-plus websites. Most sites carping at President Bashar Assad’s government are silenced, as are many Kurdish and Islamist sites. A yellow screen flashes up with the words "Access Denied".
So Syria is extra bad because they not only block the sites, they throw bloggers in jail. Because they're criminals, the government contends.
2011年12月27日 星期二
Twitter index: internet users tweet to stop cyber bullying on ‘hug day’
We've already seen?fish wielding tools and?ravens socializing, and now we're seeing another hint to the inevitable world domination by animals. This?bearded dragon has mastered the video game?Ant Crusher on its owner's cellphone. Sure, the game seems perfectly tailored to the … Continue reading →
Online spending stays strong in early December
(Reuters) - Online spending remained strong in early December, a period that usually marks a lull in the U.S. holiday shopping frenzy, comScore said on Sunday.
For the week ending December 9, consumers spent $5.9 billion online, up 15 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to comScore, which tracks Internet activity.
E-commerce spending for the first 39 days of the 2011 holiday season reached $24.6 billion, also up 15 percent versus the corresponding days last year, comScore added.
Earlier in the season, the day that has become known as "Cyber Monday" saw a record $1.25 billion spent online in the United States, up 22 percent from last year. Other early season shopping days were also strong, with "Black Friday" e-commerce sales jumping 26 percent from a year ago.
That sparked concern that sales could weaken later in the season, but so far that has not happened, comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said on Sunday.
"These highlights represent another very positive sign for the holiday shopping season, as the week following 'Cyber Week' often experiences relative softness in spending momentum due to retailers pulling back on their promotional activity," he said.
'GREEN MONDAY'
The latest data suggests a "strong finish" to the holiday shopping period online this year, Fulgoni added.
This coming week is usually the busiest for online retailers, beginning with "Green Monday," a term coined by eBay in 2007 to describe the Monday occurring around the second week of December, which has tended to be among the heaviest online spending days of the year.
Over the past six holiday shopping seasons, "Green Monday" has ranked among the top spending days of the season, ending the year as the top-ranked twice (in 2005 and 2007) and the second-ranked spending day three times (in 2006, 2008 and 2010), according to comScore data.
"Green Monday will rank among the top online spending days of the season, but it's hold on the No. 1 position may be slipping," Fulgoni said.
That may be because "Free Shipping Day" is becoming more important. This is a day when thousands of merchants offer free shipping on one of the last days that allows enough time for packages to be delivered in time for Christmas Eve, December 24.
Free Shipping Day is December 16 this year and these kinds of promotions may be helping to spread online spending throughout the week. In the past, spending was more concentrated earlier in the week, comScore's Fulgoni noted.
(Reporting by Alistair Barr, editing by Maureen Bavdek)
Best Android apps for bloggers of 2011
WordPress: A tool for professional bloggers.Tumblr: Easy syndication for your blog.Evernote: Passive research for bloggers on-the-go.Qik Video: Social video blogging.Path: Social blogging with mobile in mind.
My Android phone has been one of the few turning points in my blogging career. With Internet access, a hotspot and dozens of blogger-specific apps, my Android is one smartphone that keeps me working at any time (by choice or circumstance). 2011 was a big year for blogger apps as some (like WordPress) improved on existing features, while others (like Tumblr) completely revamped their Android app from the ground up. As mobile blogging really settles into its own, Android’s become a perfect playground for a generation of ready chroniclers.
WordPress made an early entry onto the Android Market, and has steadily improved its mobile blogging platform accordingly. As one of the most widely-used blogging services for professionals, WordPress has a responsibility to incorporate as much of the backend functionality into its mobile version as it possibly can. 2011 brought some noteworthy updates that make its app feel more like the web version, offering more control over your publication with scheduling, post passwords, HTTP authentication and several interface changes geared for mobile use.
Tumblr has really taken off as a blogging tool in 2011, gaining widespread popularity and a soaring number of users. Thanks to some major updates and added functions, Tumblr’s competing with the likes of Posterous and WordPress in many regards. A completely revamped Android app shows Tumblr’s appreciation for its mobile user base, offering a one-stop shop for syndicating blog posts across all your social networks. The interface was designed for Android hardware and software, and the ability to manage multiple blogs was added. You can create a post directly from the app, and access messages for each blog. You can find people to follow directly from your address book, and quickly create posts with the home screen widget.
Evernote tends to make its way onto most “top” lists, whether they’re for bloggers, the workplace, organization or just an all-time favorite pick. There’s a reason for Evernote’s staying power, and 2011 proved just as successful for the popular app. Not only did Evernote launch a new note-taking and annotation app called Skitch, they also updated its Android app to increase notebook sharing control, which can be key for a blogger’s use of Evernote’s service. There’s new ways to share a notebook, including a designated URL (which can even be edited for premium users), or limited to certain people. Combined with other useful capabilities, such as the option to create blog posts from drafts saved as a note, with easy exporting to an existing blogging platform (like WordPress), Evernote’s “remember everything” mantra is always finding new uses. Evernote also released a new home screen widget for easy note-taking, among many other hidden gems.
Sometimes video is the best way to convey a message, and Qik is one of the best apps for video bloggers available in the Android Market. As one of the early video-sharing apps for Android, Qik’s been a go-to for bloggers like myself, and things have only gotten better since being acquired by Skype earlier this year. The 2011 launch of Qik Premium extends features most useful to professional bloggers, with things like unlimited video storage and sync for video management on the desktop. You can also create and share video mail, create a specified gallery on your Android device, and record in HD and 3D. Qik already had easy sharing options, including live chat during recording sessions, and social network integration.
Path is a social startup that’s gained significant traction in 2011, putting a new spin on the way we post and share content. Combining automatic capabilities (such as location check-ins and silencing notifications at bedtime) with traditional media-sharing, Path lets you blog with ease, and with the right people in mind. The app had a major update when it expanded its sharing options to include activities, music, locations and more. And social connections make posts collaborative, so you can post about a song you’re listening to at a certain place, with a certain person. Headed by former Facebook platform executive Dave Morin, Path also has a penchant for design (Morin is an ex-Apple employee as well). Photos in your stream become the cover for your Path blog, and an unobtrusive animation pop-out displays your content posting options. With an entire team designated to design, Path’s focus on its Android experience makes it one to watch.
Related: Best Android social networking apps of 2011
Study: Most people still don't trust online info
NEW YORK (AP) — Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed the rise of social networks and mobile technology that's put the Internet at an arm's reach, day and night — yet a new study has found that people are even more distrustful of the information they find online.
Three-quarters of Internet users find the Web an important source of information, but most people still don't deem the content they see online reliable, according to a report out this week from the University of Southern California.
Such are the deep chasms among Americans' attitudes about the Internet.
In 2010, 15 percent of Internet users said they find only a small portion of online information reliable. That's greater than the 7 percent who were likewise skeptical of the vast majority of information they come across on the Internet.
The mistrust is especially true for social networks. That said, people don't look to social networks for reliability. Rather, they visit the sites to socialize and share photos, updates and videos.
Trust grows when it comes to established media outlets and government websites. In 2010, 79 percent of Internet users said they found content posted on government websites reliable, about the same as in 2003, the first year the center looked at that question.
Jeff Cole, author of the study and director of USC Annenberg School's Center for the Digital Future, said Americans tend to be more trusting of government and big media.
"Other countries are better at distinguishing good information from (the) unreliable," he said. In repressive regimes where media is closely tied to the government, citizens grow adept at filtering truth from propaganda.
When it comes to privacy online, Americans are actually more concerned about businesses than the government, the report found. Nearly half of U.S. Internet users said they are worried about companies watching what they do online, compared with 38 percent who said the same for the government.
Looking ahead to the next decade, Cole expects tablet computers and other touch-screen devices to largely replace personal computers and with them, the clunky computer mouse.
The center has surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. households each year since 1999. The latest report is a look back at the past decade of Americans' Internet use. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Alleged Gene Simmons website hacker arrested
We've already seen?fish wielding tools and?ravens socializing, and now we're seeing another hint to the inevitable world domination by animals. This?bearded dragon has mastered the video game?Ant Crusher on its owner's cellphone. Sure, the game seems perfectly tailored to the … Continue reading →
AT&T, rivals delay legal fights over T-Mobile
(Reuters) - AT&T Inc and Sprint Nextel Corp asked a U.S. court on Tuesday to delay hearings in their private litigation over whether the telecommunications giant can buy T-Mobile USA, and the judge promptly agreed.
The request was similar to one that AT&T and the Justice Department made on Monday regarding the government's antitrust suit, which U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle also promptly signed.
An identical request was agreed in a case against AT&T brought by small regional phone company C Spire Wireless.
AT&T's agreement to delays in the cases, after previously insisting on expediting them to prevent Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA from deteriorating in limbo, have led to pessimism that the $39 billion deal will be completed.
AT&T has also set aside $4 billion in reserves for what could eventually be a $6 billion deal breakup payment to T-Mobile.
AT&T and Sprint asked for the next hearing in the case to be January 18, at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT), the same time as the next hearing in the Justice Department's case against AT&T.
Huvelle has ordered AT&T and T-Mobile USA to tell the court by noon on January 12 whether they plan to continue to pursue their agreed deal or an amended one and to give an update on their plans for seeking necessary approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Both the Justice Department and the FCC have objected to the deal on the grounds that it would hurt competition in the U.S. wireless market. The purchase of No. 4 U.S. mobile operator T-Mobile USA would vault No. 2-ranked AT&T into first place in the U.S. market.
The cases before the court are USA v. AT&T, T-Mobile USA Inc and Deutsche Telekom AG, case No. 11-1560; Sprint Nextel Corp v. AT&T Inc et al, No. 11-1600 and Cellular South (C Spire) v. AT&T, No. 11-1690. All are before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
2011年12月26日 星期一
Alleged Gene Simmons website hacker arrested
We've already seen?fish wielding tools and?ravens socializing, and now we're seeing another hint to the inevitable world domination by animals. This?bearded dragon has mastered the video game?Ant Crusher on its owner's cellphone. Sure, the game seems perfectly tailored to the … Continue reading →
Forget FarmVille, try the real version: MyFarm
A U.K. organization has just been given the go-ahead by the National Trust to increase its crowd-sourced farming efforts. MyFarm, which is more or less the real-life version of Farmville, is a project that virtually gives the Internet community a say in how it runs its 2,500 acre organic farm.
But now, it will also give people a glimpse of the daily operations of a conventional (or non-organic) farm. “Just 4-percent of farmland in the UK is organic,” the site says, “so some saw MyFarm as irrelevant to ‘real’ farming.” But now the site will be equal opportunity, offering users more variety in helping and learning about the farm for a one-time ￡30 fee. ?
Regardless of the new distinction, MyFarm will continue to use social networking and gamification to interest people in the origin of their food. The site has a live Webcam, debates and votes on key farm decisions, and various blogs. It’s a great example of digital, interactive solutions that can reconnect people to things that really matter. ?
And it’s one that’s working. The site’s expansion into conventional farming is a step to diversify and lure in skeptics—as well as give people an inside look at the concrete differences between these two farming methods.?At the moment, MyFarm has 3,000 participants, with a goal of someday reaching 10,000.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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New operating system for space: High-tech tycoons
SEATTLE (AP) — The tycoons of cyberspace are looking to bankroll America's resurgence in outer space, reviving "Star Trek" dreams that first interested them in science.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen made the latest step Tuesday, unveiling plans for a new commercial spaceship that, instead of blasting off a launch pad, would be carried high into the atmosphere by the widest plane ever built before it fires its rockets.
He joins Silicon Valley powerhouses Elon Musk of PayPal and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com Inc. in a new private space race that attempts to fill the gap left when the U.S. government ended the space shuttle program.
Musk, whose Space Exploration Technologies will send its Dragon capsule to dock with the International Space Station in February, will provide the capsule and booster rocket for Allen's venture, which is called Stratolaunch. Bezos is building a rival private spaceship.
Allen is working with aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan, who collaborated with the tycoon in 2004 to win a $10 million prize for the first flight of a private spaceship that went into space but not orbit.
Allen says his enormous airplane and spaceship system will go to "the next big step: a private orbital space platform business."
The new system is "a radical change" in how people can get to space, and it will "keep America at the forefront of space exploration," Allen said.
Their plane will have a 380-foot wingspan — longer than a football field and wider than the biggest aircraft ever, Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose.
It will launch a space capsule equipped with a booster rocket, which will send the spacecraft into orbit. This method saves money by not using rocket fuel to get off the ground. The spaceship may hold as many as six people.
"When I was growing up, America's space program was the symbol of aspiration," said Allen, who mentioned his love of science fiction and early human spaceflights. "For me, the fascination with space never ended. I never stopped dreaming what might be possible."
For those attracted to difficult technical challenges, space is the ultimate challenge, Allen said.
"It's also the ultimate adventure. We all grew up devouring science fiction and watching Mercury and Gemini, Apollo and the space shuttle. And now we are able to be involved in moving things to the next level," he said, adding that he admires people like his former Microsoft colleague Charles Simonyi who have gone into space to experience it.
Allen is not alone in having such dreams, and the money to gamble on making them come true.
Bezos set up the secretive private space company Blue Origin, which has received $3.7 million in NASA startup funds to develop a rocket to carry astronauts. Its August flight test ended in failure.
"Space was the inspiration that got people into high-tech ... at least individuals in their 40s and 50s," said Peter Diamandis, who created the space prize Allen won earlier and is a high-tech mogul-turned space business leader himself. "Now they're coming full circle."
Diamandis helped found a company that sends tourists to space for at least $25 million a ride, and seven of the eight rides involved high-tech executives living out their space dreams. Simonyi paid at least $20 million apiece for two rides into orbit and attended Allen's Tuesday news conference, saying he wouldn't mind a third flight.
"Space has a draw for humanity," not just high-tech billionaires, Simonyi said, but he acknowledged that most people don't have the cash to take that trip.
Space experts welcome the burst of high-tech interest in a technology that 50 years ago spurred the development of computers.
"Space travel the way we used to do it has a '50s and '60s ring to it," said retired George Washington University space policy professor John Logsdon. "These guys have a vision of revitalizing a sector that makes it 21st century."
But Logsdon said the size of the capsule and rocket going to space seemed kind of small to him, only carrying 13,000 pounds. It didn't seem like a game-changer, he said.
Stratolaunch's air-launch method is already used by an older rocket company, Orbital Sciences Corp., to launch satellites. It's also the same method used by the first plane to break the sound barrier more than 50 years ago.
Stratolaunch, to be based in Huntsville, Ala., bills its method of getting to space as "any orbit, any time." Rutan will build the carrier aircraft, which will use six 747 engines. The first unmanned test flight is tentatively scheduled for 2016.
NASA, in a statement, welcomed Allen to the space business, saying his plan "has the potential to make future access to low-Earth orbit more competitive, timely, and less expensive."
Unlike its competitors, Allen's company isn't relying on startup money from NASA, which is encouraging private companies to take the load of hauling cargo and astronauts to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station. The space agency, which retired the space shuttle fleet earlier this year, plans to leave that more routine work to private companies and concentrate on deep space human exploration of an asteroid, the moon and even Mars.
Allen said his interest comes not just because of the end of the shuttle program or changes in government funding for space, but he does see an incredible opportunity right now for the private sector to move the needle on space travel.
Allen's company is looking at making money from tourists and launching small communications satellites, as well as from NASA and the Defense Department, said former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, a Stratolaunch board member who spoke at a Tuesday news conference.
Just three months ago, Griffin was testifying before Congress that he thought the Obama administration's reliance on private companies for space travel "does not withstand a conventional business case analysis."
This is different because it's private money, with no help or dependence on government dollars, said Griffin, who served under President George W. Bush.
Allen and Rutan collaborated on 2004's SpaceShipOne, which was also launched in the air from a special aircraft in back-to-back flights. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic licensed the technology and is developing SpaceShipTwo to carry tourists to space. But Allen's first efforts were more a hobby, while this would be more a business, Logsdon said.
SpaceShipOne cost $28 million, but this will cost much more, officials said.
Allen left Microsoft Corp. in 1983, and has pursued many varied interests since then. He's the owner of the Seattle Seahawks football team as well as the NBA's Portland Trailblazers. He also founded a Seattle museum that emphasizes science fiction.
Allen said this venture fits with his technology bent.
"I'm a huge fan of anything to push the boundaries of science," Allen said.
___
Borenstein contributed to this report from Washington.
___
Online:
Stratolaunch Systems: http://www.stratolaunch.com
Goldman resumes coverage on U.S. Internet sector
We've already seen?fish wielding tools and?ravens socializing, and now we're seeing another hint to the inevitable world domination by animals. This?bearded dragon has mastered the video game?Ant Crusher on its owner's cellphone. Sure, the game seems perfectly tailored to the … Continue reading →
SAY Media acquires tech blog Read Write Web
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - SAY Media announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Read Write Web, a popular and respected technology blog.
In addition to that acquisition, SAY has brought aboard Dan Frommer, one of the founding editors of Business Insider and founder and editor-in-chief of SplatF. He will fill the role of editor-at-large for Read Write Web and continue to write for SplatF, which SAY also owns.
"ReadWriteWeb has established itself as a leading news and analysis source for the tech community, reaching high-level business influencers and decision makers. Its editorial team is frequently sourced and considered to be one of the best in the business," Matt Sanchez, CEO of SAY Media, said in a statement.
Read Write Web boasts 1.5 million unique visitors a month worldwide (about half of which come from the United States), according to Quantcast -- but that number has declined year-over-year. The addition of Frommer and Sanchez' assertion that RWW will add "new star writers" signal that SAY hopes to boost that number back up.
Richard McManus, founder and editor-in-chief of RWW, will remain in charge of the site's expanding editorial operations.
SAY is the result of a merger between online advertising network VideoEgg and blog consortium Six Apart.
SAY owns and operates a series of media properties, and this acquisition is intended to bolster its Tech channel, which already includes Android and Me, SplatF and others.
AdWeek's Anthony Ha broke the news, and an embargo.
2011年12月25日 星期日
Top Diggs: Fire dept. watches home burn down, Achmed the dead Santa Claus
We've already seen?fish wielding tools and?ravens socializing, and now we're seeing another hint to the inevitable world domination by animals. This?bearded dragon has mastered the video game?Ant Crusher on its owner's cellphone. Sure, the game seems perfectly tailored to the … Continue reading →
House clears way for spectrum auction; bill faces veto
We've already seen?fish wielding tools and?ravens socializing, and now we're seeing another hint to the inevitable world domination by animals. This?bearded dragon has mastered the video game?Ant Crusher on its owner's cellphone. Sure, the game seems perfectly tailored to the … Continue reading →
Facebook launches tool to report suicidal behavior
(Reuters) - Facebook launched a new suicide prevention tool on Tuesday, giving users a direct link to an online chat with counselors who can help, the company said.
Friends are able to report suicidal behavior by clicking a report option next to any piece of content on the site and choosing suicidal content under the harmful behavior option, Facebook spokesman Frederic Wolens said.
Facebook will then email the user in distress a direct link for a private online chat with a crisis representative from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline as well as the group's phone number.
The new tool gives people who may not be comfortable picking up the phone a direct avenue to seek help.
"This was a natural progression from something we've been working on for a long time," Wolens said.
Users also have the ability to report suicidal behavior by going to the site's Help Center or search for suicide reporting forms. They can also use reporting links around the site.
Worried friends who reported the behavior will also receive a message to say it is being addressed, Wolens said.
Facebook, the most popular Web-based social networking site, has more than 800 million active users worldwide. The Palo Alto, California-based company was co-founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004.
The new suicide reporting tool will be made available to people who use Facebook in the United States and Canada.
Wolens said that all reporting on the site is done anonymously and so a distressed user will not know who reported the suicidal content.
Nearly 100 Americans die by suicide every day, according to the Surgeon General of the United States.
In the past year, more than 8 million Americans 18 or older had thought seriously about suicide, according to a blog post by the Surgeon General accompanying the release of the new Facebook tool.
(Reporting by Lauren Keiper; Editing by Peter Bohan and Richard Chang)
Tablet owners are shunning 3G and loving Wi-Fi
Based off a year-long study conducted by?The NPD Group’s Connected Intelligence, the percentage of tablet owners that utilize Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet has increased over 2011. During April 2011,?60 percent of tablet owners stated that they only use Wi-Fi to go online, but only five percent had plans to invest in a mobile 3G broadband plan within the following six months. By October 2011, Wi-Fi only users had grown to 65 percent while users that utilize both Wi-Fi and cellular data, users that only use cellular data and users that don’t use any Internet connection shrunk. ?
According to VP of?Connected Intelligence?Eddie Hold, he stated “Concern over the high cost of cellular data plans is certainly an issue, but more consumers are finding that Wi-Fi is available in the majority of locations where they use their tablets, providing them ‘good enough’ connectivity. In addition, the vast majority of tablet users already own a smartphone, which fulfills the ‘must have’ connectivity need.” According to a study conducted by?market research company Informa Telecoms and Media, the amount of?public Wi-Fi hotspots is expected to skyrocket by 350 percent over the next four years and will likely reach nearly six million hotspots.
Tablet owners are going to have less of a reason to purchase expensive cellular data plans as the amount of Wi-Fi locations increase over time. Cellular companies are also likely having a difficult time convincing smartphone owners to purchase a second data plan for a tablet. Owners of the 3G-enabled version of the iPad 2 have to pay between $15 (250MB) to $25 (2GB) a month for service with an additional $10 for each gigabyte beyond that cap. Verizon Wireless users can choose from a 2GB plan for $30, a 5GB plan for $50 or a 10GB plan for $80 a month. Similar to AT&T, each additional gigabyte beyond the cap costs an additional $10 a month.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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A Web Celebrity-Spotting Guide to the Latest Anti-SOPA Site
If your job has some kind of online component (and pretty much every job these days does) you'll have fun with the endless scrolling feature on "I Work for the Internet," the latest website set up to protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). In that "We Are the 99 Percent" kind of way, the site basically amounts to a bunch of webcam portraits of self-appointed Internet employees standing up against SOPA. All it takes to join is a photo of yourself and a brief description of what you do and where you're from, and your mug will be added to a neverending stream of nerdy-looking faces. Looking to see if your web-savvy friends have signed up is pretty fun (Hi Annie!) but what's even more fun? Internet celebrity spotting, of course.
Related: The Web Collectively Protests Congress's Censorship LawThis seemed like a good idea until we realized that "I Work for the Internet" is already being trolled.?The guys at?Vice?played a little prank on both the SOPA protesters as well as the bloggers making fun of them. On Tumblr, the magazine admitted to posting a photo of Andrew Breitbart as well as "a picture of a popular blogger … who had made fun of 'I Work For The Internet' campaign." Gawker's Ryan Tate had spotted him too and?blogged about his few issues with the site on Monday night:
This legislation would curb the rights of everyone online, but on "I Work" the pictured opponents are mostly pasty male nerds, often in glasses, the same sort of people who have been?activating their asthma inhalers at Tumblr HQ over SOPA and who are at this very moment?contemplating shutting down Wikipedia in protest. …
Hey, that's fine. It's fine that this site was created by the same guys who made "Free Bieber." It's fine that web geeks and their startups sat relatively mute as Americans got assassinated by the military without trial …?as Wall Street took nearly $8 trillion in federal commitments while torpedoing meaningful regulation and exerting its influence to avoid meaningful oversight.
Tate complained about a few more issues that the angry Internet could've taken on, but you get the point. He also pointed out Andrew Breitbart (pictured below) as evidence that all of the people who've signed up for "I Work For the Internet" were nothing more than "self-centered, melodramatic dopes." Vice was sure to make fun of Tate for falling for their prank.
Related: Hollywood Dominates the Debate at Internet Censorship HearingNevertheless, there do appear to be some other recognizable faces in the crowd. Before we launch into a listicle and start naming names, we must admit that our definition of "Internet celebrity" is pretty broad. We took a screenshot of pretty much anyone we recognized and made a list of people we thought our readers might recognize, too. Because the relative anonymity offered by only allowed one letter for each last name, we surely missed some famous names, but we've made this listicle of the famous faces. Email us screenshots if we missed anybody noteworthy!
Related: Tech Companies Not Taking a Stand on Censorship Are Being BlacklistedBig Government blogger and conservative rabble rouser?Andrew Breitbart??does?sounds cooler when you call him "Andy B." Vice explains the name and the prank:
Related: U.S. Authorities Seize Domain NamesEarlier today, the anti-SOPA 'I Work For The Internet' campaign ‘became viral’. VICE Magazine Tumblr Team’s first reaction was to post a picture of a really cute kitten, because kittens run the internet. When we saw that photos were being moderated, we realized the kitten probably wouldn’t make it past the intern screener. So we thought of who the most hated person on the internet was, and, probably because we read an article about him earlier in the day, decided to post a picture of Andrew Breitbart. We called him 'Andy B' and said he lived in Washington DC, MD because it looked funny and also because DC wasn’t an option in the drop down.
TechCrunch editor?Erick Schonfeld and newly hired blogger Eric Eldon look a lot like their Twitter avatars. Eldon also blogged about the site. We wonder if Schonfeld might be the other blogger Vice added:
Related: The Knives Come Out in the Battle to Stop SOPAUniqlo sweater model and Tumblr founder David Karp and longtime Tumblr designer Peter Vidani were among the first on the list, leading us to believe that Tumblr -- a site that's been especially aggressive about protesting SOPA -- probably played a role in developing the site.
Dave Morin is early Zuckerberg disciple who built the Facebook Platform and then went on to found Path, which he refused to sell to Google for $100 million earlier this year.
You might not recognize his face but you've surely watched videos on the site he co-founded and designed: Vimeo. Meet?Zach Klein, who's now a venture capitalist with the Founder's Colletive and sort of looks like a nerdier version of Ryan Gosling.
Texts from Last Night is the site that you probably laughed at with your friends in college. Co-founder Lauren Leto now runs a start up called bntr in New York, where she apparently has a "fabulous" life.
Russian security council chief wants Web regulation
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Internet must be subject to "reasonable regulation," the head of Russia's Security Council said in remarks published on Wednesday, a fresh sign of Kremlin concern about the use of social networks to promote anti-government protests.
Opposition groups and ordinary Russians used Facebook and the Russian site VKontakte to organize protests last week over a December 4 parliamentary election they charged was rigged to benefit Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's ruling party.
Tens of thousands of people rallied on Saturday in the biggest anti-government protests since Putin came to power 12 years ago, many chanting "Russia without Putin!"
Opponents plan further protests ahead of a March election expected to return Putin, a former Soviet KGB officer and Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) chief, to the presidency.
"Attempts to stop people from communicating are in principle counterproductive and even amoral," Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, who headed the FSB during Putin's 2000-2008 presidency, told the daily Argumenty i Fakty.
"However, one must not ignore the use of the Internet by criminals and terrorist groups. Reasonable regulation, of course, must be conducted in Russia, as is done in the United States, China, and many other countries," he said.
Chinese government controls on the Internet are far stricter than those in the United States, and Patrushev gave no details in the newspaper interview, but his remarks suggest Russian authorities are considering ways of reining in the Internet.
Putin has publicly said that the state's ability and right to control Internet use is limited, and suggested his government would not try to do so. Analysts say hardliners close to Putin would like to impose controls similar to China's.
Vkontakte, Russia's top social networking site, said last week that it had rejected a request by the FSB to block opposition groups from using it to organize street protests.
A spokesman for VKontakte, used by tens of thousands of people to coordinate support for the December 10 protests, said the company was not pressured or threatened.
Ahead of the parliamentary vote, however, the websites of the independent election monitoring group Golos and at least two media outlets that had aired reports of alleged campaign violations were blocked by denial-of-service attacks.
The head of Golos, a Western-funded group that has a site with a map showing reported cases of electoral violations, said she suspected the FSB was behind the attacks.
Russian officials have expressed concern about the powerful role of online communication in the unrest that has brought down governments in the Arab world in the past year.
A senior FSB officer said in April that uncontrolled use of Gmail, Hotmail and Skype were "a major threat to national security."
(Editing by Rosalind Russell)
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