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The 404 1,239: Where we swear we're not cops (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- In Jeff's words, April Fool's is a day for unfunny people to tell jokes. With that, I'm pretty sure this prank was posted two weeks early.

- The OPMOD/ThinkGeek Battle Mug: an elegant drink receptacle for a more civilized age.

- Boston police go undercover online to stop DIY punk shows.

- Latest Japanese schoolgirl trend: Fake Dragon Ball attacks.

- Walmart may get customers to deliver packages to online buyers.

- Sales of twin-size beds drop as Tweens demand bigger beds...for their tablets.… Read more

Vine branches out with Web embeds

Vine, the 6-second video-clip service from Twitter, is today partially branching out beyond its walled garden with the release of Web embeds, a tool that finally gives people a way to share their own funky vids and others' machinations anywhere they'd like.

Vine is the 2-month-old video application owned by Twitter. The iPhone-only app lets people weave together supersmall clips to make 6-second movies that can be shared and viewed on Twitter.

Friday, Vine added support for Web embeds, which means anyone can now copy and paste a little code to embed the clips on Web pages.

The new … Read more

BlackBerry Z10 gets updated Facebook, Twitter apps

Buyers of the new BlackBerry Z10 phone will find updated versions of both its Facebook and Twitter apps.

As detailed in a BlackBerry blog yesterday, Facebook 10.0.1 offers the following features:

Friends Nearby: You can now find out if your Facebook friends are in the area by seeing if they've checked into a nearby location. Photo Updates: You can now tag any photo that you've uploaded into Facebook and save photos from Facebook onto your BlackBerry phone. Events: You can now view and respond to events and invite your friends to those events. You can also … Read more

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said to launch mobile startup

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone is rumored to be adding a new mobile company to his line of startups, according to AllThingsD.

Apparently the name of the new company is Jelly and it will most likely be a product featured on smartphones and tablets. According to AllThingsD, Stone has already hired a handful of people to work on the Jelly team.

After leaving Twitter, Stone partnered with another Twitter co-founder Evan Williams and former Twitter product chief Jason Goldman to work on an incubator called The Obvious Corporation. Using Obvious funding the trio has launched other startups, including Lift, Branch, and … Read more

Create custom Flipboard magazines

Flipboard is a must-have newsreader and social network hub that lets you organize the info you want to look at, then flip through it like you would a magazine. The latest version of the app for iOS lets you create custom magazines from the sources you like most so you can browse through your favorite topics, share your magazine with others, or find magazines about topics you're interested in created by other users.

Get started by creating an account with Flipboard, then sign in to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. You also have the option to connect with your … Read more

Phil Jackson's first tweet is a work of art

When you join Twitter, the elation of suddenly experiencing free access to self-expression can be Zen-like.

You become at one with it. It becomes at one with you. Until the point where you're not sure which is you and which is it.

I feel sure that such feelings overcame Phil Jackson -- the NBA coaching great -- when he joined Twitter and 55,000 people immediately genuflected in the face of his Zen.

His account, @PhilJackson11, has been verified. It describes him as "coach and author." I have not read one of his books, but I suspect they don't necessarily include the character sequences that appear in his first tweet.

For it reads: "11 champ;ipnsikp[ ringhs."… Read more

iPhone 5 tweeted about more than Galaxy S4 -- at launch

A recent analysis of Twitter activity during the debut of Apple and Samsung's latest smartphones shows a wide difference in how much both products were mentioned.

That study, done by Investing Analytics, showed that the iPhone 5 was mentioned in more than five times the number of tweets than the Galaxy S4 on the day of and the day after their respective unveilings.

"We believe a Twitter analysis of tweets about the iPhone 5 launch compared to the Galaxy S4 launch demonstrates that the iPhone continues to hold more mass appeal with consumers," said Piper Jaffray analyst … Read more

Twitter ad revenue should near $1B next year, researcher says

Twitter's ad revenue is soaring, and a big reason for that is mobile, a market research firm said today.

eMarketer estimates Twitter will earn $582.8 million in global ad revenue this year, $950 million next year, and $1.33 billion in 2015. According to its boosted forecast, more than half of Twitter's ad revenue -- about 53 percent -- will come from mobile advertising this year, up from virtually no ad revenue from mobile in 2011.

And mobile is where Twitter will see the most growth over the next two years, eMarketer said. By 2015, more than … Read more

App tracks the wise who hate their bosses on Twitter

Frustration is an essential element of the human condition.

Nowhere is it more essential than at work, where people can be openly hostile, appallingly manipulative or, if you happen to work in the San Francisco Bay Area, passive-aggressive till your toenails crack.

You don't know who your friends are, so you have to be careful where and to whom you air your frustrations. However, given its essentially public nature, perhaps Twitter is not the best place and Twitterers are not the best ears.

Some people, though, can help themselves no more than when they are confronted with a chocolate … Read more