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Mark Zuckerberg called Barack Obama to express his frustration over US government ‘damage’ to the Internet

Mar13
by on March 13, 2014 at 7:24 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Social Media

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg today posted on the social network to share his thoughts about the Internet, why it’s important to keep it secure, and how angry he is with US government surveillance. Just a couple days after news surfaced that the NSA posed as Facebook to infect computers with malware, Zuckerberg says he called Obama himself and wasn’t pleased to learn the broader problem won’t be solved quickly. Here’s the crux of the post: The US government should be the champion for the internet, not a threat. They need to be much more transparent about what they’re…

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Twitch for iOS app revamped with an iOS 7 redesign, better search and chat options

Mar13
by on March 13, 2014 at 7:00 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Product Updates

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Twitch released a new version of its iPhone and iPad app today with an iOS 7-inspired redesign and a few new features, including offline channel search, an improved chat experience and broadcaster profiles. The interface now has a flat, clean aesthetic, with a number of horizontal carousels on the home screen for featured games, channels and popular streams. If you’re looking for some inspiration, this is a good place to start. The navigation menu slides out from the left-hand side of the screen with shortcuts for your profile, game and channel directories, and following list. Underneath is a series of…

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Bill Gates says Microsoft also wanted to acquire WhatsApp, calls price ‘higher than I would have expected’

Mar13
by on March 13, 2014 at 6:57 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Mobile

Rolling Stones today published an extensive interview with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, in which the man himself reveals a few interesting tidbits. It turns out Microsoft was also interested in WhatsApp and Gates has a lot of praise for Zuckerberg: Apparently, Google was looking at it. Yeah, yeah. Microsoft was willing to buy it, too. . . . I don’t know if it was for $19 billion, but the company’s extremely valuable. You mentioned Mark Zuckerberg. When you look at what he’s done, do you see some of yourself in him? Oh, sure. We’re both Harvard dropouts, we both had strong, stubborn views of…

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Top 10 tools Airbnb hosts should have in 2014

Mar13
by on March 13, 2014 at 6:40 pm
Posted In: Analysis and Opinion, Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider, Roundups

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Zach Taiji is a freelance writer/photographer by night and a public relations professional by day for Pulp-PR and River House Development. With over half a million listings worldwide in 192 countries, vacation rental service Airbnb has skyrocketed to popularity since its inception in 2008. Because of its large scale of incoming and diverse users, it’s important to make sure that the necessary tools are put in place to offer security and convenience for both the guest and host. Here’s a list of the top 10 tools that every Airbnb host should have: 1. Urban Bellhop (Starts at $50 per guest) Urban…

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Facebook’s Look Back went from idea to product in under a month, over 50% of users who saw their video shared it

Mar13
by on March 13, 2014 at 6:15 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Social Media

Facebook today published an explanatory post from engineers who worked on the popular “Look Back” feature the company launched as part of its 10th anniversary. The company revealed the project went from an imagined concept to a completed product in under a month. Here are a few interesting data points the company underlined: Over 720 million Look BAck videos were rendered, with an average of 9 million videos rendered per hour. More than 11 petabytes of storage was used. More than 450 Gbps outgoing bandwidth at peak and 4PB egress within days. Over 200 million people watched their Look Back…

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