Does Facebook think users are dumb? “Satire” tag added to Onion articles [Updated]

Facebook is already an unbearable enough place as of late, at least in my case. Awful national and international news stories continue to appear in my personal feed alongside friends' amateur political commentary and personal quibbles, and that mix makes the occasional ray of satirical, hilarious sunshine from off-kilter sites like The Onion welcome. Sadly, Facebook has begun trying to ruin even these fun articles by appending their titles with a "satire" tag.

The major catch to this auto-tagging is that it only appears in a "related articles" box. Here's how it works: If a friend posts an Onion link to his or her Facebook feed, click on it for a laugh. Once you're done at The Onion and come back to your desktop or laptop browser, Facebook will have generated three related articles in a box directly below whatever you'd clicked on. In the case of an Onion link, that box will usually contain at least one article from the same site, only that article's headline will begin with the word "satire" in brackets. As of press time, we were able to duplicate this result on three different computers from different accounts, one of which is shown above.

We can only assume this was implemented as a reaction to users believing that Onion links are nonfiction reports (you can lose hours flipping through Literally Unbelievable, a site that catalogs such boneheaded moments), but we're not sure what compelled Facebook to go so far as to assert editorial control. Maybe the company still feels bad about how users reacted to its intentional News Feed manipulation from 2012.

What's more confusing is this limited implementation, which itself takes a while to explain. Original posts on friends' feeds and The Onion's official Facebook page don't come with a tag. If users save the article to a read-later list, the tag will vanish as well. And other satiric sites, particularly The Onion's newest sibling site, Buzzfeed-spoof Clickhole, are immune to the tag.

We reached out to Facebook to find out how long this practice has been in effect, whether we should expect to see it spread further across the site, and if any other sites fall under the "satire" tag umbrella. The company's PR team responded by asking us for screengrabs of the "satire" tag, but we've received no further response since then. We've also reached out to The Onion for a statement, but mostly because we can't wait to laugh at the article it prepares in response.

Update: A Facebook representative issued the following statement to Ars Technica: "We are running a small test which shows the text '[Satire]' in front of links to satirical articles in the related articles unit in News Feed. This is because we received feedback that people wanted a clearer way to distinguish satirical articles from others in these units." That test has been ongoing for over a month, and while we were told other satirical sites' links have received the same tags, we were not given a list of those sites. Our question about whether the tag would ever appear in other places on Facebook remained unanswered.





Source : arstechnica.com

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Twitter video ads enter beta, are heading to your feed

Video advertisements are heading to your Twitter feed, with the company announcing that after months of testing, it is pushing its so-called Promoted Video platform into beta mode. Fortunately, the ads won't auto-play when you scroll past them.

Twitter announced this on its blog earlier today, saying that its Promoted Video efforts over the past months have shown that native video tweets have higher views and better engagement than past options, and as a result it is kicking off a beta test.

Advertisers will be getting tools to upload their video advertisements to Twitter and keep tabs on how they perform through analytics and such. Some unspecified verified users and "select content publishers" are said to be on-board for the expansion.

The company sums up what you can expect in a statement about its ambitions, saying, "The overall goal is to bring more video into our users' timelines to create a richer and more engaging Twitter." There's no word about when you'll be seeing these advertisements pop up.










SOURCE: slashgear.com

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Blackberry to divest most of its Canadian properties

The latest page in Blackberry's business woes comes in the form of a property announcement, with the company revealing plans to divest the majority of its real estate located in Canada. This follows some pretty big layoffs, as well as a recent announcement that it'll be selling five of its buildings to the University of Waterloo for $41 million Canadian.

The divestment will be taking place in part with CBRE, a real estate services company. Blackberry didn't say how much it is looking to make from the sales, but such a business move comes amidst months of hardship and the need to offset poor numbers. The real estate divestment will come in two forms.

Blackberry says, according to Reuters, that it will both sell vacant assets and initiate sale-leaseback sales, with the properties comprising more than 3 million square feet of office space. Where these buildings are located also wasn't specified, but given that most of Blackberry's physical locations hover in proximity to its Waterloo headquarters, one can assume these buildings are in the same general area.

As for the buildings it has already agreed to sell, the University of Waterloo has said its campus will grow 300,000 square feet as a result, as well as gaining 1000 parking spaces. Good news for the university, and good news for whatever companies acquires its current properties, but another sad tale in the long story of Blackberry in a world of shifting mobile preferences.






SOURCE: Reuters

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Google+ Local hit with thousands of compromised hotel links

Yesterday, news surfaced of an annoying and somewhat unanticipated so-called hijacking of hotel links within Google+ Local accounts by yet-unknown spammers. When clicked, the compromised links took prospective customers to a third-party book service. Whether the third-party services were responsible for the compromised accounts or another entity entirely -- someone operating under an affiliate account sees most likely, in that scenario -- also isn't yet known.

The compromised links were first reported on by the folks over at Search Engine Land. It would seem thousands of hotel-based Google+ accounts were compromised, with the only change taking place being an alteration to the URL under its avatar in the main profile box -- the URL in the "Links" section also seems to have been changed. Further adding to the element of obfuscation was the nature of the compromised URLs in and of themselves.

The hijacked links, if they can be appropriately called that, upon first glance appeared legit enough, usually starting with the name of the hotel before the third-party's domain. The links pointed to RoomsToBook[dot]info, as well as a .NET variation, and HotelsWhiz[dot]com. The folks behind the report tried to contact the sites' owners without success.

Both RoomsToBook domains point to servers for a HotelWhiz offshoot, however, called HotelWhiz[dot]info. At this point, there's no word on whether the company is responsible or someone else entirely, and Google hasn't been forthcoming in details, though it is working on fixing the problem. Some pages have been removed, and the Internet giant has confirmed it is both aware and cleaning up the mess.





SOURCE: Search Engine Land

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Microsoft and GoDaddy partner up to offer Office 365 small business exclusive

Microsoft and GoDaddy have teamed up to bring Office 365 as the latter company's exclusive business-class productivity and email service. This will open up Office 365's exposure to more small businesses, and is part of what Microsoft says is a "long-term strategic service". For now, Office 365 via GoDaddy is only available in the United States and Canada, but will be rolling out to other customers across the globe in the next three months.

Under this partnership, GoDaddy's small business users will gain access to domain-centric email and cloud storage, as well as Microsoft's productivity solution suite. Microsoft has developed, as part of this, a special instance of domain-based email and storage specifically for this subset of GoDaddy's users. There's instant messaging, calendars, and conferencing, in addition to the aforementioned features and the document aspects of Office 365.

There are a variety of security features provided by the Microsoft service, as well, including safeguarding against spam and malware and similar attacks. There's access across all sorts of devices, both mobile and desktop, with syncing betwixt them all. Check out the video above for more information.

Said GoDaddy's Senior Vice President of Business Applications Steven Aldrich: "Combining our small-business expertise together with Microsoft’s productivity offerings opens new doors for small businesses to easily get the tools they need to get more done in their day. We've created a simple way to attach Office 365 to a domain name, helping small-business owners look professional and work anywhere, making the business of running their business easier."





SOURCE: Microsoft

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Radionomy buys Winamp and Shoutcast

Fans of music services Winamp and Shoutcast received some bad news in late November when it was announced that AOL would shut down both the services. The original announcement said that Winamp would be shuttered by December 20, giving fans of the service only a month to say their goodbyes. The next day, word surfaced that Microsoft was in contention to purchase Winamp and Shoutcast.

We even heard that the negotiations were in their final stages about a month after the announcement that Winamp and Shoutcast were being closed. The announcement that Microsoft had completed the deal never came. Reports are now coming in that both Winamp and Shoutcast have been sold to Radionomy.

Radionomy is an international aggregator of online radio stations that has a headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The purchase hasn't been announced officially just yet. The tip that the purchase was happening came when the name servers for Winamp were changed to Radionomy.

Sources who claim to be familiar with the deal say that it could be finalized as early as Friday. Radionomy currently has 6000 stations in its catalog. Shoutcast on the other hand has 50,000 channels in its catalog. Winamp is expected to be used to help the company deliver new services to listeners.







SOURCE: TechCrunch

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Chromebooks see incredibly kind 2013

Chromebook sales have made a stratospheric climb in 2013. Last year, U.S. sales for notebooks running the Chrome OS made up just 0.2% of the computer and tablet market. This year through November, that share is now 10%.

What's more, Chromebooks now claim a 21% share of all notebook sales. It's clear the wide (and widening) array of inexpensive notebooks running Google's operating system are gaining favor. The incredible gains are attributable to two likely factors.

First is price. Your average popular Chromebook runs about $250. That stands in marked contrast to popular Windows notebooks, which average about $100 more at $350. That's according to Amazon and an analysis by Computer World. The lower price points of Chromebooks are largely due to the fact that Google gives away the Chrome OS for free to OEMs, while Microsoft charges.

The second reason is that many average users don't need everything a full-fledged notebook affords. For many, the Chrome OS does everything they need it to do: get them on the Internet, let them share things, and provide a portal for cloud storage.

Whether 2014 is as good to Chromebooks as 2013 was remains to be seen, of course. What's certain is Microsoft has work to do if it wants to stay at the top of the game.






SOURCE: Computer World

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Twitter stock breaks records over 3 days due to mobile ad prospects

Twitter's stock price rose to record levels three times in as many days. It closed today at $69.96, rising 8.4% over yesterday. In turn, the price closed 7.5% higher yesterday than the day before. The social media company's market valuation now stands at nearly $40 billion.

In all, Twitter's stock price has risen by 169% since the company held its initial public offering Nov. 6, when it opened at $26 a share. It immediately rose 73%. The IPO was one of the most closely watched in recent memory, drawing comparisons to Facebook's IPO.

Today's and yesterday's surge are due to investor belief in Twitter's advertising prospects. The company has plenty of room for ad growth, some analysts say. Cross-advertising programs with TV programs and networks are among the more enticing plans.

Not all analysts are on-board with the stock price. Some of them say the kissing-$70 price is bloated. Wunderlich Securities Inc. analyst Blake Harper pegs the real value of a Twitter share at $34. He cites a lack of a first earnings report post-going-public as his reasoning for more caution.




SOURCE: Bloomberg

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Spotify's mobile users skyrocket since free streaming launch

It's been one week since Spotify announced it would allow anyone on an iOS or Android tablet or smartphone to use its music streaming app free of charge. And, it appears this was a good move for the company as far as growing its listener base.

The streaming music service said Thursday that downloads of the app have increased by four times in the last week; this means four times as many people are downloading the app today compared with a week ago. While Spotify would not release specific numbers, it's likely a hefty amount of people are downloading the app.

In March, Spotify said it had surpassed 6 million subscribers, a gain of 1 million since December 2012, but it hasn't updated its user numbers since then. Spotify also has more than 24 million active users in 55 markets worldwide. A year ago, the company's service reached only 17 countries.

Still, it's lagging behind Pandora, which has around triple the amount with 72.4 million active listeners and more than 200 million registered users.

Before Spotify launched its free mobile music streaming, users could only listen to the service on desktop or a browser-based program for free. However, premium members who paid $10 a month had access to the service through other devices.

Besides saying it has a bevy of new users downloading its mobile app, Spotify also announced Thursday that it's now ranked in the top 10 in the iOS App Store in over 20 markets worldwide, including the US, UK, and most of Latin America.





SOURCE: CNET

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Dell cutting 'workforce' with voluntary employee buyout

Dell has aimed to cut its workforce by offering what it is politely calling a voluntary separation program,which is a gentle way to say they’re looking for employees to voluntarily jump the ship. The offer is coming in conjunction with a buyout package, of which the incentives have not been detailed, though the Wall Street Journal reports that it has reviewed the materials.

Notice about the program was sent out to Dell’s employees earlier this week, and gives them until December 20 to decide if they want to accept the buyout and part with the company. Details have been provided to the employees, but specifics haven’t yet become available to the general public. This is a gentle way to reduce the company’s workload without having to layoff workers.

Said a spokesperson for the company, David Fink, A critical element of our strategy has been, and always will be, about improving our cost structure and freeing up capital to make the investments in growth areas that matter to our customers. He didn’t offer up any more information than this, however, leaving the rest up to waiting and speculation.

How effective will the program be? That likely depends on what Dell is offering as part of the buyout. The biggest question, perhaps, is what will happen if the numbers Dell is hoping to see doesn’t emerge. Will the company then proceed with a layoff to further cull its workers? The spokesperson declined to comment on this particular matter, and Dell workers seem to have been left in an unfortunate limbo this holiday season.


SOURCE : WSJ.COM

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Yahoo reclaims top web property spot from Google in ComScore US report

For the first time in over two years, Yahoo came in at number on on ComScore‘s list of Top 50 US Web Properties. The list, which was just released today, is a bit of a surprise, as Yahoo hasn’t claimed the top position since May 2011. While initial speculation made it seem like the acquisition of Tumblr had something to do with this boost, that is not the case.

Yahoo has still held on strong at the top of the list, claiming position two or three, several times in the past few months but they hadn’t reclaimed the top spot until this month. Yahoo also currently has the top Ad Focus ranking score, which measures a site’s reach online.

It’s hard to pin down why the sudden increase in Yahoo’s popularity. Marketing Land initial speculated that the Tumblr acquisition had a lot to do with it and that some of the site’s traffic was counting underneath the Yahoo umbrella. However, Tumblr is actually on the list on its own, claiming the 28th spot.

Later on, a statement from ComScore noted that none of Tumblr’s traffic has been combined with Yahoo’s and that another unknown factor is playing into the sudden boost. They added that it is likely just a normal seasonal fluctuation, as both Google and Yahoo have had very close numbers over the past few months.





VIA Marketing Land

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Motorola Mobility job listing hints at future wearable technology ambitions

Google is no stranger to wearable technology, having created Glass and all. But a job listing that has cropped up for Google-owned Motorola Mobility hints at a larger picture of the company’s wearable technology ambitions, with things like “the new Motorola” and its “future in Google” being mentioned alongside a description for the prospective hire.

Motorola, likewise, has more than dabbled in the areas of wearable technology, with one of its examples visible in the image above. Where it is heading with its new ambitions is yet to be seen. What we do know from the looking at the job listing, however, is that whatever it is will be aimed at the consumer in a way that has mass appeal.

The job listing calls for someone who has extensive experience in design, and one of the requirements for the position is “7 years plus in a senior position of Industrial Design,” with it being preferred that the candidate have “15+ years of work experience in design of tech, consumer product and/or apparel.” We also get a glimpse of the larger picture: “The wearables design team will lead the establishment of our brand in the massive competitive and growing space of wearable connected products.”

The question as this point is where Motorola – and Google by proxy – is heading. Smartwatches are one area of wearable technology where companies are scrambling to get their own devices onto consumers’ wrists, but the potential extends beyond that and smartwatches have received more than a bit of criticism, among them being claims that the younger generations won’t want to wear them.

At the D11 conference, we got a good look into how the company sees the next generation of wearable technology. Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects Group chief Regina Dugan showed off an electronic tattoo that would decrease authentication processes, for example. Also discussed was a “smart pill” that transforms one’s body into an authentication token.

Says the job listing: “Our ambition is to make Motorola a recognized leader in design of all things mobile. We will do this by creating product experiences that are lead by consumer insight and intuition, keen design sensibility and cutting edge technologies. We want our products and brand to be experienced and loved by millions of people worldwide. We want to create the new Motorola.”

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