PHOENIX (Reuters) - A tough-on-immigration Arizona sheriff, who resigned as co-chair of Mitt Romney's state campaign after allegations he threatened a male lover with deportation, has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing, the state attorney general's office said on Friday.
Earlier this year, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu asked the office to investigate claims made by his former boyfriend, Jose Orozco, accusing the lawman of abuse of authority, threats and intimidation.
Babeu acknowledged at the time he is gay and had a personal relationship with Orozco, who was reported to be from Mexico, but denied that he had made any threat to deport him.
The sheriff struck back at Orozco, accusing him in turn of theft of property and identity theft stemming from his former lover's handling of websites and Twitter accounts relating to him.
'The Attorney General's Office will not file charges against either Babeu or Orozco,' Solicitor General Dave Cole said in a statement released on Friday.
'The investigation determined that Babeu did not commit any criminal violations and further concluded that, although Orozco conducted himself in a manner that may constitute a violation of the law, there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction on anything more than a misdemeanor charge.'
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, also a Republican, said in February that his office was opening a probe into Babeu's conduct. At the time of the disclosures, Babeu was co-chair of Republican presidential nominee Romney's campaign in Arizona, but promptly stepped down.
Babeu said in a statement on Friday that 'the truth has won out in the end,' and that he had been fully cleared.
'I was attacked personally, professionally and politically with these false allegations, and today I'm fully cleared. It's no surprise these attacks came during an election year in a failed attempt to destroy me.'
Arizona has been in the national spotlight since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June allowed a controversial 'show-your-papers' measure that requires police to check the status of people they stop and suspect are in the country illegally.
The measure is part of a crackdown on illegal immigration signed in 2010 by Republican Governor Jan Brewer that backers said was needed because of the failure of the federal government to secure the porous border with Mexico. Opponents have slammed the law as a mandate for racial profiling.
Babeu is a strong critic of the stance of President Barack Obama's administration on immigration. Two years ago he appeared in a campaign ad for Republican U.S. Senator John McCain that called for tighter border security and urged the government to 'complete the danged fence' on the border with Mexico.
The television spot, which showed McCain and Babeu walking a stretch of the boundary fence in Nogales, raised some eyebrows in Arizona as Pinal County does not border Mexico.
Babeu hoped to ride out the furor and become a Republican congressional candidate this year. But in May he announced he was dropping the bid and would instead run for a second term as sheriff.
(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Todd Eastham)
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Friday, August 31, 2012
Facebook cracks down on fake "Likes"
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is weeding out fake 'Likes' on its social network that are being caused by spammers, malware and black marketeers as it strives to maintain credibility as an advertising platform.
Facebook said the number of Likes, or endorsements by users, on corporate pages is likely to drop by less than 1 percent, on average, after the crackdown.
'Newly improved automated efforts will remove those Likes gained by malware, compromised accounts, deceived users, or purchased bulk Likes,' Facebook said in a post on its official blog on Friday.
'While we have always had dedicated protections against each of these threats on Facebook, these improved systems have been specifically configured to identify and take action against suspicious Likes,' the post continued.
Thanks to a growing black market, companies can instantly raise their profile on Facebook by purchasing thousands of Likes at a time - a practice that is forbidden by the No. 1 social network, which has 955 million users.
Many of these Likes come from bogus Facebook user accounts rather than genuine users of the social network.
Meanwhile, various spam-like programs on Facebook deceive users into unwittingly liking something when they perform another action, such as clicking to watch a video.
Facebook said the cleanup will benefit both users and companies that maintain pages on the network, by giving a more accurate measurement of fan count and demographics.
Ensuring the integrity of Likes is serious business for Facebook, which depends on advertising revenue from large brands and other businesses. Many of the ad campaigns that companies conduct on Facebook are designed to garner Likes - a sign that their marketing message has resonated with consumers.
'It's their currency,' said Jeremiah Owyang, a partner at research firm Altimeter Group. 'Facebook is playing the Federal Reserve, to take the counterfeit currency off the market to ensure that there's quality in the marketplace.'
The problem is not unique to Facebook, say analysts, who note that Twitter and Google Inc also grapple with fake accounts, spam and other techniques to game the service.
But for Facebook, the pressure to show that activity on its social network is genuine has grown as concerns have mounted on Wall Street about the company's long-term profit potential.
Shares of Facebook set a new low on Friday, falling as much as 5.3 percent to $18.08, after brokerages cut their price targets on the stock. Facebook has lost more than 50 percent of its market value since its initial public offering in May.
Facebook estimates that 1.5 percent of its users are 'undesirable' accounts set up for purposes that violate its terms of service, according to its most recent 10-Q regulatory filing.
'I think what they're intending to do is get a handle on it before it gets really out of control,' Brian Blau, an analyst with research firm Gartner, said.
'You can imagine no business wants to pay for advertising to fake accounts.'
(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Richard Chang)
This news article is brought to you by PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
Facebook said the number of Likes, or endorsements by users, on corporate pages is likely to drop by less than 1 percent, on average, after the crackdown.
'Newly improved automated efforts will remove those Likes gained by malware, compromised accounts, deceived users, or purchased bulk Likes,' Facebook said in a post on its official blog on Friday.
'While we have always had dedicated protections against each of these threats on Facebook, these improved systems have been specifically configured to identify and take action against suspicious Likes,' the post continued.
Thanks to a growing black market, companies can instantly raise their profile on Facebook by purchasing thousands of Likes at a time - a practice that is forbidden by the No. 1 social network, which has 955 million users.
Many of these Likes come from bogus Facebook user accounts rather than genuine users of the social network.
Meanwhile, various spam-like programs on Facebook deceive users into unwittingly liking something when they perform another action, such as clicking to watch a video.
Facebook said the cleanup will benefit both users and companies that maintain pages on the network, by giving a more accurate measurement of fan count and demographics.
Ensuring the integrity of Likes is serious business for Facebook, which depends on advertising revenue from large brands and other businesses. Many of the ad campaigns that companies conduct on Facebook are designed to garner Likes - a sign that their marketing message has resonated with consumers.
'It's their currency,' said Jeremiah Owyang, a partner at research firm Altimeter Group. 'Facebook is playing the Federal Reserve, to take the counterfeit currency off the market to ensure that there's quality in the marketplace.'
The problem is not unique to Facebook, say analysts, who note that Twitter and Google Inc also grapple with fake accounts, spam and other techniques to game the service.
But for Facebook, the pressure to show that activity on its social network is genuine has grown as concerns have mounted on Wall Street about the company's long-term profit potential.
Shares of Facebook set a new low on Friday, falling as much as 5.3 percent to $18.08, after brokerages cut their price targets on the stock. Facebook has lost more than 50 percent of its market value since its initial public offering in May.
Facebook estimates that 1.5 percent of its users are 'undesirable' accounts set up for purposes that violate its terms of service, according to its most recent 10-Q regulatory filing.
'I think what they're intending to do is get a handle on it before it gets really out of control,' Brian Blau, an analyst with research firm Gartner, said.
'You can imagine no business wants to pay for advertising to fake accounts.'
(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Richard Chang)
This news article is brought to you by PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
Twitter index: Backstreet Boys cause buzz
Twitter users are buzzing about 1990s US boy band the Backstreet Boys and transfer news in the English Premier League on Friday, August 31.
Recently re-united boy band the Backstreet Boys, who first shot to fame in 1996 with their debut album, are again causing excitement after an appearance on US TV show Good Morning America (GMA). The August 31 performance was part of the program's 'Summer Concert Series' and saw the group perform their 1999 single 'Larger Than Life.'
The concert caused a huge amount of excitement among Twitter fans and the group now account for three of the top ten international trending topics '#GMABackstreet', 'Larger Than Life' and 'Backstreet.'
Friday is the last day of the summer transfer window, the period in which clubs can buy or sell players, for the English Premier League and transfer talk is causing a buzz on Twitter. Fifth-place topic 'Macion to City' refers to Brazilian footballer Maicon Douglas Sisenando who is rumored to be transferring from Interazionale to Premier League winners Manchester City, while Manchester City player 'Micah Richards' is making the news after failing to make progress recovering from an injury he sustained representing Great Britain in the Olympics.
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 31 at 12:30 PM GMT are:
01. #GMABackstreet
02. #100ThingsILike
03. #RemajaIndonesialdola
04. Larger Than Life
05. Maicon to City
06. Micah Richards
07. NRJ
08. Hugo Lloris
09. Feliz Viernes
10. Backstreet Boys
This article is brought to you by COMPUTERS FOR SALE.
Recently re-united boy band the Backstreet Boys, who first shot to fame in 1996 with their debut album, are again causing excitement after an appearance on US TV show Good Morning America (GMA). The August 31 performance was part of the program's 'Summer Concert Series' and saw the group perform their 1999 single 'Larger Than Life.'
The concert caused a huge amount of excitement among Twitter fans and the group now account for three of the top ten international trending topics '#GMABackstreet', 'Larger Than Life' and 'Backstreet.'
Friday is the last day of the summer transfer window, the period in which clubs can buy or sell players, for the English Premier League and transfer talk is causing a buzz on Twitter. Fifth-place topic 'Macion to City' refers to Brazilian footballer Maicon Douglas Sisenando who is rumored to be transferring from Interazionale to Premier League winners Manchester City, while Manchester City player 'Micah Richards' is making the news after failing to make progress recovering from an injury he sustained representing Great Britain in the Olympics.
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 31 at 12:30 PM GMT are:
01. #GMABackstreet
02. #100ThingsILike
03. #RemajaIndonesialdola
04. Larger Than Life
05. Maicon to City
06. Micah Richards
07. NRJ
08. Hugo Lloris
09. Feliz Viernes
10. Backstreet Boys
This article is brought to you by COMPUTERS FOR SALE.
Android phone makers back platform but consider other options
BERLIN (Reuters) - Some phonemakers are quietly exploring alternatives to the Android operating system implicated in the Samsung-Apple ruling, industry watchers say, despite their public pronouncements they are sticking with the technology.
Last week, a U.S. court ruled Samsung's Android devices were violating Apple patents - a major blow to the leading mobile software platform because it could lead to sales bans and high licensing fees.
The impact could also hit smaller vendors that use Android like HTC, ZTE, and Sony. Android is used in more than two thirds of smart phones.
Huawei, Sony, Lenovo and ZTE - which all use Android extensively - told Reuters they were continuing to bet on the Google's platform despite the ruling.
'(The ruling) is not relevant to what we are doing,' said Chris Edwards, chief of ZTE's business development in Europe.
But as the mobile market matures and more patent cases look likely, some makers are looking at the alternatives.
Samsung, which has used a number of platforms but now mostly uses Android, announced a new phone running on Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 software at a consumer technology conference on Wednesday, sneaking ahead of a hotly-anticipated launch of a Nokia-Windows phone due next week.
Shares in Nokia, which has partnered with Windows and is its main user, jumped after the Samsung ruling on expectations it might be a safer legal bet than Android makers.
The California jury said Samsung infringed six of seven Apple patents in the case, including technology that recognizes whether one or two fingers are on the screen, the front surface of the phone and the design of screen icons, which is a clear reference to Google's technology.
After the verdict, Google said that most of the patents involved 'don't relate to the core Android operating system.'
Android was used in 68 percent of all smartphones sold last quarter, with Samsung making almost half of them, while Microsoft had 3 percent market share.
The balance of power is unlikely to shift quickly as this season's new phones were all made before the ruling.
Sony launched three Android phones this week at IFA, Europe's largest consumer electronics fair. Chinese phone maker Huawei launched four.
'We have made our choice,' said Lars-Christian Weissewange, vice president at Huawei's phone unit, adding that consumers were making the platform choice for them by picking Android phones. Sony said the ruling was not impacting its business.
'This is probably not impacting consumer thinking,' Gianfranco Lanci, chief of Lenovo's European operations, said on sidelines of the conference.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
But behind closed doors, companies are looking at alternative routes should the ruling impact ripple wider out, said several industry insiders.
'Today, all Android vendors are considering their software options,' said Pete Cunningham, an analyst at research firm Canalys.
Samsung's brief, surprise launch on Wednesday of the world's first smartphone running on Windows Phone 8, should be interpreted as muscle flexing, analysts said.
However, it should not be seen as a firm move away from Android as the model will likely struggle to stand out even among the other Windows phones, said Malik Saadi, analyst at research firm Informa.
Illustrating the high interest at stake are the behind-the-scene meetings of Google's and Apple's chiefs Larry Page and Tim Cook on the patents.
Despite its small market share, Windows Phone is still the largest alternative to Android as Apple and Blackberry maker RIM have not made their platforms available for other handset makers.
At the same time, vendors are pretty much stuck with Android as Windows is way behind in terms of applications on offer, offering just 100,000 apps against half a million each on Android and Apple.
'Microsoft needs to create a developer environment for the Window Phone, which is growing, but still trails behind the others,' said Roberta Cozza, analyst at Gartner.
Attracting developers is difficult with tiny market shares.
Navigation firm TomTom launched an app running on Android this week but said it was not planning a Windows app.
'I have a big bucket of (research and development) and if I had to decide where to put my money, I want to wait first to see whether Windows is a success,' said co-founder Corinne Vigreux.
(Reporting By Tarmo Virki; editing by Jane Barrett and Janet McBride)
This news article is brought to you by FREE ROMANTIC DATING SITE BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
Last week, a U.S. court ruled Samsung's Android devices were violating Apple patents - a major blow to the leading mobile software platform because it could lead to sales bans and high licensing fees.
The impact could also hit smaller vendors that use Android like HTC, ZTE, and Sony. Android is used in more than two thirds of smart phones.
Huawei, Sony, Lenovo and ZTE - which all use Android extensively - told Reuters they were continuing to bet on the Google's platform despite the ruling.
'(The ruling) is not relevant to what we are doing,' said Chris Edwards, chief of ZTE's business development in Europe.
But as the mobile market matures and more patent cases look likely, some makers are looking at the alternatives.
Samsung, which has used a number of platforms but now mostly uses Android, announced a new phone running on Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 software at a consumer technology conference on Wednesday, sneaking ahead of a hotly-anticipated launch of a Nokia-Windows phone due next week.
Shares in Nokia, which has partnered with Windows and is its main user, jumped after the Samsung ruling on expectations it might be a safer legal bet than Android makers.
The California jury said Samsung infringed six of seven Apple patents in the case, including technology that recognizes whether one or two fingers are on the screen, the front surface of the phone and the design of screen icons, which is a clear reference to Google's technology.
After the verdict, Google said that most of the patents involved 'don't relate to the core Android operating system.'
Android was used in 68 percent of all smartphones sold last quarter, with Samsung making almost half of them, while Microsoft had 3 percent market share.
The balance of power is unlikely to shift quickly as this season's new phones were all made before the ruling.
Sony launched three Android phones this week at IFA, Europe's largest consumer electronics fair. Chinese phone maker Huawei launched four.
'We have made our choice,' said Lars-Christian Weissewange, vice president at Huawei's phone unit, adding that consumers were making the platform choice for them by picking Android phones. Sony said the ruling was not impacting its business.
'This is probably not impacting consumer thinking,' Gianfranco Lanci, chief of Lenovo's European operations, said on sidelines of the conference.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
But behind closed doors, companies are looking at alternative routes should the ruling impact ripple wider out, said several industry insiders.
'Today, all Android vendors are considering their software options,' said Pete Cunningham, an analyst at research firm Canalys.
Samsung's brief, surprise launch on Wednesday of the world's first smartphone running on Windows Phone 8, should be interpreted as muscle flexing, analysts said.
However, it should not be seen as a firm move away from Android as the model will likely struggle to stand out even among the other Windows phones, said Malik Saadi, analyst at research firm Informa.
Illustrating the high interest at stake are the behind-the-scene meetings of Google's and Apple's chiefs Larry Page and Tim Cook on the patents.
Despite its small market share, Windows Phone is still the largest alternative to Android as Apple and Blackberry maker RIM have not made their platforms available for other handset makers.
At the same time, vendors are pretty much stuck with Android as Windows is way behind in terms of applications on offer, offering just 100,000 apps against half a million each on Android and Apple.
'Microsoft needs to create a developer environment for the Window Phone, which is growing, but still trails behind the others,' said Roberta Cozza, analyst at Gartner.
Attracting developers is difficult with tiny market shares.
Navigation firm TomTom launched an app running on Android this week but said it was not planning a Windows app.
'I have a big bucket of (research and development) and if I had to decide where to put my money, I want to wait first to see whether Windows is a success,' said co-founder Corinne Vigreux.
(Reporting By Tarmo Virki; editing by Jane Barrett and Janet McBride)
This news article is brought to you by FREE ROMANTIC DATING SITE BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
Google+ trends: Andy Roddick, Clint Eastwood
Google+ users are discussing Andy Roddick's announcement that he will retire after the US Open and Clint Eastwood's standup comedy routine on Friday, August 31.
American tennis player Andy Roddick is causing waves on the internet Friday after announcing plans to retire following the US Open. Former number one, Roddick, now aged 30, is the last North American male tennis player to win a grand slam singles event -- the 2003 US Open.
Having beaten American Rhyne Williams 6-3,6-4, 6-4 on August 28, Roddick will now take on Australian Bernard Tomic in the second round of the US Open.
Also causing buzz among Google+ users is actor and director Clint Eastwood's Thursday performance in Tampa, Florida. The legendary actor took to the stage at the Republican National Convention for a 'comedy' routine -- with a chair, representing, Barack Obama. Clint Eastwood's routine can be watched on YouTube at: http://goo.gl/fMB4h
The top 5 most talked about topics on Google+ on August 31 at 10:45 AM GMT are:
01. Andy Roddick
02. Clint Eastwood
03. #FloralFriday
04. Samsung
05. Mitt Romney
This article is brought to you by BUY A USED COMPUTER.
American tennis player Andy Roddick is causing waves on the internet Friday after announcing plans to retire following the US Open. Former number one, Roddick, now aged 30, is the last North American male tennis player to win a grand slam singles event -- the 2003 US Open.
Having beaten American Rhyne Williams 6-3,6-4, 6-4 on August 28, Roddick will now take on Australian Bernard Tomic in the second round of the US Open.
Also causing buzz among Google+ users is actor and director Clint Eastwood's Thursday performance in Tampa, Florida. The legendary actor took to the stage at the Republican National Convention for a 'comedy' routine -- with a chair, representing, Barack Obama. Clint Eastwood's routine can be watched on YouTube at: http://goo.gl/fMB4h
The top 5 most talked about topics on Google+ on August 31 at 10:45 AM GMT are:
01. Andy Roddick
02. Clint Eastwood
03. #FloralFriday
04. Samsung
05. Mitt Romney
This article is brought to you by BUY A USED COMPUTER.
Twitter targets ads based on interests
Twitter on Thursday began letting advertisers target users with 'promoted tweets' based on interests expressed at the globally popular one-to-many texting service.
Twitter also slashed to a penny the minimum opening bid in its auction-style ad-buying system.
'We're taking an important next step by allowing you to target your Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts campaigns to a set of interests that you explicitly choose,' Twitter product management director Kevin Weil said in a blog post.
'When people discover offers and messages about the things they care about on Twitter, it's good for both marketers and users.'
Twitter ad products tap into a 'real-time interest graph' to target promoted 'tweets,' terse text messages, in hundreds of categories ranging from gardening and hobbies to pets and investing.
Factors that go into determining interests include which Twitter accounts people follow, such as sports teams or chefs.
The San Francisco-based firm boasts having 140 million active users.
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Twitter also slashed to a penny the minimum opening bid in its auction-style ad-buying system.
'We're taking an important next step by allowing you to target your Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts campaigns to a set of interests that you explicitly choose,' Twitter product management director Kevin Weil said in a blog post.
'When people discover offers and messages about the things they care about on Twitter, it's good for both marketers and users.'
Twitter ad products tap into a 'real-time interest graph' to target promoted 'tweets,' terse text messages, in hundreds of categories ranging from gardening and hobbies to pets and investing.
Factors that go into determining interests include which Twitter accounts people follow, such as sports teams or chefs.
The San Francisco-based firm boasts having 140 million active users.
This news article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE 201 - where latest news are our top priority.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Twitter to let advertisers zero in on tweeters
(Reuters) - Twitter Inc will begin allowing advertisers to directly target users based on the interests they reveal in their tweets, the social media company said Thursday.
No longer content to be a 'dumb' bulletin board, with 400 million micro-messages posted daily, Twitter has moved to a strategy of actively sifting through what each user is reading and tweeting in order to discern every individual's interests.
Founded in 2006, Twitter is hoping to catch up to other consumer Internet companies that have found varying degrees of success by using technology to serve better-targeted ads.
For years, Google has reaped huge profits by displaying ads based on what a user searches for in its search engine, while Facebook encourages users to proactively input their 'likes.' But Twitter, by contrast, has long faced the challenge of indirectly inferring these preferences, something that marketers find less attractive for their needs.
In an effort to draw advertisers, the company on Thursday also slashed the minimum price of 'promoted tweets' from 50 cents each to just a penny.
CEO Dick Costolo has said in recent months that his company's value lies in its ability to mine its flow of information to build 'an interest graph' showing its users' preference profiles -- which could be used by marketers to deliver targeted and relevant ads.
As part of its new targeting feature, Twitter will now allow advertisers to send paid ads, in the form of tweets, to users who are interested in any of the roughly 350 topics on a list curated by Twitter itself.
For instance, sports apparel retailers can target soccer fanatics for promotions, or film distributors might send tweets directed at keen Bollywood fans.
The new offering will allow companies to reach a 'very narrow, very specific and incredibly focused audience,' Kevin Weil, a Twitter director of product management, said in an interview.
Twitter engineers believe they can build a compelling ad delivery platform, particularly if marketers craft ads that seem to blend in with the tone and format of the service's flow of tweets, which are seen by some 140 million monthly active users.
In building its interest graph, Twitter analyzes 'a host of signals,' Weil said, including which accounts a user follows, as well as the subjects of tweets that are most frequently recirculated or replied to by the user.
The company's algorithms closely evaluate the latter, giving 'a direct measure of what you're interested in,' Weil said.
Between 1 and 3 percent of users who see a 'promoted tweet' -- a paid ad -- click on the tweet in some way. But early beta tests have shown the engagement rate to be higher when tweets are directed using its new interest-targeting tool, Weil said, while declining to discuss specific results.
Slashing the minimum bid price for ads would allow more brands to participate in its ad program but it did not reflect a lack of demand from advertisers for ads on the platform, Twitter said.
Valued at more than $8 billion but expected by analysts to make less than $300 million in revenue in 2011, Twitter has aggressively ramped up its advertising capabilities. But in streamlining its product to better show ads, the company has cracked down on how third-party services may use its content, sparking an outcry from Silicon Valley technologists who would like Twitter to remain a neutral media platform.
In protest against what they viewed as a Twitter experience increasingly corrupted by advertising, software developers in California this month launched App.net, a Twitter-like rival that is supported by a $50 membership fee rather than ads.
(Reporting by Gerry Shih in New York; Editing by Gary Hill)
This article is brought to you by BUY A USED COMPUTER.
No longer content to be a 'dumb' bulletin board, with 400 million micro-messages posted daily, Twitter has moved to a strategy of actively sifting through what each user is reading and tweeting in order to discern every individual's interests.
Founded in 2006, Twitter is hoping to catch up to other consumer Internet companies that have found varying degrees of success by using technology to serve better-targeted ads.
For years, Google has reaped huge profits by displaying ads based on what a user searches for in its search engine, while Facebook encourages users to proactively input their 'likes.' But Twitter, by contrast, has long faced the challenge of indirectly inferring these preferences, something that marketers find less attractive for their needs.
In an effort to draw advertisers, the company on Thursday also slashed the minimum price of 'promoted tweets' from 50 cents each to just a penny.
CEO Dick Costolo has said in recent months that his company's value lies in its ability to mine its flow of information to build 'an interest graph' showing its users' preference profiles -- which could be used by marketers to deliver targeted and relevant ads.
As part of its new targeting feature, Twitter will now allow advertisers to send paid ads, in the form of tweets, to users who are interested in any of the roughly 350 topics on a list curated by Twitter itself.
For instance, sports apparel retailers can target soccer fanatics for promotions, or film distributors might send tweets directed at keen Bollywood fans.
The new offering will allow companies to reach a 'very narrow, very specific and incredibly focused audience,' Kevin Weil, a Twitter director of product management, said in an interview.
Twitter engineers believe they can build a compelling ad delivery platform, particularly if marketers craft ads that seem to blend in with the tone and format of the service's flow of tweets, which are seen by some 140 million monthly active users.
In building its interest graph, Twitter analyzes 'a host of signals,' Weil said, including which accounts a user follows, as well as the subjects of tweets that are most frequently recirculated or replied to by the user.
The company's algorithms closely evaluate the latter, giving 'a direct measure of what you're interested in,' Weil said.
Between 1 and 3 percent of users who see a 'promoted tweet' -- a paid ad -- click on the tweet in some way. But early beta tests have shown the engagement rate to be higher when tweets are directed using its new interest-targeting tool, Weil said, while declining to discuss specific results.
Slashing the minimum bid price for ads would allow more brands to participate in its ad program but it did not reflect a lack of demand from advertisers for ads on the platform, Twitter said.
Valued at more than $8 billion but expected by analysts to make less than $300 million in revenue in 2011, Twitter has aggressively ramped up its advertising capabilities. But in streamlining its product to better show ads, the company has cracked down on how third-party services may use its content, sparking an outcry from Silicon Valley technologists who would like Twitter to remain a neutral media platform.
In protest against what they viewed as a Twitter experience increasingly corrupted by advertising, software developers in California this month launched App.net, a Twitter-like rival that is supported by a $50 membership fee rather than ads.
(Reporting by Gerry Shih in New York; Editing by Gary Hill)
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Sony CEO says Vita gaming sales near expectations
BERLIN (Reuters) - Sony Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai said on Thursday that its new gaming device Vita was mostly selling in line with its expectations, though in some places it was off the pace.
Vita hit the stores earlier this year, the latest in a line of mobile gaming gadgets in the spirit of Nintendo's Game Boy and Atari's Lynx, but some analysts have questioned whether there is room for such a device in a market increasingly dominated by games played on smartphones and tablets.
'Worldwide, the Vita is pretty much along where we would expect it to be, maybe trending behind in certain territories,' Hirai told Reuters on the sidelines of IFA, Europe's biggest consumer trade show, held in Berlin.
He declined to disclose where sales were lagging.
When he took the helm at Sony in April, Hirai vowed to revive the fortunes of the company, maker of the Walkman music player and PlayStation games console, after years of competition from foreign rivals had broken its dominance in consumer electronics.
Part of the plan is betting Sony's future on mobile devices such as the Xperia smartphone, gaming and digital imaging, while developing new businesses, including a medical unit.
Sony has high hopes for its PlayStation Mobile gaming service, in which Vita plays a key role, and which will be launched later this year along with a range of new games.
Previously branded the PlayStation Suite, it will provide a platform for third-party software developers and publishers to create new content such as games for portable devices.
'Back in 2006-2007 people were saying PlayStation 3 is not happening, it's dead, but today it's a great platform, contributes bottom line to us. You need to look back 5, 10 years for these platforms to tell whether they are successful,' Hirai said.
MORE PHONES
In Berlin Sony launched three smartphones and one tablet, all powered by Google's Android platform, saying patent challenges facing the software had not affected its business.
Sony Mobile chief Kunimasa Suzuki told Reuters he was confident of selling more cellphones in fiscal year 2012-2013 than the 34 million the company shifted in the previous year.
This would put Sony roughly on par with Google's Motorola, the eighth largest cellphone maker, which analysts expect to sell 37 million phones next year and well ahead of BlackBerry-maker RIM, whose sales are seen sinking to 28 million.
After Sony returned a record net loss of 455 billion yen ($5.8 billion) for the fiscal year to March 31, Hirai promised 10,000 job cuts and big cost reductions in the TV unit, which has clocked up losses of about $12 billion in the past decade.
Hirai said the group was ahead of plan to return the TV business to the black. 'This fiscal year we will halve our losses from what we made last year. We are ahead of track.'
Sony is also in talks with several companies which could be interested in its chemicals business, Hirai said. The unit makes materials used in consumer electronics products and employs several thousand people. He declined to elaborate.
As for other Japanese exporters, the strength of the yen weighs on Sony's results. The currency has become a safe-haven destination for many investors as debt concerns undermine confidence in both the euro and the dollar.
'The currencies are a real pain,' Hirai said. We can complain about that, but it is the reality we have to face.'
Since Sony's European sales account for a fifth of all revenue, compared with a tenth at both Panasonic Corp and Sharp, it is particularly sensitive to currency swings against the euro.
($1 = 78.7400 Japanese yen)
(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Tarmo Virki; Editing by Will Waterman and Giles Elgood)
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Vita hit the stores earlier this year, the latest in a line of mobile gaming gadgets in the spirit of Nintendo's Game Boy and Atari's Lynx, but some analysts have questioned whether there is room for such a device in a market increasingly dominated by games played on smartphones and tablets.
'Worldwide, the Vita is pretty much along where we would expect it to be, maybe trending behind in certain territories,' Hirai told Reuters on the sidelines of IFA, Europe's biggest consumer trade show, held in Berlin.
He declined to disclose where sales were lagging.
When he took the helm at Sony in April, Hirai vowed to revive the fortunes of the company, maker of the Walkman music player and PlayStation games console, after years of competition from foreign rivals had broken its dominance in consumer electronics.
Part of the plan is betting Sony's future on mobile devices such as the Xperia smartphone, gaming and digital imaging, while developing new businesses, including a medical unit.
Sony has high hopes for its PlayStation Mobile gaming service, in which Vita plays a key role, and which will be launched later this year along with a range of new games.
Previously branded the PlayStation Suite, it will provide a platform for third-party software developers and publishers to create new content such as games for portable devices.
'Back in 2006-2007 people were saying PlayStation 3 is not happening, it's dead, but today it's a great platform, contributes bottom line to us. You need to look back 5, 10 years for these platforms to tell whether they are successful,' Hirai said.
MORE PHONES
In Berlin Sony launched three smartphones and one tablet, all powered by Google's Android platform, saying patent challenges facing the software had not affected its business.
Sony Mobile chief Kunimasa Suzuki told Reuters he was confident of selling more cellphones in fiscal year 2012-2013 than the 34 million the company shifted in the previous year.
This would put Sony roughly on par with Google's Motorola, the eighth largest cellphone maker, which analysts expect to sell 37 million phones next year and well ahead of BlackBerry-maker RIM, whose sales are seen sinking to 28 million.
After Sony returned a record net loss of 455 billion yen ($5.8 billion) for the fiscal year to March 31, Hirai promised 10,000 job cuts and big cost reductions in the TV unit, which has clocked up losses of about $12 billion in the past decade.
Hirai said the group was ahead of plan to return the TV business to the black. 'This fiscal year we will halve our losses from what we made last year. We are ahead of track.'
Sony is also in talks with several companies which could be interested in its chemicals business, Hirai said. The unit makes materials used in consumer electronics products and employs several thousand people. He declined to elaborate.
As for other Japanese exporters, the strength of the yen weighs on Sony's results. The currency has become a safe-haven destination for many investors as debt concerns undermine confidence in both the euro and the dollar.
'The currencies are a real pain,' Hirai said. We can complain about that, but it is the reality we have to face.'
Since Sony's European sales account for a fifth of all revenue, compared with a tenth at both Panasonic Corp and Sharp, it is particularly sensitive to currency swings against the euro.
($1 = 78.7400 Japanese yen)
(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Tarmo Virki; Editing by Will Waterman and Giles Elgood)
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Australia captain Clarke leads praise for retired
LONDON (Reuters) - England captain Andrew Strauss announced his retirement from professional cricket with immediate effect on Wednesday. Following is a selection of tributes from his fellow players:
Australia captain Michael Clarke on Twitter: 'Big congratulations to Andrew Strauss on a great career. Still is a very good player and a lovely man. Can only wish him the best for the future.'
South Africa test captain Graeme Smith on Twitter: 'Just want to congratulate Andrew Strauss on a great career as captain and player for England.
'Fully appreciate the demands of captaining your country. It was always a great contest playing against Andrew and his team and I wish him well in his future.'
England fast bowler Stuart Broad on Twitter: 'Awesome guy, great leader, dependable batsman and a solid first slip catcher.
'Cheers Straussy, you'll be playing scratch golf within a year,' added Broad, referring to his former captain's news conference comment about spending more time on the golf course.
England spinner Graeme Swann on Twitter: 'An emotional day with Straussy hanging up his boots. What a great captain, brilliant player and most importantly fantastic bloke.'
England all-rounder Tim Bresnan on Twitter: 'Andrew Strauss is the epitome of professionalism. A great leader, wonderful team mate and all-round nice bloke. I wish him well for the future.'
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Australia captain Michael Clarke on Twitter: 'Big congratulations to Andrew Strauss on a great career. Still is a very good player and a lovely man. Can only wish him the best for the future.'
South Africa test captain Graeme Smith on Twitter: 'Just want to congratulate Andrew Strauss on a great career as captain and player for England.
'Fully appreciate the demands of captaining your country. It was always a great contest playing against Andrew and his team and I wish him well in his future.'
England fast bowler Stuart Broad on Twitter: 'Awesome guy, great leader, dependable batsman and a solid first slip catcher.
'Cheers Straussy, you'll be playing scratch golf within a year,' added Broad, referring to his former captain's news conference comment about spending more time on the golf course.
England spinner Graeme Swann on Twitter: 'An emotional day with Straussy hanging up his boots. What a great captain, brilliant player and most importantly fantastic bloke.'
England all-rounder Tim Bresnan on Twitter: 'Andrew Strauss is the epitome of professionalism. A great leader, wonderful team mate and all-round nice bloke. I wish him well for the future.'
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Amazon says Kindle Fire has 22 percent of U.S. market, is sold out
(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday that its Kindle Fire tablet accounts for 22 percent of U.S. tablet sales and that the device is sold out.
The tablet hit stores last November at a cost well below that of Apple Inc's market-leading iPad.
Amazon is holding a press event next week in Santa Monica, California, fueling speculation it will launch new tablet devices.
Since the Kindle Fire launch last year, Google Inc has introduced a seven-inch tablet called Nexus 7, which has been selling well. Barnes & Noble Inc's Nook Tablet, introduced last autumn, has also been popular.
Amazon said its Kindle Fire is sold out, but its statement did not say when the device would be back in stock, nor how many Amazon has sold.
Since the launch of the tablet last year, Amazon's top-selling products have all been digital products such as music, videos and movies, Amazon said.
(Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
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The tablet hit stores last November at a cost well below that of Apple Inc's market-leading iPad.
Amazon is holding a press event next week in Santa Monica, California, fueling speculation it will launch new tablet devices.
Since the Kindle Fire launch last year, Google Inc has introduced a seven-inch tablet called Nexus 7, which has been selling well. Barnes & Noble Inc's Nook Tablet, introduced last autumn, has also been popular.
Amazon said its Kindle Fire is sold out, but its statement did not say when the device would be back in stock, nor how many Amazon has sold.
Since the launch of the tablet last year, Amazon's top-selling products have all been digital products such as music, videos and movies, Amazon said.
(Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
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Sony CEO says Vita gaming device performs near expectations
BERLIN (Reuters) - Sony Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai signalled on Thursday some softness in sales of new gaming device Vita, but said overall it performed near expectations.
Vita hit the stores earlier this year and is the latest in a long line of mobile gaming gadgets in the spirit of Nintendo's Game Boy and Atari's Lynx.
The device has met scepticism among some analysts who doubt whether there is a place for such a device in a market which is increasingly dominated by games played on smartphones and tablets.
'Worldwide, the Vita is pretty much along where we would expect it to be, maybe trending behind in certain territories,' Hirai told Reuters on the sidelines of IFA, Europe's biggest consumer trade show, held in Berlin.
He declined to disclose where sales were lagging.
Taking the helm at Sony in April, Hirai vowed to revive the fortunes of the maker of the Walkman music player, after years of competition from foreign rivals overturned its dominance in consumer electronics.
Hirai said the group was ahead of plan in turning its loss-making TV business into the black.
He has announced cost cuts, including slashing 10,000 jobs, and plans to sell off some business.
Hirai said it was already in talks with several potential buyers for its chemicals business, which makes material used in its consumer electronic products and employs several thousands of staff. He declined to elaborate.
(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Tarmo Virki; Editing by David Holmes)
This article is brought to you by COMPUTERS.
Vita hit the stores earlier this year and is the latest in a long line of mobile gaming gadgets in the spirit of Nintendo's Game Boy and Atari's Lynx.
The device has met scepticism among some analysts who doubt whether there is a place for such a device in a market which is increasingly dominated by games played on smartphones and tablets.
'Worldwide, the Vita is pretty much along where we would expect it to be, maybe trending behind in certain territories,' Hirai told Reuters on the sidelines of IFA, Europe's biggest consumer trade show, held in Berlin.
He declined to disclose where sales were lagging.
Taking the helm at Sony in April, Hirai vowed to revive the fortunes of the maker of the Walkman music player, after years of competition from foreign rivals overturned its dominance in consumer electronics.
Hirai said the group was ahead of plan in turning its loss-making TV business into the black.
He has announced cost cuts, including slashing 10,000 jobs, and plans to sell off some business.
Hirai said it was already in talks with several potential buyers for its chemicals business, which makes material used in its consumer electronic products and employs several thousands of staff. He declined to elaborate.
(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Tarmo Virki; Editing by David Holmes)
This article is brought to you by COMPUTERS.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
TV audiences go social as Republican convention coverage wanes
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Howling wind, driving rain and potential damage in New Orleans from Hurricane Isaac hasn't yet dampened U.S. Republican convention media coverage, but early TV ratings proved only so-so while many people instead 'tuned in' to social networks.
Republican fears that Isaac's battering of the U.S. Gulf Coast would steal the spotlight eased on Wednesday, a day after a key speech by Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, stole the show from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
But the biggest problem for the Republicans was less the hurricane and more dwindling interest in convention-watching by the general public, experts said.
'Isaac is sucking out a lot of the oxygen but that's because there wasn't much oxygen in the first place,' said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, senior fellow at the University of Southern California's Price School of Public Policy. 'Voters and certainly the media are aware these conventions have become hour-long infomercials. There is very little suspense.'
Ahead of Tuesday, news of Isaac's path toward the U.S. Gulf Coast revived memories of Hurricane Katrina's destruction seven years ago and threw a spotlight on something the Republican Party would rather forget in its convention week -- the botched relief efforts under George W. Bush, the last Republican president.
But even as some networks moved their anchors from the convention in Tampa to Isaac's landfall in New Orleans to cover both events, those interested in politics tuned in to hear Ann Romney personalize her husband and Christie tackle the Obama White House -- whether on TV or the Internet.
Preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research showed that more than 20 million Americans watched TV coverage of the Republican convention on Tuesday night in the 10 p.m. EDT hour when Ann Romney took the stage. By contrast, 37.6 million people watched Democratic President Barack Obama's most recent State of the Union speech.
About half of the convention's TV audience watched on cable news networks, as Fox News took the lion's share with an average 6.9 million viewers - triple its usual audience. About 11 million watched on broadcast networks NBC, ABC and CBS, which reduced coverage this year to just one hour per night.
Comparisons to the equivalent night in 2008 were not available, but TV audiences for U.S. political conventions have fallen steadily in the last 10 years, with the exception of 2008 when little-known Republican Sarah Palin captured attention.
CONVENTION COVERAGE CHANGES
But the story is different on the Web where, social media experts said, Americans are watching the convention differently from four years ago when Twitter and Facebook were little known.
Thousands of people visited social media sites to follow the convention live across Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube. Topics such as #GOP2012, #RNC and #Romney were high-trending on Twitter, alongside hashtags for Hurricane Isaac.
Judging by both pundits and tweets, Ann Romney's rousing, high-stakes speech lined with simplistic talk of love was a show-stopper, succeeding in its goal major of connecting Republicans with female voters and humanizing husband Mitt Romney.
'I can't remember a better convention speech by a would-be first lady than Ann Romney delivered,' wrote David Frum of The Daily Beast. 'Ann Steals the Show' ran the headline on The Huffington Post and CNN delivered the caption 'Ann Romney wows the RNC' and quoted reaction as 'electric.'
An opinion piece in The New York Times said she had less impact when comparing herself to mothers struggling to raise children, but connected more in her speech's second half when speaking realistically about her husband privileged background.
Ann Romney gathered the most Twitter mentions of the night, peaking at a high of 6,195 tweets per minute at the end of her speech when her husband joined her on stage.
The Twitter Political Index measuring tweeters' feeling about a candidate on scale of 1 to 100, 1 being not favorable, saw Ann Romney's score rise from 45 to 83 after the speech.
Facebook and CNN's election insights website also showed a 58 percent increase in users talking about Mitt Romney on Tuesday with the number peaking during Ann Romney's speech.
And traditional media outlets such as the Washington Post, New York Times, CNN and Reuters added to social media coverage, live tweeting, Facebooking, blogging, streaming video, and giving former TV watchers more ways to keep up to date.
The Republican National Committee's own live stream on YouTube has attracted 292,000 views since Monday and has some 3,200 subscribers.
Christie's speech was the second most tweeted-about event at the convention Tuesday, peaking at 6,079 tweets a minute.
Unlike Romney, reactions were more mixed. Fox News praised the speech but included debate about whether the governor, who focused more on his achievements in New Jersey than expected, was hard enough on Obama.
(Additional reporting by Jill Serjeant and Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte, Mary Milliken and Lisa Shumaker)
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Republican fears that Isaac's battering of the U.S. Gulf Coast would steal the spotlight eased on Wednesday, a day after a key speech by Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, stole the show from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
But the biggest problem for the Republicans was less the hurricane and more dwindling interest in convention-watching by the general public, experts said.
'Isaac is sucking out a lot of the oxygen but that's because there wasn't much oxygen in the first place,' said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, senior fellow at the University of Southern California's Price School of Public Policy. 'Voters and certainly the media are aware these conventions have become hour-long infomercials. There is very little suspense.'
Ahead of Tuesday, news of Isaac's path toward the U.S. Gulf Coast revived memories of Hurricane Katrina's destruction seven years ago and threw a spotlight on something the Republican Party would rather forget in its convention week -- the botched relief efforts under George W. Bush, the last Republican president.
But even as some networks moved their anchors from the convention in Tampa to Isaac's landfall in New Orleans to cover both events, those interested in politics tuned in to hear Ann Romney personalize her husband and Christie tackle the Obama White House -- whether on TV or the Internet.
Preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research showed that more than 20 million Americans watched TV coverage of the Republican convention on Tuesday night in the 10 p.m. EDT hour when Ann Romney took the stage. By contrast, 37.6 million people watched Democratic President Barack Obama's most recent State of the Union speech.
About half of the convention's TV audience watched on cable news networks, as Fox News took the lion's share with an average 6.9 million viewers - triple its usual audience. About 11 million watched on broadcast networks NBC, ABC and CBS, which reduced coverage this year to just one hour per night.
Comparisons to the equivalent night in 2008 were not available, but TV audiences for U.S. political conventions have fallen steadily in the last 10 years, with the exception of 2008 when little-known Republican Sarah Palin captured attention.
CONVENTION COVERAGE CHANGES
But the story is different on the Web where, social media experts said, Americans are watching the convention differently from four years ago when Twitter and Facebook were little known.
Thousands of people visited social media sites to follow the convention live across Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube. Topics such as #GOP2012, #RNC and #Romney were high-trending on Twitter, alongside hashtags for Hurricane Isaac.
Judging by both pundits and tweets, Ann Romney's rousing, high-stakes speech lined with simplistic talk of love was a show-stopper, succeeding in its goal major of connecting Republicans with female voters and humanizing husband Mitt Romney.
'I can't remember a better convention speech by a would-be first lady than Ann Romney delivered,' wrote David Frum of The Daily Beast. 'Ann Steals the Show' ran the headline on The Huffington Post and CNN delivered the caption 'Ann Romney wows the RNC' and quoted reaction as 'electric.'
An opinion piece in The New York Times said she had less impact when comparing herself to mothers struggling to raise children, but connected more in her speech's second half when speaking realistically about her husband privileged background.
Ann Romney gathered the most Twitter mentions of the night, peaking at a high of 6,195 tweets per minute at the end of her speech when her husband joined her on stage.
The Twitter Political Index measuring tweeters' feeling about a candidate on scale of 1 to 100, 1 being not favorable, saw Ann Romney's score rise from 45 to 83 after the speech.
Facebook and CNN's election insights website also showed a 58 percent increase in users talking about Mitt Romney on Tuesday with the number peaking during Ann Romney's speech.
And traditional media outlets such as the Washington Post, New York Times, CNN and Reuters added to social media coverage, live tweeting, Facebooking, blogging, streaming video, and giving former TV watchers more ways to keep up to date.
The Republican National Committee's own live stream on YouTube has attracted 292,000 views since Monday and has some 3,200 subscribers.
Christie's speech was the second most tweeted-about event at the convention Tuesday, peaking at 6,079 tweets a minute.
Unlike Romney, reactions were more mixed. Fox News praised the speech but included debate about whether the governor, who focused more on his achievements in New Jersey than expected, was hard enough on Obama.
(Additional reporting by Jill Serjeant and Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte, Mary Milliken and Lisa Shumaker)
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"Homeland" gets an alternate reality game
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - 'Homeland' fans who can't wait for the show's second season to get their fix of creepy espionage are in luck: Showtime is debuting a new alternate reality game to tide them over.
The game, playable now on ItHitsHome.com, offers fans a storyline that connects the show's first and second seasons. It finds Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) about to undergo her first round of electroconvulsive therapy.
She gives fans a mission that involves digging through video and audio, documents, and unique interactive events. They will also get to survey a travel agency, interrogate a prisoner, and gather evidence.
They will also get to explore documents on Saul Berenson's computer and read the blog of Brody's daughter, Dana. That's kind of creepy, right? Not as creepy as Carrie monitoring Brody's liaisons with his wife last season, but still.
'Homeland' returns September 30.
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The game, playable now on ItHitsHome.com, offers fans a storyline that connects the show's first and second seasons. It finds Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) about to undergo her first round of electroconvulsive therapy.
She gives fans a mission that involves digging through video and audio, documents, and unique interactive events. They will also get to survey a travel agency, interrogate a prisoner, and gather evidence.
They will also get to explore documents on Saul Berenson's computer and read the blog of Brody's daughter, Dana. That's kind of creepy, right? Not as creepy as Carrie monitoring Brody's liaisons with his wife last season, but still.
'Homeland' returns September 30.
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Twitter index: Andrew Strauss, MTV Video Music Awards, New Orleans
On August 29 Twitter users are buzzing about Andrew Strauss's retirement, the nominees for the MTV Video Music Awards and sharing concerns and news about New Orleans.
English cricketer, and former national team captain, Andrew Strauss announced his retirement from the game with immediate effect on August 29. Strauss was generally beloved by England fans, having scored a total of 474 runs in England's 2009 2-1 Ashes victory and holding the current record for most catches by an outfield player for England.
Also causing a buzz Wednesday are the recently announced nominees for the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards. Rihanna and Drake both have five nominations each, followed by Katy Perry with four. A complete list of this year's nominees can be found at http://goo.gl/CvfjI
Also trending is New Orleans which has been badly hit by Hurricane Isaac, just seven years after Katrina. According to reports, a storm caused by Hurricane Isaac has run over a levee in Plaquemines Parish, South New Orleans and has left many people in New Orleans itself without power.
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 29 at 12:30 PM GMT are:
01. #HappyBirthdayLiam
02. Bizim Icim Saldir Fenerbahce
03. Most Share-Worthy Video
04. Andrew Strauss
05. 2012 MTV Video Music Awards
06. Schiphol
07. Daddy Direction
08. Theo Walcott
09. New Orleans
10. Karim
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English cricketer, and former national team captain, Andrew Strauss announced his retirement from the game with immediate effect on August 29. Strauss was generally beloved by England fans, having scored a total of 474 runs in England's 2009 2-1 Ashes victory and holding the current record for most catches by an outfield player for England.
Also causing a buzz Wednesday are the recently announced nominees for the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards. Rihanna and Drake both have five nominations each, followed by Katy Perry with four. A complete list of this year's nominees can be found at http://goo.gl/CvfjI
Also trending is New Orleans which has been badly hit by Hurricane Isaac, just seven years after Katrina. According to reports, a storm caused by Hurricane Isaac has run over a levee in Plaquemines Parish, South New Orleans and has left many people in New Orleans itself without power.
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 29 at 12:30 PM GMT are:
01. #HappyBirthdayLiam
02. Bizim Icim Saldir Fenerbahce
03. Most Share-Worthy Video
04. Andrew Strauss
05. 2012 MTV Video Music Awards
06. Schiphol
07. Daddy Direction
08. Theo Walcott
09. New Orleans
10. Karim
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Google+ trends: Hurricane Isaac, GSA
Google+ users are sharing news and concerns regarding Hurricane Isaac and buzzing about Google's Student Ambassador Program.
Hurricane Isaac made landfall Tuesday night, battering the coastline about 90 miles (145 km) north of New Orleans which was badly hit by Hurricane Katrina seven years ago. On Wednesday the storm, which has killed a number of people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, moved closer to Port Fourchon, Louisiana leaving many residents without power.
Also causing a buzz Wednesday is Google's Student Ambassador Program (#GSA2012).
The annual program is for College or University students, requires a minimal commitment for the duration of the academic year and offers young people the chance to learn about Google's technological developments, build leadership skills and participate in Google events. More information about Google's Student Ambassador (GSA) Program can be found on Google Docs at: http://goo.gl/dCgXF
The top 5 most talked about topics on Google+ on August 29 at 10:00 AM GMT are:
01. Mitt Romney
02. Chris Christie
03. #GSA2012
04. #HurricaneIsaac
05. Syria
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Hurricane Isaac made landfall Tuesday night, battering the coastline about 90 miles (145 km) north of New Orleans which was badly hit by Hurricane Katrina seven years ago. On Wednesday the storm, which has killed a number of people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, moved closer to Port Fourchon, Louisiana leaving many residents without power.
Also causing a buzz Wednesday is Google's Student Ambassador Program (#GSA2012).
The annual program is for College or University students, requires a minimal commitment for the duration of the academic year and offers young people the chance to learn about Google's technological developments, build leadership skills and participate in Google events. More information about Google's Student Ambassador (GSA) Program can be found on Google Docs at: http://goo.gl/dCgXF
The top 5 most talked about topics on Google+ on August 29 at 10:00 AM GMT are:
01. Mitt Romney
02. Chris Christie
03. #GSA2012
04. #HurricaneIsaac
05. Syria
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Tuesday, August 28, 2012
United Continental says network outage resolved
(Reuters) - United Continental Holdings said it was resuming normal operations on Tuesday after a temporary network outage hampered its website and airport functions.
The airline said in a statement that the outage caused flight delays and cancellations. As a result, United said it was allowing passengers affected by the incident to cancel and rebook flights without penalty.
The airline's website was also back up and operating after the earlier outage.
United bought Continental in a $3.17 billion stock deal in 2010, creating the world's largest air carrier. The merged company has had problems integrating some operations.
In March, United adopted the reservation system of Continental, triggering computer glitches that caused flight delays, faulty kiosks and jammed phone lines.
(Reporting by Karen Jacobs, editing by Gary Crosse)
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The airline said in a statement that the outage caused flight delays and cancellations. As a result, United said it was allowing passengers affected by the incident to cancel and rebook flights without penalty.
The airline's website was also back up and operating after the earlier outage.
United bought Continental in a $3.17 billion stock deal in 2010, creating the world's largest air carrier. The merged company has had problems integrating some operations.
In March, United adopted the reservation system of Continental, triggering computer glitches that caused flight delays, faulty kiosks and jammed phone lines.
(Reporting by Karen Jacobs, editing by Gary Crosse)
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United Continental operations hit by network outage
(Reuters) - United Continental Holdings on Tuesday said a network outage was hampering its website and airport functions.
'We are working to resolve the issue and minimize any impact to our operations,' a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. No other information was immediately available about the outage.
United bought Continental in a $3.17 billion stock deal in 2010, creating the world's largest air carrier. The merged company has struggled to integrate operations smoothly.
The company recorded a charge of $206 million in the second quarter due to costs for systems integration and training, severance packages for voluntary retirements and employee relocation.
(Reporting by Karen Jacobs; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
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'We are working to resolve the issue and minimize any impact to our operations,' a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. No other information was immediately available about the outage.
United bought Continental in a $3.17 billion stock deal in 2010, creating the world's largest air carrier. The merged company has struggled to integrate operations smoothly.
The company recorded a charge of $206 million in the second quarter due to costs for systems integration and training, severance packages for voluntary retirements and employee relocation.
(Reporting by Karen Jacobs; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
This news article is brought to you by MUSIC UNITED 1 - where latest news are our top priority.
Facebook users salute nude Prince Harry
Whatever the royal family may think of his exploits in Las Vegas, many Britons can barely hide their support for Prince Harry, posting naked pictures of themselves online in tribute.
A Facebook group entitled 'Support Prince Harry with a naked salute!' -- featuring people posing in various states of undress saluting the third-in-line to the throne -- has won 13,000 members and is still growing.
The group sprang up after Harry, 27, was photographed naked with a mystery woman during a game of 'strip billiards' in a Las Vegas hotel suite.
The images, first published on a US website last Wednesday, rapidly went viral and caused a furore in Britain.
But supporters have posted a flood of images of themselves saluting while in various states of undress -- often with strategically placed props including Union Jack flags, backpacks and teddy bears.
The Sun newspaper published photographs on Tuesday of what it said were British soldiers serving in Afghanistan, posing naked and saluting Prince Harry.
Harry, an army officer and a trained Apache helicopter pilot, served in Afghanistan for ten weeks himself but was pulled out in February 2008 after a media blackout broke down.
The Sun is the only British newspaper to have published the nude snaps of Harry, in defiance of orders from the royal family to respect the prince's privacy and restrain from printing them.
The online show of support for Harry came as it was announced that he will be the patron of a charity race to the South Pole between three teams of wounded servicemen from around the world.
Harry, who last year joined a group of injured soldiers as they trekked to the North Pole, is supporting the Walking With The Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge 2013.
Troops from Britain, the US and the Commonwealth who suffered physical or cognitive injuries while serving will take part in the four-week expedition next year.
Royal officials said it was 'far too early' to tell whether Harry would join the group for the gruelling trek.
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A Facebook group entitled 'Support Prince Harry with a naked salute!' -- featuring people posing in various states of undress saluting the third-in-line to the throne -- has won 13,000 members and is still growing.
The group sprang up after Harry, 27, was photographed naked with a mystery woman during a game of 'strip billiards' in a Las Vegas hotel suite.
The images, first published on a US website last Wednesday, rapidly went viral and caused a furore in Britain.
But supporters have posted a flood of images of themselves saluting while in various states of undress -- often with strategically placed props including Union Jack flags, backpacks and teddy bears.
The Sun newspaper published photographs on Tuesday of what it said were British soldiers serving in Afghanistan, posing naked and saluting Prince Harry.
Harry, an army officer and a trained Apache helicopter pilot, served in Afghanistan for ten weeks himself but was pulled out in February 2008 after a media blackout broke down.
The Sun is the only British newspaper to have published the nude snaps of Harry, in defiance of orders from the royal family to respect the prince's privacy and restrain from printing them.
The online show of support for Harry came as it was announced that he will be the patron of a charity race to the South Pole between three teams of wounded servicemen from around the world.
Harry, who last year joined a group of injured soldiers as they trekked to the North Pole, is supporting the Walking With The Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge 2013.
Troops from Britain, the US and the Commonwealth who suffered physical or cognitive injuries while serving will take part in the four-week expedition next year.
Royal officials said it was 'far too early' to tell whether Harry would join the group for the gruelling trek.
This article is brought to you by BUY AFFORDABLE COMPUTERS.
Twitter index: things to do before you die, movie quotes, Selena Gomez
Twitter users are talking about things to do before they die, the best movie quotes and Selena Gomez on Tuesday, August 28.
Currently Twitter's most popular trending topic around the world is #10ThingsIMustDoBeforeIDie; microbloggers are taking advantage of the hashtag to share their varied, and not always serious, bucket lists.
Twitter user @tombtw tweets '#10ThingsIMustDoBeforeIDie Buy a parrot. Teach it to say, 'Help! I've been turned into a parrot.' Leave it in a public place and observe'; while @5AM_M3R50N tweets '#10ThingsIMustDoBeforeIDie - Wear a t-shirt that says 'Life,' then stand on street corner handing out lemons.' Others however are taking it a little more seriously, @Kristinamuradov, for example, tweeted 'get married and have kids,' and @AlesanaRyan wrote 'Make my parents proud.'
Tuesday's other popular hashtag '#BestMovieQuotes' see's Twitter users sharing their favorite lines from films, while fans of Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift are showing their love of their idols by trending 'Selena Is Awesome' and 'Taylor Inspires Us' respectively.
Also trending on August 28 is the name of American activist Rachel Corrie, who in 2003 at the age of 23 was killed by an Israeli bulldozer while attempting to intervene in the destruction of a Palestinian home. Rachel's mother fought a long campaign to get justice for her daughter; however, on August 28, Israeli courts ruled that her daughter's death was accidental.
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 28 at 12:30 PM GMT are:
01. #10ThingsIMustDoBeforeIDie
02. #BestMovieQuotes
03. #15ArtisYangPengenGwTemuin
04. Selena Is Awesome
05. Taylor Inspires Us
06. Rachel Corrie
07. SGP
08. NCAE
09. Cataluna
10. FARC
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Currently Twitter's most popular trending topic around the world is #10ThingsIMustDoBeforeIDie; microbloggers are taking advantage of the hashtag to share their varied, and not always serious, bucket lists.
Twitter user @tombtw tweets '#10ThingsIMustDoBeforeIDie Buy a parrot. Teach it to say, 'Help! I've been turned into a parrot.' Leave it in a public place and observe'; while @5AM_M3R50N tweets '#10ThingsIMustDoBeforeIDie - Wear a t-shirt that says 'Life,' then stand on street corner handing out lemons.' Others however are taking it a little more seriously, @Kristinamuradov, for example, tweeted 'get married and have kids,' and @AlesanaRyan wrote 'Make my parents proud.'
Tuesday's other popular hashtag '#BestMovieQuotes' see's Twitter users sharing their favorite lines from films, while fans of Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift are showing their love of their idols by trending 'Selena Is Awesome' and 'Taylor Inspires Us' respectively.
Also trending on August 28 is the name of American activist Rachel Corrie, who in 2003 at the age of 23 was killed by an Israeli bulldozer while attempting to intervene in the destruction of a Palestinian home. Rachel's mother fought a long campaign to get justice for her daughter; however, on August 28, Israeli courts ruled that her daughter's death was accidental.
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 28 at 12:30 PM GMT are:
01. #10ThingsIMustDoBeforeIDie
02. #BestMovieQuotes
03. #15ArtisYangPengenGwTemuin
04. Selena Is Awesome
05. Taylor Inspires Us
06. Rachel Corrie
07. SGP
08. NCAE
09. Cataluna
10. FARC
This article is brought to you by BUY COMPUTERS.
Google+ trends: Roger Federer, Apple boycott
On Tuesday, August 28, Google+ users are buzzing about Roger Federer, who is currently competing in the US Open, and threatening to boycott Apple as the Apple vs. Samsung fallout builds momentum after Apple's legal victory on Friday.
On Friday, Samsung was found guilty by a California jury of patent infringement against Apple and the manufacturer was ordered to pay one billion US dollars in damages. The ruling could have a massive fallout effect not just on Samsung and Apple, who are fighting numerous other patent infringements around the world, but also other smartphone manufacturers who may now feel they have to radically alter their design in order to avoid a legal conflict with Apple.
As a result Google + users are trending '#BoycottApple' out of concern for what the ruling could mean for smartphone design; though it should be noted that Samsung is one of the largest manufacturers making handsets that run on Google's Android OS, which could mean that users of Google's own social network may have a strong Android / Samsung bias.
Also causing a buzz on Google+ Tuesday is tennis player, and world number one, Roger Federer who cruised to victory on the first day of the US Open Monday beating American Donald Young 6-3, 6-2,6-4.
The top 5 most talked about topics on Google+ on August 28 at 9:30 AM GMT are:
01. #AskLiam
02. Roger Federer
03. #BoycottApple
04. Rachel Corrie
05. Syria
This article is brought to you by BUY CHEAP COMPUTERS.
On Friday, Samsung was found guilty by a California jury of patent infringement against Apple and the manufacturer was ordered to pay one billion US dollars in damages. The ruling could have a massive fallout effect not just on Samsung and Apple, who are fighting numerous other patent infringements around the world, but also other smartphone manufacturers who may now feel they have to radically alter their design in order to avoid a legal conflict with Apple.
As a result Google + users are trending '#BoycottApple' out of concern for what the ruling could mean for smartphone design; though it should be noted that Samsung is one of the largest manufacturers making handsets that run on Google's Android OS, which could mean that users of Google's own social network may have a strong Android / Samsung bias.
Also causing a buzz on Google+ Tuesday is tennis player, and world number one, Roger Federer who cruised to victory on the first day of the US Open Monday beating American Donald Young 6-3, 6-2,6-4.
The top 5 most talked about topics on Google+ on August 28 at 9:30 AM GMT are:
01. #AskLiam
02. Roger Federer
03. #BoycottApple
04. Rachel Corrie
05. Syria
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Monday, August 27, 2012
TV Guide app personalizes viewing choices
TORONTO (Reuters) - Television viewers can watch hundreds of shows via broadcast, cable, satellite TV and the Internet, as well as on-demand, but how does one manage all that content? TV Guide, the once venerable magazine, has an app to help.
TV Guide late last week released a free companion app for Apple's iOS devices called TV Guide Mobile. The highlight is its 'Watchlist,' a personalized guide based on user habits that consolidates the many viewing choices available.
Within Watchlist, users select their favorite shows, movies, celebrities and sports teams. The app consolidates content, then displays the various ways of viewing it.
Fans of George Clooney, for example, can see upcoming TV shows or movies starring the actor and being aired by a TV network or other provider. Or, they can watch instantly through direct links to streaming services such as Hulu or iTunes.
'Think of it as a 3D TV Guide for the future in which all your favorites are there in one easy-to-manage interface,' said Christy Tanner, general manager of TV Guide Digital.
Users also can share what they are watching with their friends via social networks. This functionality, previously only available on TV Guide's website, has seen over 900 million user check-ins on the Internet.
In the app, check-ins also are used to create a 'Trending Tonight' list - a social hot list of the most popular TV shows.
Tanner views the user data as a game-changer for networks and ad agencies looking to predict the next big hit.
'We look at this as a potential early indicator of success,' she said. Currently, the top show being added to watch lists is 'Elementary' starring Jonny Lee Miller, airing this fall on CBS.
The app supports nearly every cable and satellite provider in the United States, although the streaming partners content is a bit more narrow and includes ABC, ABC Family, CW, Hulu Plus, HBO GO, MAX GO, Crackle and iTunes. Some popular streaming options - such as Netflix - are not yet supported.
'We have a couple dozen streaming partners in the queue so it's just a matter of time before we add more steaming partners in the app,' Tanner said.
In addition, TV Guide plans to add more smart and social features such as remote record and recommendations.
The app is available in the United States, and select countries abroad in the Caribbean, South America and Europe.
(Reporting by Natasha Baker; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Steve Orlofsky)
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TV Guide late last week released a free companion app for Apple's iOS devices called TV Guide Mobile. The highlight is its 'Watchlist,' a personalized guide based on user habits that consolidates the many viewing choices available.
Within Watchlist, users select their favorite shows, movies, celebrities and sports teams. The app consolidates content, then displays the various ways of viewing it.
Fans of George Clooney, for example, can see upcoming TV shows or movies starring the actor and being aired by a TV network or other provider. Or, they can watch instantly through direct links to streaming services such as Hulu or iTunes.
'Think of it as a 3D TV Guide for the future in which all your favorites are there in one easy-to-manage interface,' said Christy Tanner, general manager of TV Guide Digital.
Users also can share what they are watching with their friends via social networks. This functionality, previously only available on TV Guide's website, has seen over 900 million user check-ins on the Internet.
In the app, check-ins also are used to create a 'Trending Tonight' list - a social hot list of the most popular TV shows.
Tanner views the user data as a game-changer for networks and ad agencies looking to predict the next big hit.
'We look at this as a potential early indicator of success,' she said. Currently, the top show being added to watch lists is 'Elementary' starring Jonny Lee Miller, airing this fall on CBS.
The app supports nearly every cable and satellite provider in the United States, although the streaming partners content is a bit more narrow and includes ABC, ABC Family, CW, Hulu Plus, HBO GO, MAX GO, Crackle and iTunes. Some popular streaming options - such as Netflix - are not yet supported.
'We have a couple dozen streaming partners in the queue so it's just a matter of time before we add more steaming partners in the app,' Tanner said.
In addition, TV Guide plans to add more smart and social features such as remote record and recommendations.
The app is available in the United States, and select countries abroad in the Caribbean, South America and Europe.
(Reporting by Natasha Baker; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Steve Orlofsky)
This article is brought to you by BUY CHEAP COMPUTERS.
SEC reviews 'quiet period' IPO rule after Facebook mess
(Reuters) - The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at whether it should relax rules governing what companies can say ahead of initial public offerings, Chairwoman Mary Schapiro said in a letter obtained by Reuters.
The review comes after Facebook Inc's botched offering, which prompted more than a dozen shareholder lawsuits accusing the social networking company and its underwriters of obscuring its weakened growth forecasts ahead of the listing. Facebook shares have fallen by nearly half from their $38 IPO price.
Some U.S. lawmakers have complained that small investors were kept uninformed in the run-up to the May IPO.
Schapiro has asked her staff to review the 'quiet period' rules that ban remarks about a company's prospects around the time of a share sale, according to a letter she sent last week to Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
'We should review our communications rules and the application of the quiet period in light of the changes in both the way the market functions and the changes in communications technology that have occured since our last major reform in 2005,' Schapiro wrote in her Thursday letter, which was a response to one Issa sent in June.
Issa has pushed for a regulatory overhaul after Facebook's IPO showed 'substantial flaws' in the process. The long-awaited offering in May was hit with a slew of problems, including trading glitches on Nasdaq and allegations that the underwriters' research analysts passed on new earnings estimates to top investor clients.
Issa wrote in a June 19 letter that in the case of Facebook's IPO, 'the informational disadvantage to the less informed public proved harmful.'
Banks involved with the Facebook IPO have said they followed standard procedure during communication with investors and were in compliance with the law.
Schapiro said in the letter that she would not comment on the Facebook share offer, but did say the SEC could review rules that gag company executives ahead of an IPO to prevent hyping of a stock.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.
(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore and Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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The review comes after Facebook Inc's botched offering, which prompted more than a dozen shareholder lawsuits accusing the social networking company and its underwriters of obscuring its weakened growth forecasts ahead of the listing. Facebook shares have fallen by nearly half from their $38 IPO price.
Some U.S. lawmakers have complained that small investors were kept uninformed in the run-up to the May IPO.
Schapiro has asked her staff to review the 'quiet period' rules that ban remarks about a company's prospects around the time of a share sale, according to a letter she sent last week to Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
'We should review our communications rules and the application of the quiet period in light of the changes in both the way the market functions and the changes in communications technology that have occured since our last major reform in 2005,' Schapiro wrote in her Thursday letter, which was a response to one Issa sent in June.
Issa has pushed for a regulatory overhaul after Facebook's IPO showed 'substantial flaws' in the process. The long-awaited offering in May was hit with a slew of problems, including trading glitches on Nasdaq and allegations that the underwriters' research analysts passed on new earnings estimates to top investor clients.
Issa wrote in a June 19 letter that in the case of Facebook's IPO, 'the informational disadvantage to the less informed public proved harmful.'
Banks involved with the Facebook IPO have said they followed standard procedure during communication with investors and were in compliance with the law.
Schapiro said in the letter that she would not comment on the Facebook share offer, but did say the SEC could review rules that gag company executives ahead of an IPO to prevent hyping of a stock.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.
(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore and Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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Twitter index: Essex, Olly Riley
Twitter users in the UK are buzzing about a rumored escaped lion roaming Essex and infamous troll Olly Riley on Monday, August 27.
Police are deploying helicopters and armed officers in St Osyth area of Essex, UK, after members of the public in the area reported what they believed to be a lion roaming the countryside.
While the police appear to be taking the threat seriously, Twitter users are taking the matter a little more lightheartedly and several parody accounts from the lion's point of view have already appeared including @EssexLion and @TheEssexLion. Twitter users are also flooding the site with comedy, photoshopped, or fake pictures of lions such as this from Rebecca Jenkins (@beckyjenkinz) and this from Periwinkle Jones (@peachesandcream).
Also trending Monday is the 'Twitter celebrity' Olly Riley (@_OllyRiley). Riley has over 150,000 followers and is famous, at least in the Twitter world, for simply starting provocative hashtags, tweeting pictures of sexual conquests, being misogynistic and arguing; Vice Magazine describes him as 'the bête noire of Tween twitter.'
Riley has now decided to build on his Twitter fame by launching a T-shirt range of his own design much to the derision of other microbloggers; @DustB0wlDance tweeted 'Anybody that actually buys an 'Olly Riley' T shirt really needs to evaluate their life. Seriously.' @ebonywickstead tweeted, 'I thought Olly riley having a clothing range was the most patheticthing I'd ever heard. Then I heard people brought his clothes, HAHAHAHAHA,' while @p4inKillerz noted 'olly riley's clothing collection burns my eyes.'
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 27 at 1:45 PM GMT are:
01. #bstarzlovers
02. #WaysToIrritateMe
03. #lullabystuffs
04. Kamil Koç'a
05. José Brenton
06. Ruth y José
07. Olly Riley
08. Modric
09. Aziz Yildirim
10. Essex
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Police are deploying helicopters and armed officers in St Osyth area of Essex, UK, after members of the public in the area reported what they believed to be a lion roaming the countryside.
While the police appear to be taking the threat seriously, Twitter users are taking the matter a little more lightheartedly and several parody accounts from the lion's point of view have already appeared including @EssexLion and @TheEssexLion. Twitter users are also flooding the site with comedy, photoshopped, or fake pictures of lions such as this from Rebecca Jenkins (@beckyjenkinz) and this from Periwinkle Jones (@peachesandcream).
Also trending Monday is the 'Twitter celebrity' Olly Riley (@_OllyRiley). Riley has over 150,000 followers and is famous, at least in the Twitter world, for simply starting provocative hashtags, tweeting pictures of sexual conquests, being misogynistic and arguing; Vice Magazine describes him as 'the bête noire of Tween twitter.'
Riley has now decided to build on his Twitter fame by launching a T-shirt range of his own design much to the derision of other microbloggers; @DustB0wlDance tweeted 'Anybody that actually buys an 'Olly Riley' T shirt really needs to evaluate their life. Seriously.' @ebonywickstead tweeted, 'I thought Olly riley having a clothing range was the most patheticthing I'd ever heard. Then I heard people brought his clothes, HAHAHAHAHA,' while @p4inKillerz noted 'olly riley's clothing collection burns my eyes.'
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 27 at 1:45 PM GMT are:
01. #bstarzlovers
02. #WaysToIrritateMe
03. #lullabystuffs
04. Kamil Koç'a
05. José Brenton
06. Ruth y José
07. Olly Riley
08. Modric
09. Aziz Yildirim
10. Essex
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Google+ trends: Roger Federer, Neil Armstrong, Samsung
Google+ users are buzzing about Federer, mourning the passing of Neil Armstrong and debating the most recent Apple vs. Samsung ruling on Monday, August 27.
World tennis number one Roger Federer takes on America's Donald Young later on Monday in the men's singles at the US Open, leading Google+ users to share clips of Federer's past victories and debate what the outcome of the match will be.
Google+ users are also mourning the passing of astronaut Neil Armstrong who made history as the first man to set foot on the moon. To mark the passing of Neil Armstrong, Google + users are sharing video clips of the historic moon walk and interviews given by the astronaut in his later life. Neil Armstrong passed away on August 25 in Cincinnati, Ohio at the age of 82.
Also causing a buzz Monday is the latest Apple vs. Samsung court ruling. The two companies are fighting various patent infringement law suits against each other around the world, however Apple gained the upper hand on Friday when a jury in California ruled that Samsung will have to pay Apple one billion US dollars in damages.
The ruling, while not a crippling financial blow to Samsung, could have a huge effect on other ongoing Samsung / Apple patent infringement cases and potentially alter the future of smartphone design as other manufacturers alter their devices to avoid any future legal conflicts.
The top 5 most talked about topics on Google+ on August 27 at 9:30 AM GMT are:
01. Roger Federer
02. #Samsung
03. Neil Armstrong
04. #BreakingBad
05. Syria
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World tennis number one Roger Federer takes on America's Donald Young later on Monday in the men's singles at the US Open, leading Google+ users to share clips of Federer's past victories and debate what the outcome of the match will be.
Google+ users are also mourning the passing of astronaut Neil Armstrong who made history as the first man to set foot on the moon. To mark the passing of Neil Armstrong, Google + users are sharing video clips of the historic moon walk and interviews given by the astronaut in his later life. Neil Armstrong passed away on August 25 in Cincinnati, Ohio at the age of 82.
Also causing a buzz Monday is the latest Apple vs. Samsung court ruling. The two companies are fighting various patent infringement law suits against each other around the world, however Apple gained the upper hand on Friday when a jury in California ruled that Samsung will have to pay Apple one billion US dollars in damages.
The ruling, while not a crippling financial blow to Samsung, could have a huge effect on other ongoing Samsung / Apple patent infringement cases and potentially alter the future of smartphone design as other manufacturers alter their devices to avoid any future legal conflicts.
The top 5 most talked about topics on Google+ on August 27 at 9:30 AM GMT are:
01. Roger Federer
02. #Samsung
03. Neil Armstrong
04. #BreakingBad
05. Syria
This news article is brought to you by ECONOMY BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
SEC to review "quiet period" IPO rule after Facebook mess - WSJ
(Reuters) - U.S. stock market regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reviewing whether to relax rules governing what companies can say ahead of initial public offerings, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The review comes after Facebook's botched listing, which prompted more than a dozen shareholder lawsuits accusing Facebook and its underwriters of obscuring the company's weakened growth forecasts ahead of the listing. Facebook shares have almost halved from their $38 IPO price.
Some U.S. lawmakers have complained that small investors were kept uninformed in the runup to the May IPO, the Journal said.
The head of SEC Mary Schapiro has asked her staff to review the 'quiet period' rules which ban remarks about a firm's prospects around the time of a share sale, the Journal said, citing a letter Schapiro recently sent to Republican Congressman Darrell Issa.
'We should review our communications rules and the application of the quiet period' in light of changes in technology and the stock market in recent years, Schapiro wrote in her August 23 letter, which was a response to one Issa sent in June, the WSJ reported.
Issa wrote in his June 19 letter that in the case of Facebook's IPO, 'the informational disadvantage to the less informed public proved harmful'.
Schapiro, while declining to comment on the Facebook share offer, responded by saying the agency could review rules that gag company executives ahead of an IPO to prevent hyping of a stock, the paper said.
The SEC could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours.
(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
This news article is brought to you by ANIMALS AND PETS - where latest news are our top priority.
The review comes after Facebook's botched listing, which prompted more than a dozen shareholder lawsuits accusing Facebook and its underwriters of obscuring the company's weakened growth forecasts ahead of the listing. Facebook shares have almost halved from their $38 IPO price.
Some U.S. lawmakers have complained that small investors were kept uninformed in the runup to the May IPO, the Journal said.
The head of SEC Mary Schapiro has asked her staff to review the 'quiet period' rules which ban remarks about a firm's prospects around the time of a share sale, the Journal said, citing a letter Schapiro recently sent to Republican Congressman Darrell Issa.
'We should review our communications rules and the application of the quiet period' in light of changes in technology and the stock market in recent years, Schapiro wrote in her August 23 letter, which was a response to one Issa sent in June, the WSJ reported.
Issa wrote in his June 19 letter that in the case of Facebook's IPO, 'the informational disadvantage to the less informed public proved harmful'.
Schapiro, while declining to comment on the Facebook share offer, responded by saying the agency could review rules that gag company executives ahead of an IPO to prevent hyping of a stock, the paper said.
The SEC could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours.
(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
This news article is brought to you by ANIMALS AND PETS - where latest news are our top priority.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Twitter index: Lance Armstrong, Rupert Grint
Twitter users are sharing the news that seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is to be stripped of his titles and wishing Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint a 'Happy Birthday.'
Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner and founder of the Livestrong Foundation, was stripped of his Tour de France titles on Friday, August 24 by the USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Authority). The move by the USADA came less than 24 hours after Armstrong announced he would stop fighting the various drug charges against him.
The decision by Armstrong to stop fighting the charges brought against him by the USADA is already being perceived by many as an admission of guilt by one of cycling's greatest sportsmen.
In a statement released on August 23, Armstrong stated 'There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now.' The full statement from Lance Armstrong can be read at : http://goo.gl/eJlMi
Twitter users are also wishing Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter series, a happy birthday; the actor turned 24 on Friday and is thought to have a net worth of over $72 million.
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 24 at 1:00 PM GMT are:
01. #ELBalesMention
02. #WhatILearntOnTwitter
03. #TurkeyWantsJBieberAnd1D
04. 27 Million Beliebers
05. Happy Birthday Rupert Grint
06. Jean-Luc Delarue
07. Lange Frans
08. Anders Behring Breivik
09. Lance Armstrong
10. Jan Smit
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Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner and founder of the Livestrong Foundation, was stripped of his Tour de France titles on Friday, August 24 by the USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Authority). The move by the USADA came less than 24 hours after Armstrong announced he would stop fighting the various drug charges against him.
The decision by Armstrong to stop fighting the charges brought against him by the USADA is already being perceived by many as an admission of guilt by one of cycling's greatest sportsmen.
In a statement released on August 23, Armstrong stated 'There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now.' The full statement from Lance Armstrong can be read at : http://goo.gl/eJlMi
Twitter users are also wishing Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter series, a happy birthday; the actor turned 24 on Friday and is thought to have a net worth of over $72 million.
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 24 at 1:00 PM GMT are:
01. #ELBalesMention
02. #WhatILearntOnTwitter
03. #TurkeyWantsJBieberAnd1D
04. 27 Million Beliebers
05. Happy Birthday Rupert Grint
06. Jean-Luc Delarue
07. Lange Frans
08. Anders Behring Breivik
09. Lance Armstrong
10. Jan Smit
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Google+ trends: Lance Armstrong, Katy Perry
Google+ users are reacting in shock to the news Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and reacting to Katy Perry's split with John Mayer on Friday, August 24.
Seven-time Tour de France winner, cancer survivor, founder of the Livestrong Foundation and one-time poster boy for competitive cycling, Lance Armstrong, was stripped of his Tour de France titles by the USADA (US Anti-Doping Authority) and given a lifetime ban from the sport on August 24.
The move by the USADA comes less than a day after Armstrong announced that he would stop fighting a barrage of drug charges brought against him by the USADA. Doping charges have dogged Armstrong throughout his career, however his decision to stop fighting them is almost bound to be perceived as an admission of guilt by the man often regarded as one of history's greatest sportsmen.
In a statement released on Thursday night Armstrong stated 'There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now,' and pointed towards the toll fighting the charges has taken on his personal life.
Google+ users are largely defending Armstrong: user Paul Atkins states 'How the f*ck can the USADA strip their best ever racing cyclist of 7 tour de France wins when they have no jurisdiction over le Tour?', Chris Dowell states 'Lance Armstrong is stripped of his Tour de... France Titles. This is ridiculous!' while Ankharan Aelfana states 'They have no proof. They have someone's says so. Someone that was busted for doping. Not one single positive test except in 1999 for a corticosteroid for which he had a doctor's note. This is absolute BS.' However other users take a different view, such as Mike Hawkes who stated 'Either half a dozen of Lance Armstrong's former crew and teammates are lying about witnessing him doping, or Lance Armstrong is lying about not doping. In a sport in which has a major doping problem. I know who I believe.'
Also causing a buzz on Google+ Friday is the news that American singer, and former wife of British comedian Russell Brand, Katy Perry has split with American blues musician John Mayer.
Other users of the social network are using the hashtags 'FloralFriday' and 'FidoFriday' to share pictures of flowers and dogs with one another.
The top 5 most talked about topics on Google+ on August 24 at 9:30 AM GMT are:
01. #FloralFriday
02. #FidoFriday
03. Katy Perry
04. Lance Armstrong
05. Syria
This article is brought to you by COMPUTERS FOR SALE.
Seven-time Tour de France winner, cancer survivor, founder of the Livestrong Foundation and one-time poster boy for competitive cycling, Lance Armstrong, was stripped of his Tour de France titles by the USADA (US Anti-Doping Authority) and given a lifetime ban from the sport on August 24.
The move by the USADA comes less than a day after Armstrong announced that he would stop fighting a barrage of drug charges brought against him by the USADA. Doping charges have dogged Armstrong throughout his career, however his decision to stop fighting them is almost bound to be perceived as an admission of guilt by the man often regarded as one of history's greatest sportsmen.
In a statement released on Thursday night Armstrong stated 'There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now,' and pointed towards the toll fighting the charges has taken on his personal life.
Google+ users are largely defending Armstrong: user Paul Atkins states 'How the f*ck can the USADA strip their best ever racing cyclist of 7 tour de France wins when they have no jurisdiction over le Tour?', Chris Dowell states 'Lance Armstrong is stripped of his Tour de... France Titles. This is ridiculous!' while Ankharan Aelfana states 'They have no proof. They have someone's says so. Someone that was busted for doping. Not one single positive test except in 1999 for a corticosteroid for which he had a doctor's note. This is absolute BS.' However other users take a different view, such as Mike Hawkes who stated 'Either half a dozen of Lance Armstrong's former crew and teammates are lying about witnessing him doping, or Lance Armstrong is lying about not doping. In a sport in which has a major doping problem. I know who I believe.'
Also causing a buzz on Google+ Friday is the news that American singer, and former wife of British comedian Russell Brand, Katy Perry has split with American blues musician John Mayer.
Other users of the social network are using the hashtags 'FloralFriday' and 'FidoFriday' to share pictures of flowers and dogs with one another.
The top 5 most talked about topics on Google+ on August 24 at 9:30 AM GMT are:
01. #FloralFriday
02. #FidoFriday
03. Katy Perry
04. Lance Armstrong
05. Syria
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Thursday, August 23, 2012
India faces Twitter backlash over Internet clampdown
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian government faced an angry backlash from Twitter users on Thursday after ordering Internet service providers to block about 20 accounts that officials said had spread scare-mongering material that threatened national security.
The backlash came as New Delhi turned up the heat on Twitter, threatening 'appropriate and suitable action' if it failed to remove the accounts as soon as possible. Several Indian newspapers said this could mean a total ban on access to Twitter in India but government officials would not confirm to Reuters that such a drastic step was being considered.
There was no immediate response from Twitter, which does not have an office in India. There are about 16 million Twitter users in the South Asian country.
The government has found itself on the defensive this week over what critics see as a clumsy clampdown on social media websites - including Google, YouTube and Facebook - that has raised questions about freedom of information in the world's largest democracy.
'Dear GOI (Government of India), Keep your Hands Off My Internet. Else face protest' tweeted one user, @Old_Monk60.
India blocked access to more than 300 Web pages after threatening mobile phone text messages and doctored website images fuelled rumors that Muslims, a large minority in the predominantly Hindu country, were planning revenge attacks for violence in the northeastern state of Assam, where 80 people have been killed and 300,000 have been displaced since July.
Fearing for their lives, tens of thousands of migrants fled Mumbai, Bangalore and other cities last week. The exodus highlighted underlying tensions in a country with a history of ethnic and religious violence.
According to documents obtained by Reuters, the government has targeted Indian journalists, Britain's Daily Telegraph, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Al Jazeera television in its clampdown on Internet postings it says could inflame communal tensions.
The directives to Internet service providers listed dozens of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter pages. A random sampling of the YouTube postings revealed genuine news footage spliced together with fear-mongering propaganda.
INDIAN JOURNALISTS TARGETED
The government says Google and Facebook have largely cooperated while Twitter has been much slower to respond.
'Every company, whether it's an entertainment company, or a construction company, or a social media company, has to operate within the laws of the given country,' said Sachin Pilot, minister of state in the Ministry of Communications.
Twitter has been instructed to remove 28 pages containing 'objectionable content', an interior ministry official said.
'If they do not remove the pages, the Indian government will take appropriate and suitable action,' he added.
The government has ordered Internet service providers to block the Twitter accounts of veteran journalist Kanchan Gupta and television anchor Shiv Aroor. Some appeared to have begun complying with the order on Thursday as Twitter users reported difficulties in accessing their pages.
'It is a political decision, because of my criticism of the government,' said Gupta, who was an official in the previous government led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
The government's actions triggered a storm of criticism from Twitter users, with the hashtags #Emergency2012 and #GOIBlocks among the top trending topics on Twitter in India on Thursday. Some compared the situation with the state of emergency imposed by the government in 1975, when some journalists were jailed.
The Centre for Internet and Society, which analyzed the 300 banning orders, found that they contained 'numerous mistakes and inconsistencies'. Some of the banned websites belonged to people trying to debunk the rumors, for example, it said.
'This isn't about political censorship. This is about the government not knowing how to do online regulation properly,' said CIS program manager Pranesh Prakash.
India's parliament last year passed a law that obliges Internet companies to remove a range of objectionable content when requested to do so, a move criticized at the time by rights groups and social media companies.
(Additional reporting by Ross Colvin, Annie Banerji and David Lalmalsawma; Writing by Ross Colvin; Editing by John Chalmers and Andrew Osborn)
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The backlash came as New Delhi turned up the heat on Twitter, threatening 'appropriate and suitable action' if it failed to remove the accounts as soon as possible. Several Indian newspapers said this could mean a total ban on access to Twitter in India but government officials would not confirm to Reuters that such a drastic step was being considered.
There was no immediate response from Twitter, which does not have an office in India. There are about 16 million Twitter users in the South Asian country.
The government has found itself on the defensive this week over what critics see as a clumsy clampdown on social media websites - including Google, YouTube and Facebook - that has raised questions about freedom of information in the world's largest democracy.
'Dear GOI (Government of India), Keep your Hands Off My Internet. Else face protest' tweeted one user, @Old_Monk60.
India blocked access to more than 300 Web pages after threatening mobile phone text messages and doctored website images fuelled rumors that Muslims, a large minority in the predominantly Hindu country, were planning revenge attacks for violence in the northeastern state of Assam, where 80 people have been killed and 300,000 have been displaced since July.
Fearing for their lives, tens of thousands of migrants fled Mumbai, Bangalore and other cities last week. The exodus highlighted underlying tensions in a country with a history of ethnic and religious violence.
According to documents obtained by Reuters, the government has targeted Indian journalists, Britain's Daily Telegraph, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Al Jazeera television in its clampdown on Internet postings it says could inflame communal tensions.
The directives to Internet service providers listed dozens of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter pages. A random sampling of the YouTube postings revealed genuine news footage spliced together with fear-mongering propaganda.
INDIAN JOURNALISTS TARGETED
The government says Google and Facebook have largely cooperated while Twitter has been much slower to respond.
'Every company, whether it's an entertainment company, or a construction company, or a social media company, has to operate within the laws of the given country,' said Sachin Pilot, minister of state in the Ministry of Communications.
Twitter has been instructed to remove 28 pages containing 'objectionable content', an interior ministry official said.
'If they do not remove the pages, the Indian government will take appropriate and suitable action,' he added.
The government has ordered Internet service providers to block the Twitter accounts of veteran journalist Kanchan Gupta and television anchor Shiv Aroor. Some appeared to have begun complying with the order on Thursday as Twitter users reported difficulties in accessing their pages.
'It is a political decision, because of my criticism of the government,' said Gupta, who was an official in the previous government led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
The government's actions triggered a storm of criticism from Twitter users, with the hashtags #Emergency2012 and #GOIBlocks among the top trending topics on Twitter in India on Thursday. Some compared the situation with the state of emergency imposed by the government in 1975, when some journalists were jailed.
The Centre for Internet and Society, which analyzed the 300 banning orders, found that they contained 'numerous mistakes and inconsistencies'. Some of the banned websites belonged to people trying to debunk the rumors, for example, it said.
'This isn't about political censorship. This is about the government not knowing how to do online regulation properly,' said CIS program manager Pranesh Prakash.
India's parliament last year passed a law that obliges Internet companies to remove a range of objectionable content when requested to do so, a move criticized at the time by rights groups and social media companies.
(Additional reporting by Ross Colvin, Annie Banerji and David Lalmalsawma; Writing by Ross Colvin; Editing by John Chalmers and Andrew Osborn)
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Twitter index: Prada, GCSEs, One Direction
On August 23 Twitter users are buzzing about high-end fashion label Prada, who will be designing outfits for the movie adaptation of The Great Gatsby, their exam results and One Direction's new single.
On August 23 it was revealed that Miuccia Prada, the creative genius behind the Prada and Miu Miu labels, has designed costumes for Baz Luhrmann's big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby which is due to hit theaters in 2013. The news has sparked excitement on Twitter amongs fans of the label and those looking forward to the release of the classic jazz age tale of lost love, betrayal and revenge.
Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are driving the trend 'GCSE' in reference to the compulsory exam needed for 16-year-olds to progress to further education, the results of which came out Thursday.
Fans of British-Irish boy band One Direction are also the driving force behind two of the top ten topics -- 'Live While We're Young' and '30th September' in reference to the name of the band's new single and the date on which it will be released. The new single from One Direction, which was announced Thursday, will also be available to pre-order on iTunes from midnight August 24 (local time); a video of the boys announcing their new single can be found at: http://goo.gl/MbqU9
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 23 at 1:00 PM GMT are:
01. #ThingsINeverGetTiredOfSeeing
02. #HBDYesungFromELFINA
03. Live While We're Young
04. #takipleselimozaman
05. 30th of September
06. Finding Nemo 2
07. Prada
08. GCSE
09. Brno
10. Ilkan Karaman
This article is brought to you by COMPUTERS FOR SALE.
On August 23 it was revealed that Miuccia Prada, the creative genius behind the Prada and Miu Miu labels, has designed costumes for Baz Luhrmann's big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby which is due to hit theaters in 2013. The news has sparked excitement on Twitter amongs fans of the label and those looking forward to the release of the classic jazz age tale of lost love, betrayal and revenge.
Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are driving the trend 'GCSE' in reference to the compulsory exam needed for 16-year-olds to progress to further education, the results of which came out Thursday.
Fans of British-Irish boy band One Direction are also the driving force behind two of the top ten topics -- 'Live While We're Young' and '30th September' in reference to the name of the band's new single and the date on which it will be released. The new single from One Direction, which was announced Thursday, will also be available to pre-order on iTunes from midnight August 24 (local time); a video of the boys announcing their new single can be found at: http://goo.gl/MbqU9
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 23 at 1:00 PM GMT are:
01. #ThingsINeverGetTiredOfSeeing
02. #HBDYesungFromELFINA
03. Live While We're Young
04. #takipleselimozaman
05. 30th of September
06. Finding Nemo 2
07. Prada
08. GCSE
09. Brno
10. Ilkan Karaman
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Wednesday, August 22, 2012
YouTube Star launches a blockbuster - without a studio
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - YouTube sensation Freddie Wong is out to prove you can release a summer blockbuster without a major studio.
His new feature-length film, 'Video Game High School,' has been watched more than 40 million times since its release in May.
But Wong didn't debut 'VGHS' in a movie theater, nor on YouTube, where he and partner Brandon Laatstch operate a channel, Freddiew, that has more than 3.2 million subscribers.
The film - chopped up into nine 10- to 20-minute pieces - premiered on RocketJump, an ad-supported site that he and Laastch launched with 'VGHS' showrunner Matthew Arnold to host content outside of YouTube.
The film is about a world where nerds and their videogames have replaced jocks and sports at the top of the social pyramid. Each new part aired for a week on RocketJump, then moved onto Wong's popular YouTube channel.
Though YouTube eventually made up the majority of its views, RocketJump has still accounted for more than 7 million views to date, with traffic increasing as more people discovered that the newer episodes were debuting on the native site.
'Even at the highest level of YouTube, the money you can get will never fund something like 'VGHS,'' Wong told TheWrap. 'We need our own place to exhibit our own content and we need to be able to control that user experience, and have a way to guide viewers through content.'
Wong and his partners conceived RocketJump about the same time they were making 'VGHS.' The goal was to extend their brand and create a better viewing experience for consumers.
While YouTube controls the display and formatting, the Freddiew team and its management company, the Collective Digital Studio, is able to tailor RocketJump to their core audience, mostly gamer fans.
'We can create a more immersive experience on a platform Freddie owns and controls,' Dan Weinstein, head of the Collective's digital enterprise, told TheWrap.
That means adding behind-the-scenes footage, podcasts, written descriptions of the clips, a different commenting system - and, potentially, transmedia experiences.
Still, key to the bottom line are the business implications.
Filmmakers posting videos on YouTube must split the revenue with Google's online video behemoth. That places a lower ceiling on the money that can be made from a video.
'We can potentially leverage brands and sponsors more than on YouTube because we control the entire ecosystem,' Weinstein said. ' was about doing different types of deals that were more immersive and had more flexibility to custom create advertising programs.'
To that end, RocketJump also helps on the merchandising side; the site features a store that sells T-shirts, posters and DVDs.
'It's hard to sell merchandise off YouTube,' Wong told TheWrap. 'When you have a home and create a brand people believe in and want to support, it makes it easier for you to control merchandise and sell it.'
'In the traditional film world, box-office revenue is considered more glamorous than other sales, but if there's one thing we can learn from George Lucas - other than don't remake your shit - it's that toys and merchandise are all equal,' Arnold told TheWrap. 'At the end of the day, a dollar is a dollar.'
Laatsch and Arnold said that making 'VGHS' from YouTube money alone would have been impossible.
Though 'VGHS' production cost about $500,000, much of the funding came from other sources. The Freddiew team launched a Kickstarter campaign, which netted them $273,276.
They also raised money for shoots through sponsors, such as evite.com and Monster, the energy drink company. In return for the organic use of Monster within the series - gamers love their caffeine - Wong could shoot an extended chase scene that otherwise would have been too costly.
Neither they nor the Collective, however, would offer up income figures from the project, because they say the project is still new, and the numbers are still building.
However, they claim it is profitable, and they are already at work on a sequel, which will have a larger budget than the first one. A script is in the works, with production expected to start early next year.
All this seems to bode well for Wong's overall career. Indeed, several mainstream Hollywood producers have praised Wong's work as ready for theaters. And though Wong has previously said he was uninterested in working with film studios or television networks, that attitude seems to be changing.
He now says he would consider it - as long as he doesn't have to give up his intellectual property for the fee of a first-time director.
Meanwhile, expect not just 'VGHS' sequels but other long-form programming to find a home on this new hub.
'Movie studios are stuck with sequels because no one gives a hoot about the brand of Warner Bros.; the only studios that have built a brand are Disney and Pixar,' Wong told TheWrap.
'If we were Pixar, we need our place to exhibit our own content, to control that user experience, to have a way to guide viewers through the content. We can reach the audience directly now and build our own theaters and have our own distribution.'
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His new feature-length film, 'Video Game High School,' has been watched more than 40 million times since its release in May.
But Wong didn't debut 'VGHS' in a movie theater, nor on YouTube, where he and partner Brandon Laatstch operate a channel, Freddiew, that has more than 3.2 million subscribers.
The film - chopped up into nine 10- to 20-minute pieces - premiered on RocketJump, an ad-supported site that he and Laastch launched with 'VGHS' showrunner Matthew Arnold to host content outside of YouTube.
The film is about a world where nerds and their videogames have replaced jocks and sports at the top of the social pyramid. Each new part aired for a week on RocketJump, then moved onto Wong's popular YouTube channel.
Though YouTube eventually made up the majority of its views, RocketJump has still accounted for more than 7 million views to date, with traffic increasing as more people discovered that the newer episodes were debuting on the native site.
'Even at the highest level of YouTube, the money you can get will never fund something like 'VGHS,'' Wong told TheWrap. 'We need our own place to exhibit our own content and we need to be able to control that user experience, and have a way to guide viewers through content.'
Wong and his partners conceived RocketJump about the same time they were making 'VGHS.' The goal was to extend their brand and create a better viewing experience for consumers.
While YouTube controls the display and formatting, the Freddiew team and its management company, the Collective Digital Studio, is able to tailor RocketJump to their core audience, mostly gamer fans.
'We can create a more immersive experience on a platform Freddie owns and controls,' Dan Weinstein, head of the Collective's digital enterprise, told TheWrap.
That means adding behind-the-scenes footage, podcasts, written descriptions of the clips, a different commenting system - and, potentially, transmedia experiences.
Still, key to the bottom line are the business implications.
Filmmakers posting videos on YouTube must split the revenue with Google's online video behemoth. That places a lower ceiling on the money that can be made from a video.
'We can potentially leverage brands and sponsors more than on YouTube because we control the entire ecosystem,' Weinstein said. ' was about doing different types of deals that were more immersive and had more flexibility to custom create advertising programs.'
To that end, RocketJump also helps on the merchandising side; the site features a store that sells T-shirts, posters and DVDs.
'It's hard to sell merchandise off YouTube,' Wong told TheWrap. 'When you have a home and create a brand people believe in and want to support, it makes it easier for you to control merchandise and sell it.'
'In the traditional film world, box-office revenue is considered more glamorous than other sales, but if there's one thing we can learn from George Lucas - other than don't remake your shit - it's that toys and merchandise are all equal,' Arnold told TheWrap. 'At the end of the day, a dollar is a dollar.'
Laatsch and Arnold said that making 'VGHS' from YouTube money alone would have been impossible.
Though 'VGHS' production cost about $500,000, much of the funding came from other sources. The Freddiew team launched a Kickstarter campaign, which netted them $273,276.
They also raised money for shoots through sponsors, such as evite.com and Monster, the energy drink company. In return for the organic use of Monster within the series - gamers love their caffeine - Wong could shoot an extended chase scene that otherwise would have been too costly.
Neither they nor the Collective, however, would offer up income figures from the project, because they say the project is still new, and the numbers are still building.
However, they claim it is profitable, and they are already at work on a sequel, which will have a larger budget than the first one. A script is in the works, with production expected to start early next year.
All this seems to bode well for Wong's overall career. Indeed, several mainstream Hollywood producers have praised Wong's work as ready for theaters. And though Wong has previously said he was uninterested in working with film studios or television networks, that attitude seems to be changing.
He now says he would consider it - as long as he doesn't have to give up his intellectual property for the fee of a first-time director.
Meanwhile, expect not just 'VGHS' sequels but other long-form programming to find a home on this new hub.
'Movie studios are stuck with sequels because no one gives a hoot about the brand of Warner Bros.; the only studios that have built a brand are Disney and Pixar,' Wong told TheWrap.
'If we were Pixar, we need our place to exhibit our own content, to control that user experience, to have a way to guide viewers through the content. We can reach the audience directly now and build our own theaters and have our own distribution.'
This article is brought to you by CHEAP COMPUTERS.
YouTube lets mobile users skip adds
Mobile users watching YouTube videos on their portable devices will soon be able to skip the ads, just like desktop viewers can.
On Wednesday, August 22, YouTube announced that TrueView, the format introduced in 2012 that enables desktop YouTube viewers to skip ads they don't like after five seconds, will be coming to mobile devices.
This announcement is the latest in a series of changes that Google have made to YouTube mobile, including introducing promoted video ads (based on viewers' searches) and in-stream ads (15 second pre-roll ads) last November.
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On Wednesday, August 22, YouTube announced that TrueView, the format introduced in 2012 that enables desktop YouTube viewers to skip ads they don't like after five seconds, will be coming to mobile devices.
This announcement is the latest in a series of changes that Google have made to YouTube mobile, including introducing promoted video ads (based on viewers' searches) and in-stream ads (15 second pre-roll ads) last November.
This article is brought to you by BUY CHEAP COMPUTERS.
Twitter index: Prince Harry nude, Perez Hilton offends 1D
Twitter users are enjoying pictures of Britain's Prince Harry enjoying himself on holiday and taking sides on the ongoing Perez Hilton / One Direction row.
British Royal Prince Harry was once again in the news for less than regal reasons Wednesday after grainy photos emerged of him naked at a Vegas hotel party.
The old adage 'what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' did not hold true for the British prince after celebrity gossip site TMZ obtained photos of the potential king naked playing a game of strip billiards with friends on Friday night.
Also in the world of celebrity, blogger Perez Hilton is causing waves on Twitter after taking to the microblogging site to criticize British-Irish boy band One Direction. The blogger, no stranger to controversy, stirred up the Twitter storm after posting an article about 1D member Zayn Malik deleting his Twitter account -- suggesting that it could spell the end of Malik's time in the band.
Fans of 1D, known for their rabid devotion to the group, were quick to attack Perez and his suggestion that the enormously successful pop group could be about to lose one of its most beloved members. Perez Hilton began blocking One Direction fans on Twitter who then took to his blog to abuse him.
Also trending Wednesday is GCSE, the exams that 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland take if they wish to progress in their education; the results of the exams are set to be released tomorrow.
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 22 at 1:00 PM GMT are:
01. #ThingsISayToMuch
02. #NoteToMyEx
03. #ASongIKnowAllTheLyricsTo
04. Still & Always Kidrauhl
05. Zé Love
06. Ra One
07. Feliz Mlércoles
08. Perez Hilton
09. GCSE
10. Prince Harry
This article is brought to you by CHEAP COMPUTERS.
British Royal Prince Harry was once again in the news for less than regal reasons Wednesday after grainy photos emerged of him naked at a Vegas hotel party.
The old adage 'what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' did not hold true for the British prince after celebrity gossip site TMZ obtained photos of the potential king naked playing a game of strip billiards with friends on Friday night.
Also in the world of celebrity, blogger Perez Hilton is causing waves on Twitter after taking to the microblogging site to criticize British-Irish boy band One Direction. The blogger, no stranger to controversy, stirred up the Twitter storm after posting an article about 1D member Zayn Malik deleting his Twitter account -- suggesting that it could spell the end of Malik's time in the band.
Fans of 1D, known for their rabid devotion to the group, were quick to attack Perez and his suggestion that the enormously successful pop group could be about to lose one of its most beloved members. Perez Hilton began blocking One Direction fans on Twitter who then took to his blog to abuse him.
Also trending Wednesday is GCSE, the exams that 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland take if they wish to progress in their education; the results of the exams are set to be released tomorrow.
The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on August 22 at 1:00 PM GMT are:
01. #ThingsISayToMuch
02. #NoteToMyEx
03. #ASongIKnowAllTheLyricsTo
04. Still & Always Kidrauhl
05. Zé Love
06. Ra One
07. Feliz Mlércoles
08. Perez Hilton
09. GCSE
10. Prince Harry
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Google+ trends: Nikon's Android camera, Avril Lavigne
Google + users are buzzing about Nikon's Coolpix S800c Android camera and Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne on August 22.
Nikon's long-rumored Coolpix S800c Android-based digital camera was officially announced Wednesday. The camera combines digital photograph technology with an Android 2.3 'Gingerbread' operating system. Users of the camera can download photography-based apps from Google's Play Store, while Nikon's MyPictureTown comes pre-loaded, and can be used to upload pictures directly to the cloud.
The Nikon S800c will be available from late September priced at around $350.
Also causing a buzz on Google + Wednesday is Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne who has announced her engagement to Chad Kroeger of Canadian rock band Nickelback. Avril Lavigne was previously married to Deryck Whibley from rock band Sum 41.
The top 5 most talked about topics on Google+ on August 22 at 09:00 AM GMT are:
01. #WildLifeWednesday
02. ITunes
03. Avril Lavigne
04. #STAYSTRONGHAZZA
05. Nikon
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Nikon's long-rumored Coolpix S800c Android-based digital camera was officially announced Wednesday. The camera combines digital photograph technology with an Android 2.3 'Gingerbread' operating system. Users of the camera can download photography-based apps from Google's Play Store, while Nikon's MyPictureTown comes pre-loaded, and can be used to upload pictures directly to the cloud.
The Nikon S800c will be available from late September priced at around $350.
Also causing a buzz on Google + Wednesday is Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne who has announced her engagement to Chad Kroeger of Canadian rock band Nickelback. Avril Lavigne was previously married to Deryck Whibley from rock band Sum 41.
The top 5 most talked about topics on Google+ on August 22 at 09:00 AM GMT are:
01. #WildLifeWednesday
02. ITunes
03. Avril Lavigne
04. #STAYSTRONGHAZZA
05. Nikon
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Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Occupy Wall Street protester seeks to block tweets subpoena
NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Occupy Wall Street protester who took part in a mass protest in New York last year is accusing a judge of overstepping his authority by ordering Twitter to hand over the demonstrator's tweets and account information to prosecutors.
Malcolm Harris, a Brooklyn-based writer, filed a civil proceeding on Monday seeking to block the judge's ruling.
Harris was arrested during a protest on the Brooklyn Bridge last October and charged with disorderly conduct in a case that is one of a handful in which authorities have sought to use social media to prosecute defendants.
Criminal Court Judge Matthew Sciarrino has rebuffed separate attempts by Harris and Twitter to quash a subpoena served on the company by the Manhattan district attorney's office seeking Harris' tweets for September to December.
Harris claims the information sought by prosecutors is akin to surveillance records, because computer logs will show his location when he connected to the site.
'In this case, anyone reviewing the information and material Twitter has been ordered to turn over will know each time - between September 15 and December 30, 2011 - Harris logged into his Twitter account, where he was when he logged in, how long he remained there and both what he did and who he communicated with while he was logged in,' Harris' lawyers wrote in a memorandum accompanying the petition.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office have said in court papers that Harris' tweets could demonstrate he knew police had ordered protesters not to walk onto the bridge roadway.
Harris' lawyer, Martin Stolar of the National Lawyers Guild, and other lawyers for the arrested protesters have said police appeared to lead the march onto the roadway before suddenly arresting hundreds of them.
Sciarrino ruled in April that Harris did not have the standing to challenge the subpoena, since Twitter owned his tweets. In June, he rejected Twitter's argument that turning over the tweets violated Harris' privacy and free speech rights, saying the tweets were publicly posted without any expectation of privacy.
Twitter has filed a separate notice of appeal, though it has not yet submitted its formal brief.
Criminal defendants typically are required to wait until the end of criminal proceedings before filing appeals. But Stolar said Sciarrino's ruling threatened Harris' privacy and required an immediate response.
Harris' filing also seeks an order requiring Sciarrino to recognize his standing to challenge the subpoena on free speech grounds and the Fourth Amendment's protection against warrantless searches.
The Manhattan district attorney's office declined to comment on the filing.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
This news article is brought to you by ADVANCED DATING ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
Malcolm Harris, a Brooklyn-based writer, filed a civil proceeding on Monday seeking to block the judge's ruling.
Harris was arrested during a protest on the Brooklyn Bridge last October and charged with disorderly conduct in a case that is one of a handful in which authorities have sought to use social media to prosecute defendants.
Criminal Court Judge Matthew Sciarrino has rebuffed separate attempts by Harris and Twitter to quash a subpoena served on the company by the Manhattan district attorney's office seeking Harris' tweets for September to December.
Harris claims the information sought by prosecutors is akin to surveillance records, because computer logs will show his location when he connected to the site.
'In this case, anyone reviewing the information and material Twitter has been ordered to turn over will know each time - between September 15 and December 30, 2011 - Harris logged into his Twitter account, where he was when he logged in, how long he remained there and both what he did and who he communicated with while he was logged in,' Harris' lawyers wrote in a memorandum accompanying the petition.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office have said in court papers that Harris' tweets could demonstrate he knew police had ordered protesters not to walk onto the bridge roadway.
Harris' lawyer, Martin Stolar of the National Lawyers Guild, and other lawyers for the arrested protesters have said police appeared to lead the march onto the roadway before suddenly arresting hundreds of them.
Sciarrino ruled in April that Harris did not have the standing to challenge the subpoena, since Twitter owned his tweets. In June, he rejected Twitter's argument that turning over the tweets violated Harris' privacy and free speech rights, saying the tweets were publicly posted without any expectation of privacy.
Twitter has filed a separate notice of appeal, though it has not yet submitted its formal brief.
Criminal defendants typically are required to wait until the end of criminal proceedings before filing appeals. But Stolar said Sciarrino's ruling threatened Harris' privacy and required an immediate response.
Harris' filing also seeks an order requiring Sciarrino to recognize his standing to challenge the subpoena on free speech grounds and the Fourth Amendment's protection against warrantless searches.
The Manhattan district attorney's office declined to comment on the filing.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
This news article is brought to you by ADVANCED DATING ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
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