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Kindle update integrates Facebook, Twitter
Amazon posted info on its site about a new 2.5 software update for Kindle and Kindle DX users that's coming soon. The company says it has begun rolling out the new software update to "a limited group of Kindle users" and plans a broad release in late May. The big news here is that owners of the second-generation Kindle and the Kindle DX will soon be able to share book passages with friends on Twitter and Facebook, and Amazon's also improving its PDF-viewing support with an enhanced pan-and-zoom feature.
Here's the full list of … Read more
The 404 569: Where it's a bad day for the Internet (podcast)
Last week on The 404 Podcast, we talked about the Boy Scouts of America's newest merit badge for Geocaching that teaches young men how to use a GPS Navigation device to locate hidden containers across the world. Today, the Scouts have added a new tech-related achievement--a merit badge for playing video games.
To earn the patch, the Boy Scouts will have to explain why a rating system for games are important, create a schedule with an adult to play games after chores and homework are done, and to only play games approved by a parent, guardian, or teacher.
Geocaching? Video games? Were the Boy Scouts always such tech nerds? Don't they belong to the outdoorsy subcategory of dorks? In fact, the three of us specifically chose not to join the Boy Scouts (unless you count Webelo Yu) as children, favoring LAN parties and D&D tournaments instead. So here's our idea: how about rewards for learning computer skills that actually have a purpose, maybe for building a Web site or learning how to use Adobe Photoshop? As it stands, look out for a lot more overweight, lazy Scouts rolling to a crosswalk near you.
404 listeners with a fear of flying will either be terrified or relieved by the FAA asking all airlines to ensure the concentration of their pilots in flight, which includes restricting pilots' use of personal electronics like laptops and handheld gaming devices.
We're alarmed that this is even a problem, but the FAA cited a case in Minnesota where a plane flew 150 miles off course because the pilots were too distracted by their laptops to pay attention to the navigation controls. So the next time you walk by the cockpit and see the pilots playing Microsoft Flight Simulator X, send them this link but maybe tell them to read it later.
When Iranican cleric Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted last week blaming earthquakes on "women who do not dress modestly," American student Jen McCreight took it upon herself to create the Boobquake Facebook Group with hopes that all members would join her on April 26 in showing tons of cleavage to disprove their supernatural powers.
Well, in an ironic twist of fate, Taiwan suffered a 6.5 magnitude earthquake on April 26, validating Sedighi's cause-effect hypothesis to some. In reality, dozens of quakes occur dozens of times a day on Earth, and the Boobquake creators consider the day a success since the goal was to see if such phenomena increased in number or severity.
Either way, the guys at The 404 fully support your cause, Jen McCreight. Please let us know if you need shopping tips or wardrobe styling- we're happy to help!
EPISODE 569 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more@Garyvee: High-energy social-media maven
Editor's note: This is the first installment of "45 minutes on IM," a new interview series that I will be doing, hopefully weekly. Instant message is hardly the newest or hottest communication medium, but it is a very effective way to have a conversation. Because the medium is kind of contemporaneous, I've decided to maintain a bit of the on-the-fly flavor of the discussion, including the occasional "all-caps" response. But we'll skip the smileys. Please enjoy these interviews, and if you have suggestions or feedback, please let me know.
If you've been … Read more
Likebutton.me shows Facebook's new 'like' button is not completely evil
I'm working on a story about understanding and managing Facebook's new privacy options. I'm trying to find the silver lining in the story from the consumer's perspective, so I can present reasonable options other than "just turn it all off!"
Here is one positive thing to emerge: Likebutton.me. It's an aggregation site that reminds me of PopUrls, but instead of just taking headlines from a bunch of sites, it takes the items your Facebook friends "like" and shows them to you on the top of the story lists, followed by … Read more
Buzz Out Loud 1214: Floppy disks and boobquakes (podcast)
Natali Del Conte joins us in the studio to discuss really important issues such as boobquake day, cartoons, and violent video games. Oh, come on, we also discuss Google's failed attempts to reinvent the mobile phone sales paradigm, unfounded causal links between violent video games and sociopathic behavior, and the dangers of colonization. Good show, guys.
Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1214Google Nexus One Gone From Verizon Lineup http://jkontherun.com/2010/04/26/no-nexus-one-on-verizo/ http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-04-26/verizon-says-it-has-no-current-plans-to-distribute-google-nexus-one-phone.html http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-20003397-251.html… Read more
Senator calls on FTC to tackle social-net privacy
Sen. Charles Schumer of New York has come out swinging against new announcements by Facebook that modify how much member data is shared with third-party companies, suggesting that the Federal Trade Commission needs to promptly address the issue of social-network privacy.
A press release from Schumer's office announced that he has written to the FTC to ask that the agency "examine the privacy disclosures of social-networking sites to ensure they are not misleading or fail to fully disclose the extent to which they share information...(and) provide guidelines for use of private information and prohibit access without user … Read more
Compromise between Facebook, U.K. police agency?
LONDON--Thanks to the volcanic ash pouring out of Iceland, I had some extra time in London last week, giving me an opportunity to try my hand at shuttle diplomacy between Facebook and a British police agency called the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center, or CEOP.
I came to London en route to a tech conference in Spain that was canceled due to the air travel issues and also to give a talk at a Family Online Safety Institute conference in Bahrain that starts Tuesday.
As I wrote recently, CEOP is pressuring Facebook to add a reporting button (some call … Read more
What Facebook might learn from Gawker
As acolytes sat in nodding wonderment listening to Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg tell them how the world really is (not very private at all) and how it's going to be (even less private), the people behind Gawker Media were enduring (or perhaps even enjoying) sometimes nasty critiques. They had, after all, revealed something terribly private about one of the world's great personalities, the iPhone.
Many lawyers have opined on the legality of Gawker's actions. I am sure that they are all right. Lawyers always are. At least that's what they tell me. I just wish some … Read more
How Facebook is putting its users last
It's almost become a joke: Facebook makes a change to its privacy settings that opts you in to a bunch of scary stuff, the entire Internet flips out about it, it rolls back the change, and then a few months or years later, it makes the same or a very similar update, opting you in to it again. It would be funny, if it weren't getting so damned insulting.
Here's the latest. In the wake of its F8 conference the other day, Facebook rolled out a slew of changes aimed at transforming the Web into one giant … Read more
