network

Holy tweet! The pope comes to Twitter with @pontifex

Pope Benedict XVI will make his way to Twitter on December 12, the Vatican announced today.

The pope will start tweeting on December 12 under the username, "@pontifex," the Vatican has confirmed. Speaking to Reuters in an interview posted today, Greg Burke, senior media advisor to the Vatican, said that the name means "pope," as well as "bridge builder."

When the Pope takes over his account next week, it won't be the very, very first time he'll have shared his thoughts in 140 characters. Last year, when the Vatican portal launched, the … Read more

The crazy truth: Google+ can thrive alongside Facebook

It's easy to call Facebook the social network of the past. It's harder to build the social network of the future.

To hear Bradley Horowitz tell it, though, Google is well on its way. Google+, he says, lets people share with others in a more natural way than its competitors. Easy privacy controls, an environment free from obtrusive advertising, and highly polished mobile apps combine on Google+ to deliver a next-generation social network, as Horowitz tells it.

"It's not attempting to chase the social networks of the past," he said this week at a Business Insider conference in New York, … Read more

Firefox and Facebook Messenger can now be BFFs

Firefox and Facebook Messenger now can be besties, if you want them to.

Firefox 17 debuted yesterday ( download for Windows | Mac | Linux) with a new social API that lets social-networking services hook deeply into the browser.

With Facebook, that means that your Messenger sidebar -- the status updates and friends online -- will be persistent across any site you visit. It's easy to set up and if you know how to use Facebook, you practically know how to use the sidebar, too.

First, make sure you're running at least Firefox 17, log in to Facebook, then go to … Read more

FCC chair backs Dish Network as wireless carrier, but with a catch

The FCC's chairman has given his thumbs-up to Dish Network's desire to enter the wireless market. But Dish is none too happy with the restrictions proposed.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said yesterday he would approve Dish's request to build its own 4G wireless network, the Washington Post reported. The federal agency, which opposed the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile last year, wants to see more competition in the wireless industry.

"If approved, these actions will promote competition, investment, and innovation, and advance commission efforts to unleash spectrum for mobile broadband to help meet … Read more

Indian police arrest student for a political Facebook post

Shaheen Dhada wasn't sure what to expect when police called her house Sunday night. The 21-year-old medical student who lives in Mumbai, India, had just posted a political statement on Facebook and her friend Renu Srinivasan "liked" the post.

Within hours, the two young women were arrested and charged with using speech that was offensive and hateful, according to the New York Times.

Now, just days later, Dhada and Srinivasan have come to symbolize India's intolerance of free speech. Tens of thousands of people have taken to social networks criticizing the government's arrests of the … Read more

Like? New Firefox adds Facebook integration

Facebook has accepted a friend request from Firefox and Mozilla's new Social API today, as the browser updates with several security and feature updates after yesterday's Firefox for Android update.

The biggest feature debut in Firefox 17 (download for Windows | Mac | Linux) is the Social API, launching with Facebook Messenger, which allows participating social-networking sites to create persistent sidebar access to their site. Although most new browser technologies depend on entirely on how many developers integrate it, the Social API likely will be different.

To activate it, go to the Facebook Messenger for Firefox site and click "… Read more

No. 1 factor in selecting wireless service? Network coverage

You can buy the coolest and most advanced smartphone out there. But if you can't get a wireless signal, it's not worth much to you.

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I offer some advice to a reader about picking a wireless service provider based on which one offers the best coverage. I also explain to another reader why, even though the Verizon iPhone 5 is unlocked, it won't work on any other 4G LTE networks.

Coverage, coverage, coverage

Dear Maggie, I've loved my iPhone ever since I got it in June last year, and absolutely … Read more

YouTube makes it easier to link to Google+

YouTube began gently prodding all users operating under nicknames like cutepuppies99 and origamiboys1981 to start using their real names last July. It did this by urging them to hook their Google Plus profiles up with their YouTube channel and therefore, by default, they'd have to use their real names.

Now, the video service is letting users keep their anonymous name but is still giving them the option of linking to their Google+ page. It's even giving people the option of changing their Google+ name to match their YouTube channel identity.

"While using a full name from a … Read more

Cisco nabs cloud-networking start-up Meraki for $1.2 billion

The three colleagues who created the cloud-networking and Wi-Fi startup Meraki at MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science six years ago were not expecting to be acquired by Cisco Systems. But the tech giant announced today its intent to buy the startup saying it plans to throw down $1.2 billion in cash, along with retention-based incentives.

"The acquisition of Meraki enables Cisco to make simple, secure, cloud managed networks available to our global customer base of mid-sized businesses and enterprises," Cisco's Enterprise Networking Group senior vice president Rob Soderbery said in a statement. "Meraki's … Read more