Cartoon + Jokes + Humor + News = The Daily Dose

a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Facebook acquires video advertising platform LiveRail

Jul02

by Sindy Cator on July 2, 2014 at 5:58 pm

Facebook revealed today plans to acquire LiveRail, a supply-side advertising platform for video content. LiveRail will help Facebook make video ads “better and more relevant” for viewers and publishers. LiveRail boasts a number of top clients, including MLB.com, Condé Nast Digital, CBS Interactive, ABC Family and Univision. Facebook officially rolled out premium video ads in March, following limited tests late last year. In May, the company expanded those ads internationally to Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK. ➤ Facebook to Acquire LiveRail

└ Tags: facebook, syndicated

The race for right now: How to build a real-time commerce app

Jul02

by Sindy Cator on July 2, 2014 at 5:25 pm

Posted In: Analysis and Opinion, Around the Web, Design & Dev, Entrepreneur

Gautam Golwala is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Poshmark. Today’s economy is one that’s rooted in the right here, right now, instant delivery mentality. Mobile technology is empowering consumers to follow the news, order a driver on demand, and make purchases from each other all in real-time. At the highest level, real-time commerce drives sales by connecting people and merchandise together through interactive app experiences. Many brands today are engaging in real-time commerce, each with a different approach that caters to their communities: Uber is one-to-one, Twitter is one-to-many, and Poshmark is many-to-many. While real-time commerce apps are…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: syndicated

Microsoft acquires SyntaxTree, maker of a popular Visual Studio plugin for Unity

Jul02

by Sindy Cator on July 2, 2014 at 5:09 pm

Posted In: Around the Web

Microsoft announced today that it has acquired SyntaxTree, the creator of UnityVS, a Visual Studio plugin for the Unity game engine. UnityVS will soon be available to download for free from Microsoft. UnityVS enables developers to view and debug the code for their games from within Virtual Studio. A number of top gaming companies, including EA, Ubisoft, Mojang, Valve and Blizzard, use the plugin. ➤ Microsoft acquires SyntaxTree, creator of UnityVS plugin for Visual Studio

└ Tags: microsoft, syndicated

Amazon pushes back on FTC request to tighten in-app purchase procedure

Jul02

by Sindy Cator on July 2, 2014 at 4:49 pm

Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

According to the WSJ, Amazon is resisting requests from the FTC to change the way it handles in-app purchases. The underlying issue is that its too simple for children to make those purchases while using apps. In a letter to the FTC obtained by the WSJ, Amazon’s Associate General Counsel wrote that when a parent tells the online retailer that a child made a purchase that wasn’t authorized, the company issues a refund. But, the FTC wants more prominent roadblocks like password protection on in-app purchases and a simpler refund process. The commission says that Amazon has often failed to…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: syndicated

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg apologizes for psychological News Feed experiment

Jul02

by Sindy Cator on July 2, 2014 at 4:41 pm

Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg has admitted that a week-long psychological experiment affecting almost 700,000 unaware users was “poorly communicated.” As the Wall Street Journal reports, the company executive said: “This was part of ongoing research companies do to test different products, and that was what it was; it was poorly communicated. And for that communication we apologize. We never meant to upset you.” The controversial tests came to light through a research paper. Led by data scientist Adam Kramer, a team of researchers altered the News Feed algorithm to show 689,003 users a larger percentage of either positive or…