The Next Web |  |
- Leaked video shows Samsung Galaxy Tab in operation
- Google’s Logo The Most Viewed Online In The UK
- LG E900 Optimus 7 poses for official Microsoft WP7 publicity shot
- Expect a big media blitz promoting Google Voice soon
- Dealery: A great-looking aggregator for daily social deals
- Facebook’s Not So Neutral Ad Policy
- Think it all happens in Silicon Valley? You’re wrong! – BinaryPlex
- Google Voice in Gmail DOES work outside the US (Updated)
- Pinboard for Android. Archive with the power of a robot.
- Updates to Facebook Chat mean no more IE6 support
- A “special event” from Apple on September 1st. Is this the new Apple TV?
- The New Digg Has (Mostly) Launched
- Video: The Google Voice Phone Booth
- Google Officially Adds Google Voice To Gmail
- Should bloggers have control over ads that appear next to their content?
- Google calls: Not a Skype-killer, but still a viable option.
- Has Facebook Exposed Its Flank? Here come the College Social Networks.
- New YouTube attack causes channels to lose thousands of subscribers [Updated]
- California To Build And Deploy Mass Text Message Alert System
- iPad app fail. sobees Social Media for iPad.
| Leaked video shows Samsung Galaxy Tab in operation Posted: 26 Aug 2010 03:50 AM PDT
Today, another video has emerged on Giz-China giving us a glimpse at the Samsung Galaxy Tab in operation. We get to see a little Android goodness but also how quick the tablet device really is. The unit in the video is without doubt running test firmware, meaning we can expect the Galaxy Tab to be slicker, if not faster by the time it heads to market.
Original title and link for this post: Leaked video shows Samsung Galaxy Tab in operation     |
| Google’s Logo The Most Viewed Online In The UK Posted: 26 Aug 2010 02:55 AM PDT
The survey, which polled 1,654 people asking “Which logo do you see the most during an average day?”, found that 34% of those surveyed said the Google logo was the most prominent. Microsoft came in second with 15% with the Facebook logo attracting 11% of the remaining votes. Other interesting things to note were that 53% of the respondents admitted they used Google as a spellchecker and just under 25% of people had the Google search bar installed in their browser. 52% of people would typically search Google between 10 and 20 times a day. MyVoucherCodes Top Ten Most Viewed Logos
I would estimate Google would be the most viewed logo on my list, maybe just behind The Next Web logo. What other logos do you see on a daily basis? I’m sure Twitter could rank quite highly for some. Original title and link for this post: Google’s Logo The Most Viewed Online In The UK    |
| LG E900 Optimus 7 poses for official Microsoft WP7 publicity shot Posted: 26 Aug 2010 01:32 AM PDT
LG’s E900 Optimus 7 has leaked a couple of times previously, in some hilariously bad quality blurrycam shots that have been modified to such an extent it’s difficult to make out what you are looking it. Yesterday, Microsoft’s Netherlands took to its Twitter account to show one of the above mentioned blurrycam shots, this time without the distortion. The device looks like it could be Vodafone bound (notice the Vodafone 360 services) although Microsoft wouldn’t be drawn for comment. As more devices leak, we are starting to build a clear picture of the possible launch devices come October, building buzz for the brand and giving developers a feel that the operating system will be a successful platform on which to submit their apps. Original title and link for this post: LG E900 Optimus 7 poses for official Microsoft WP7 publicity shot    |
| Expect a big media blitz promoting Google Voice soon Posted: 25 Aug 2010 05:02 PM PDT
No problem, right? Well, from a technical perspective, no: signing up for Google Voice is a relatively painless (and completely free) process…if you even know that it exists that is. While Google wouldn’t reveal today the number of Google Voice accounts out there, it’s a pretty darn safe bet that even in the US (where Google Voice is currently offered) the numbers pale in comparison to the number of people on Gmail. Most likely, the majority of those Gmail users have never heard of Google Voice, never mind how – or more importantly, why – to use it. For that reason and because of the increasingly strategic role that Google Voice can play for Google as a way to bridge Android and it’s Web apps, we’re guessing that Google is about to make a huge marketing push around Google Voice, probably in a similar fashion to how they’ve marketed Chrome to this point. The fact that Google plans to drop off possibly hundreds of its red Google Voice phone booths at universities and airports across the US is certainly an indication of this push, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see much more come from Google. One possibility could even be for carriers to get in on the act in their commercials: T-Mobile certainly comes to mind, as it like Verizon also doesn’t have the iPhone, but even worse, it doesn’t have Skype, so promoting Google Voice may be the next best thing. We’ve emailed Google for comment on whether it plans a major media push, but getting the word out about Google Voice would certainly be at the top of our marketing to-do list if we were them. Original title and link for this post: Expect a big media blitz promoting Google Voice soon    |
| Dealery: A great-looking aggregator for daily social deals Posted: 25 Aug 2010 04:12 PM PDT
|
| Facebook’s Not So Neutral Ad Policy Posted: 25 Aug 2010 02:52 PM PDT
This is not an unreasonable claim; I support legalization and I’m too protective of my lungs to let any smoke near them. But this caused me to take a look at Facebook’s advertising guidelines, and what I found is a bit surprising. Some of the prohibited content falls into that great big to be expected category, though you may not agree with it. No offensive language, no ads for tobacco or drugs (and this includes ads which just picture drugs, such as the banned marijuana ad), no guns, no adult content, whether the ads are for toys or porn or services to find sex partners. All of these objections make sense as they prevent the marketing of items which may be illegal in the plethora of countries in which Facebook operates. But some of the restrictions are distressing. Most notable is the express prohibition of targeting ads for ads with adult themes, including “contraception, sex education, and health conditions” to anyone below the age of 18. According to a Facebook spokesperson, this means if an account says the user is below 18, then that account will never see ads that mention contraception in any form. This ranges from direct advertisements for birth control pills or condoms to advocacy for the general use of protection to prevent pregnancy. Given that most people in the US have sex before they are 18, choosing not to show any ads about protection seems like a bad decision. If people are having sex, it’s best to try and get them to use contraception. It seems that Facebook’s policy towards contraception is one that is motivated by a fear of getting in trouble with interests groups, particularly those that preach abstinence. Here’s a plausible scenario: imagine a conservative mother looks over her kid’s shoulder while he’s on Facebook. She sees an ad for condoms on the page, and suddenly she’s raising hell at the next PTA meeting. Before you know it, you have a month of evening news programs leading in with “Top story: is Facebook encouraging our children to have sex.” Obviously the answer to this question is no: biology is encouraging our kids to have sex. But there is nothing the news loves more than a story involving minors and sex. When a service has as much of your personal data embedded in it as Facebook does, I think it makes sense that it cannot have a completely neutral stance towards advertising. It makes sense that Facebook checks to make sure American users are at least 21 before it starts displaying ads for how drinking beer makes you cool*. But blocking advertisements for things which will prevent a demographic which is sexually active from getting pregnant or contracting STDs,seems like a decision of expedience rather than one that tries to do what is right for its users. So the ultimate question is this: how should sites with lots of personal data go about displaying advertisement, particularly those from interest groups? *That was a joke. I don’t think Facebook would let you run ads about how alcohol makes you cool. Original title and link for this post: Facebook’s Not So Neutral Ad Policy    |
| Think it all happens in Silicon Valley? You’re wrong! – BinaryPlex Posted: 25 Aug 2010 02:45 PM PDT
Sponsored by Kodak and The Next Web, Techfluff.tv decided to delve a little deeper into Melbourne's startup scene and video interviewed ten of these companies. This week we caught up with Tim Bull, the Co-Founder of BinaryPlex (a company we’ve covered a few times here at The Next Web AU). Tim talks to us about his latest Twitter analytics tool, Tribalytic. — — Original title and link for this post: Think it all happens in Silicon Valley? You're wrong! – BinaryPlex    |
| Google Voice in Gmail DOES work outside the US (Updated) Posted: 25 Aug 2010 01:16 PM PDT
When Google announced it was rolling out the ability to make Google Voice calls within Gmail today, there was the slight caveat that users outside the USA couldn’t use it. Well, that doesn’t appear to be true; it’s working for me right now in the UK. (UPDATE: to be clear – I did nothing to get this, it was present and active when I logged in). I have a “Call Phone” option in my Gchat window and clicking it allows me to open the phone keypad. By going to Google Voice I can buy calling credit for what is essentially a basic Google Voice account (to get the full benefits like a phone number, voicemail transcription etc I’d need a valid US phone number). Still, I can perfectly happily call the US for free (I just called our own Alex Wilhelm in Chicago for free) and other countries for cheap rates. Is this an error? Very possibly. One thing’s for sure, it’s not an official Google Voice rollout. I don’t have a Google Voice phone number so can’t receive calls, and I’d need a US number to ‘upgrade’ so full functionality of Google Voice is still out of reach of those outside the US. When I dialed the number given on caller ID for my outgoing test calls it wouldn’t connect. Still, assuming this isn’t a glitch, we could have at least the ability to make outgoing calls via Google Voice. I’m using a Gmail theme, hence the odd colours in the screenshot above. A Google spokesperson told us: Here’s a video of me using the feature from the UK.
Original title and link for this post: Google Voice in Gmail DOES work outside the US (Updated)    |
| Pinboard for Android. Archive with the power of a robot. Posted: 25 Aug 2010 12:30 PM PDT Pinboard, a site profiled on TNW in March, is a service described as, "a bookmarking website for people who want to reliably keep track of the things they find online. The focus of the site is less on socializing, and more on maintaining a personal archive of useful information." What does that mean to you, the user? "Each time you save a bookmark, or put something on your to read list, Pinboard will crawl the URL and store a permanent copy of the page to your account." To get started on Pinboard, users can pay a one-time signup fee, currently $6.47, which goes up by a small amount with each new signup. The fee is based on the formula (number of users * $0.001), so the earlier you join, the less you pay. In addition, users can also choose to subscribe to an archival service, $25, which keeps a private copy of every page bookmarked. If you've already paid the one-time signup fee for Pinboard, your signup fee will be deducted from this price. A truly neat service which now has an Android app to go with its already grand product. Save to Pinboard ($.99), launched today, allows you to save links from other apps on your Android device to your Pinboard.in account. Save to Pinboard also supports the use of Tags, Read Later, and Private Links. All you, the Android Save to Pinboard User, must do is select “Save to Pinboard” from an app’s “Share to” menu item and that's it. Pretty straight forward, and quite useful. You can get Save to Pinboard by scanning the code below. Are you a Pinboard user? What are your likes/dislikes?
Original title and link for this post: Pinboard for Android. Archive with the power of a robot.    |
| Updates to Facebook Chat mean no more IE6 support Posted: 25 Aug 2010 11:42 AM PDT
However, users have reported problems with the chat dropping out for periods of time or simply not working at all. Facebook has been working hard to correct these issues, apparently with much success. However, there is one caveat:
The end to support won’t go in effect until September 15th, in order to give people time to prepare. While IE6 is dying a slow and painful death in browser share, it does still hold greater than 7% of the market. Given the campaigns to end its use, maybe one final push will be what it takes. Original title and link for this post: Updates to Facebook Chat mean no more IE6 support    |
| A “special event” from Apple on September 1st. Is this the new Apple TV? Posted: 25 Aug 2010 11:36 AM PDT OK, so what will it be? The going rumors so far are, of course, the new iPod Touch devices and the newest version of Apple TV. Will we see these products, or something else? Will we finally learn the name of the new Apple TV? We want to hear your thoughts, so leave them in the comments. Via Engadget Original title and link for this post: A “special event” from Apple on September 1st. Is this the new Apple TV?    |
| The New Digg Has (Mostly) Launched Posted: 25 Aug 2010 11:09 AM PDT  The big day is finally here, the new Digg has launched. If you had not managed to get into the beta (and how is that possible, we were giving away invites like candy), you can now go ahead and get started. Go to Digg.com and you should see the new site live, right before your very eyes. What should you do first? Follow TNW of course! After that, peruse through the suggested user list and find some great people to follow. That is what the new Digg is all about, following sources to get the best news to be had. Take a look at your following/follower count, this is what you have left over from the old Digg. Your old fans and friends have been converted to this format to make it simpler to understand where your “My News” feed gets its genesis. Speaking of which, look at that My News section, do you like what you see? If not, you need to follow some different people right away. What next? Go exploring! This is the first real day of the the rest of your Digg, so get your feet wet and have some fun. Don’t forget, the old submit is the new Digg, so be careful what you click on, everyone that follows you just might see it. One last tip, if you just want to see the Digg that you are accustomed to, click on “Top News,” that will take you to your familiar home. Now go get playing! If you end up very, very lost and need help, read this to catch up.
Just for fun, when Digg was in the process of launching the new site, they tossed up this image to celebrate the move over:
Original title and link for this post: The New Digg Has (Mostly) Launched    |
| Video: The Google Voice Phone Booth Posted: 25 Aug 2010 10:55 AM PDT As part of its roll out of Google Voice and Gmail integration, Google plans to install these red phonebooths across the US in universities and airports. Calls from the booth are free to any number in the world, though Google will post some kind of sign or something asking people to limit the times of their calls if there is a line of people. Here’s our interview with the Google Voice team as well as a demo of the booth in action:
Original title and link for this post: Video: The Google Voice Phone Booth    |
| Google Officially Adds Google Voice To Gmail Posted: 25 Aug 2010 10:44 AM PDT
“Wouldn’t it be great if you could put these things together? This is a big deal for a number of reasons,” said Craig Walker. The outbound calls are not actually Google Voice – it works more like Skype but basically uses the Google Voice price structure (and is most likely the same). Calls to US and Canada are free (at least for the rest of the year) with pretty reasonable international rates, and it is rolled out only in the US. To start, you can buy credits in $10 chunks, but after using the service for awhile, users are also offered $25 and $50 purchasing options. The official Google blog has the behind the scenes story, as well as a video: It only works on desktop browsers at present, and “it only makes sense” to eventually roll out to Google Apps Gmail accounts, according to Google. For users that don’t have a Google Voice number/account, people that receive calls will see a generic number. The integration is right in Gmail and pops up like GChat, and is predictably integrated with contacts. The costs are the same as Google Voice mobile, and Gmail users can just click through a number to make a call. We asked Google if they would comment on Google Me, but they predictably declined comment: however they did say that there is no integration with Google Profiles. You can switch between calls within Gmail and receive calls if you have Google Voice number by simply checking a new box on Google Voice that lets you answer a phone call in GChat along with you cell phone. Google is having a bit of an internal issue with what to call this (GTalk, GChat, Google Voice) but would like to move it all towards GChat. Google said that the backend uses Gizmo5 but Google isn’t talking about future dedicated downloadable clients. Google is not giving a timeline on porting numbers right now. Google also said that nothing much is happening with the Google Voice iOS app. For international calls, users will be able to buy credits for international calls and are basically good forever as long as you use the function at least once a year. Google says that its revenue will come from international call rates (with a small margin) as well as paid features, but will not monetize with ads (in either Google Voice or the GChat interface) at least for now. That phone booth here on the post? Google is actually going to put those around the country at universities and airports for people to try out the call quality – for free. You can check out more at www.gmail.com/call and here’s a couple of more shots from press conference:
Original title and link for this post: Google Officially Adds Google Voice To Gmail    |
| Should bloggers have control over ads that appear next to their content? Posted: 25 Aug 2010 10:44 AM PDT
But though there were plenty of barbs thrown at the LA Times in the wake of this controversy, there was very little acknowledgment of the fiasco within its own pages. That’s because other than the occasional ombud op-ed, staff writers for a traditional news source are not given the space to criticize their own employer. Whatever unease LA Times reporters might have felt would have been expressed privately amongst themselves or not at all. The idea of penning harsh detractions of those who signed their paychecks would be unthinkable. Why is it, then, that bloggers regularly engage in this seemingly unthinkable act? Back in late February, The Atlantic rolled out a site redesign that aggregated previously-independent blogs into “channels,” making it extremely difficult to follow a particular blogger on the site (Andrew Sullivan, the magazine’s biggest traffic source, was the one exception). Though there was some indication the bloggers had known the redesign was coming, most were seemingly caught off-guard once it had been put into effect. We know this because many of them took to their blogs to complain. “Treating blogs as a series of headlines, designed to maximize pageviews, is a deep misunderstanding of blogs, their reader communities and their integrity,” Andrew Sullivan wrote. “I hope they get restored to their previous coherence, and these amorphous ‘channels’ gain some editorial identity.” His colleague, James Fallows, expressed similar concerns, writing, “it is no secret within our organization that I think the new design creates problems for the magazine’s ‘personal’ sites, like the one I have been running here these past few years. In particular, the new layout scheme — in which you see only a few-line intro to each post but no pictures, block quotes, or other amplifying material — unavoidably changes the sensibility and tone of personal blogs.” There were many who found this internal bickering to be great theater, but for me it was a radical example of journalistic transparency. Here were a number of bloggers writing for a respectable magazine engaging in a meta conversation with their own readers. Their responses were not obfuscated by a cloud of PR say-nothingness, but rather they embarked on a frank discussion that clearly addressed the elephant in the room. During the entire episode — one in which the Atlantic web editors made several changes to address the concerns — the conversation remained respectful yet firm. Much has been written about the abundance of media criticism that the blogosphere offers — criticism that was sorely lacking in the pre-Web 2.0 days — but here was an example where a mainstream publication could open the floodgates and have a direct dialog with its readers. This incident was not an anomaly. Given the collective bargaining power needed to amass ad dollars, many popular independent bloggers have handed over their sidebars and headers to large blog networks, trusting them to seek out advertisers in return for a percentage of revenue. The larger networks can sometimes contain hundreds of bloggers and sell access to their blogs as packaged deals, meaning a single ad will be displayed across dozens of blogs within a network. In most cases, this is ideal for the blogger because he can focus on creating content without having to waste time chasing down advertisers. But occasionally this can lead to an ad placement with which the blogger doesn’t agree, and this is when controversy erupts.
“The major problem wasn't necessarily that an advertorial went up, it was that [Seed Media]” — the company that owns Scienceblogs — “didn't give us any indication of what was going on,” Brian Switek told me in a phone interview. Switek is a science writer who left the network in protest of the Pepsi decision. “All of a sudden we have this new blog that's entirely run by Pespi staff and overseen by Pepsi with no editorial oversight from Scienceblogs.” For Switek, the incident chipped into the “general credibility that Scienceblogs has tried to create since its inception in terms of inviting people with great science writing with integrity who aren't shills for certain companies.” He alleged that Seed knew ahead of time that its bloggers wouldn’t like the campaign, and that’s why it didn’t give any warning and ultimately was so slow to respond to the outrage. But despite this lack of transparency, the science blogger admired the fact that Seed didn’t attempt to censor any of the backlash. “For all my other criticisms, I really have to credit Seed with not editing any of the criticism, not taking it down, not telling us that we can't make those comments.” Peter Lipson, another Scienceblogs blogger who exited the network, felt that the incident indicated a clear misunderstanding of the nature of blogging. “I think in many ways it appears that Seed's leadership doesn't understand what Scienceblogs is after all this time,” he said, “or what blog networks like that are, in the sense that you have all these independent people who might hate each other, like each other, whatever, but pretty much all of whom value the appearance of independence. And when you put something in the same space that looks identical to the independent content but isn't, it can degrade the credibility of the truly independent voices.”
Bloggers in the Blogads network are organized in hives — or niche channels — that allow advertisers to target a specific demographic and pick which blogs they want to sponsor. The ads are often uploaded by the advertisers themselves and then the blogger must approve or reject the ads before they’re displayed. Copeland said that this gives both the advertiser and the blogger the maximum amount of choice and control over their content. “Our experience is that it increases the value of the advertising, that it's not run by this giant factory or this algorithm,” he said. “It's a human process. I, the advertiser, have selected your blog and you, the blogger, have said, ‘yes, I'm going to accept running this ad on my blog.’” But though this method works for the initial ad approval, many advertisers sometimes like to test dozens of modifications of their ads to see which versions have maximum impact. Forcing a blogger to approve every single version would be a time-consuming and inefficient process, so once a blogger has approved the ad then the advertiser can make changes to it. Occasionally, one of these changes might offend the blogger. Copeland said that to counter this, Blogads created a “pause” feature that allows the blogger to put the ad on hold temporarily while he negotiates with the advertiser to change the copy. “We get that a lot when it comes to T-shirt vendors,” Copeland said. “The T-shirt company will push the envelope as far as they possibly can to put up a controversial message and the bloggers will often say, ‘I don't really endorse that extreme point of view, can you take it down and put something up that’s more innocuous?’” The Blogads CEO said that political advertisers sometimes even “have fun” submitting ads they know will be rejected by a blogger on the opposite end of the political spectrum. “If you're playing your cards right, you can spark conversation and get people to pay attention. And sometimes sending it out to someone you know disagrees with it, you know they're going to run the ad and readers are going to talk about it and get pissed off. Or sometimes they're going to reject the ad and say, ‘can you believe these buffoons tried to buy an ad on my site?’” I asked Copeland whether he thought bloggers who turned on their advertisers and networks were essentially biting the hands that fed them. Is it a good idea for bloggers to burn bridges? “We've had numerous folks get pissed off at us over the years, and it used to bother us a lot,” he replied. “In the early days, when we were the only show in town, we felt kind of bad. It was like, ‘yeah, that's a good idea, but that's not the way our software works.’ Now we say, ‘hey that's a good idea, we'll try to incorporate it if we can, but otherwise there are other services out there you're welcome to try.’” Some bloggers did just that when they left Blogads several years ago to join the conservative Pajamas Media, a venture that ended up mostly failing (though some bloggers and vloggers still remain on its payroll). It has always been the accepted practice that there should be an unassailable wall between the editorial side of a publication and the advertising side, lest reporters be accused of bias for financial reasons. But the idea of bloggers attacking or commenting on their own advertising can also create an aura of independence. After all, what better way to prove you’re not beholden to the hand that feeds you than opening your mouth wide and clamping your incisors down on it. Whether that same hand will continue to feed you afterward is another issue entirely. Original title and link for this post: Should bloggers have control over ads that appear next to their content?    |
| Google calls: Not a Skype-killer, but still a viable option. Posted: 25 Aug 2010 10:43 AM PDT On the huge news today of Google allowing for voice calls from Gmail, the immediate target in the Google crosshairs has to be none other than Skype. In fact, the target is so well laid that Google went so far as to provide a comparison chart of pricing to an unnamed “leading internet telephony provider”: The problem, of course, isn’t with the money. The problem is with the users. By The NumbersWe’ve talked before about Google’s slow roll out times on services. With today’s launch, we’re also told that once again US users will have the Google Calls service before the rest of the world. While Gmail might very well be pushing 200 million users worldwide, that’s a far cry even by itself from Skype’s 590 million. And even that is not bearing in mind that only a percentage of Gmail’s 200 million can even use the service. The Struggle With AnonymityIt may seem a strange thing, but I rather like the somewhat-anonymous quality of Skype. I can easily create a throw-away account, not having to worry about anything being related to it because of some internal structure. Doing that with Gmail is another story. There’s also the issue of Google calls using my Google Voice number for outbound calls. Though that number is publicly available all over the Internet, part of the reason that I prefer Skype at present is because I can still stay behind my somewhat-impenetrable wall of a 2nd account without anyone knowing who is attached to it. I use my Google Voice account for business, but I don’t always talk to people over Skype with whom I’d be comfortable giving my phone number. For me, though it’s not a major issue with Google calls, it is still a concern. The Matter of ConvenienceWhat Google does have going for it, however, is unmatched convenience. Essentially, where ever I feel comfortable logging into my Gmail account, I’ll be able to make a Google call. There is no need to download and set up Skype. That’s a welcome convenience for certain. So what about you? Is it a game-changer, or an also-ran? Original title and link for this post: Google calls: Not a Skype-killer, but still a viable option.    |
| Has Facebook Exposed Its Flank? Here come the College Social Networks. Posted: 25 Aug 2010 10:25 AM PDT
In February of 2004, Facebook was born on the campus of Harvard University. Unlike Friendster and MySpace, not just anyone could join – you had to have a valid university email address to get in. It was a network by students, for students. Flash forward to 2010. Facebook is now reaching more than 500 million users, and the walls keeping non students out have long been torn down. Now, everybody is on Facebook. Has the mainstreamification of Facebook opened a window of opportunity for closed, university only social networks away from the eyes of prying family members and potential employers? A couple of brand new startups with deep pocketed investors are aiming to find out. Judging from CollegeOnly's subtle and tasteful home page, they too seem to be marketing towards the fun side of campus. According to this New York Times article, CollegeOnly is built around events and photo sharing. If this sounds just like Facebook, well, it is, but with one big difference. CollegeOnly is just for students – you know, just like Facebook was back in the day. And CollegeOnly has its own big time investors: PayPal mafia don Peter Thiel, Softbank, and FirstMark. The investor profiles of these two companies are particularly fascinating. The fact that Eric Schmidt would like to see Facebook's foundation of college campuses chipped away by startups shouldn't surprise anybody. And Peter Thiel sits on Facebook's Board – if he thinks there is an opportunity for a college only social network, well… who would have better visibility than he would? On the surface, going after a behemoth like Facebook on their home turf of university campuses would seem to be suspect strategy. But military strategy suggests that if an attacking army overextends, they may find themselves vulnerable back home. Might Facebook have exposed their flank?  Original title and link for this post: Has Facebook Exposed Its Flank? Here come the College Social Networks.    |
| New YouTube attack causes channels to lose thousands of subscribers [Updated] Posted: 25 Aug 2010 08:56 AM PDT
The attack, apparently, is due to a Javascript exploit that is being perpetrated by a number of YouTube users. By copy/pasting a segment of code hosted on Pastebin, YouTube users are able to dramatically decrease the subscriber counts of YouTube’s notorious, if not famous, users. As an example, here is a screenshot of Fred’s subscriber count:
Update – YouTube has responded via a Google spokesperson:
So there you have it, folks. Things should be back to normal quite soon. Original title and link for this post: New YouTube attack causes channels to lose thousands of subscribers [Updated]    |
| California To Build And Deploy Mass Text Message Alert System Posted: 25 Aug 2010 08:11 AM PDT
According to GovTech:
If you are familiar with the emergency broadcast systems for television, this will be something similar. The goal is to be able to alert mobile phones in a set area, say a three block region, of a nearby calamity. This of course could be expanded to cover more area in the event of a larger catastrophe. In California, where massive earthquakes are a daily threat, this sort of system could become a life saving tool the day after it comes out. After proving tests in San Diego, the pilot county, the program will be extended to cover more area, and more people. Calling land lines in the event of an emergency is nearly a moot exercise these days. Many people do not have land line phones, and they would be the first to go down in the event of a serious problems due to cut lines. A mobile on the other hand, is always in your pocket. Even when disaster strikes. Good on California for pushing the envelope in this area. Original title and link for this post: California To Build And Deploy Mass Text Message Alert System    |
| iPad app fail. sobees Social Media for iPad. Posted: 25 Aug 2010 07:55 AM PDT
|
As the launch of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 operating system nears launch, handsets from HTC, Samsung, Asus and LG have been appearing in the wild, some prototypes, some retail units.
Take, for instance, the Scienceblogs network, which 
TNW Quick Hit:
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Next Web To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
The Next Web Part 1
The Next Web Part 1
The Next Web Part 1
Tags: The Next Web, The Next Web watch online, full The Next Web video, The Next Web download, The Next Web torrent, free The Next Web, The Next Web megavideo, The Next Web full, The Next Web eng sub
0 comments:
Post a Comment