Facebook and Others Aim to Make the Mobile Web a Competitive App Platform

A coalition of 30 technology companies hopes to turn the web into a competitive platform for building mobile applications. They have launched a Core Mobile Web Platform (coremob) community group through the W3C to provide a venue for collaborating on next-generation mobile web standards.

Facebook and Mozilla are among the leading members of the group. In an announcement today, Facebook discussed its motivations for participating. The social networking company says users who access Facebook through the mobile website outnumber the collective audience of all Facebook’s native mobile applications.

Facebook consequently wants to ensure its mobile website matches the quality of the experience users get from the native applications. In order to make that possible, open web standards will have to evolve to offer tighter device integration.

Mozilla has been pursuing that goal with its WebAPI project. That has introduced new JavaScript APIs allowing web content to access underlying hardware components and platform functionality, such as the cameras and cellular radio. As we recently reported, Mozilla is using those new APIs in the Open Web Devices (OWD) platform, a mobile operating system that is based on the organization’s Boot2Gecko project.

Mozilla is also working through W3C to turn the APIs into open standards so they can be supported by other browser vendors. The coremob community group will provide a means for mobile web stakeholders to discuss their technical requirements and help shape the emerging standards.

Facebook also announced the release of Ringmark, a test suite for evaluating the capabilities of mobile web browsers. The tests will help developers make informed decisions about what features they can safely use in various mobile web environments. Facebook hopes such information will help developers contend with the highly fragmented mobile web browser landscape.

The Core Mobile Web Platform community group has announced Ringmark, a test suite for evaluating the capabilities of mobile Web browsers.

The tests consist of two separate “rings” which represent sets of standard web features. The inner ring focuses on fundamentals like support for HTML video, native JSON parsing, CSS animation, and the Canvas element. The second ring includes a broader feature set, such as fullscreen support, touch events, and the device orientation APIs. I ran the test suite on an iPhone 4S, which passed all of the tests in the first ring and 229 of the 306 tests in the second ring.

In addition to Mozilla and Facebook, the coremob community group also includes major mobile network operators, hardware manufacturers, mobile platform vendors, and other web companies. The lineup includes ATT, Verizon, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, Intel, Microsoft, Opera, Adobe, Netflix, Zynga, Sencha, among others. Conspicuously absent from the list: Apple and Google.

This article originally appeared on Ars Technica, Wired’s sister site for in-depth technology news.

Article source: http://www.webmonkey.com/2012/02/facebook-and-others-aim-to-make-the-mobile-web-a-competitive-app-platform/

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Facebook Revamps Pages For Businesses

Facebook on Wednesday updated Pages, its online offering for businesses and organizations, to make them more consistent with individual profiles and to help companies connect more effectively with customers.

The company introduced the improvements in conjunction with fMC, a Facebook event for marketers that’s being held in New York.

Addressing conference attendees, COO Sheryl Sandberg provided the obligatory evangelism of social sharing. “What it means to be social is that if you want to talk to me, you have to listen to me as well,” she said, suggesting that businesses must interact online with their customers.

The rules have changed and one-way communication doesn’t work anymore, Sandberg insisted. “Social media is starting to transform companies,” she said, citing gaming companies like Zynga as the most compelling example.

[ Facebook's Timeline has made it to Pages. Read Timeline For Facebook Pages Takes Getting Used To. ]

Mike Hoefflinger, director of global business marketing at Facebook, attempted to translate Sandberg’s celebration of social networking into meaningful advice for businesses.

“We are evolving from ad to stories,” he said. “Ads come from anyone at anytime. Stories come from people and things that you’re connected to.”

In other words, marketers no longer advertise on Facebook. They tell stories, and Facebook helps distribute those ads…er, stories to Facebook users. Starting today, Hoefflinger said, Sponsored Stories, along with Premium ads, will be eligible for distribution in the Facebook newsfeed, which generates over 1 billion impressions per day.

“This is the place where marketing on Facebook is going to feel like the rest of Facebook,” he said.

Ads that feel like non-commercial commentary? In many corners of traditional print media, this is frowned upon. There is an effort to distinguish between advertising and editorial, for the sake of reader trust. Facebook sees no distinction. Everything is “a story.” Every advertiser is “a friend.”

Hoefflinger insists that stories work, noting that stories inserted into the newsfeeds of Facebook users perform five to ten times better than Facebook ads in other contexts.

For businesses and organizations, telling stories begins with Pages.

“Pages is mission control for your business on Facebook,” said Hoefflinger, “the place for your identity and the launchpad for your stories. …What we’re introducing today is the richest, most customizable marketing canvas we’ve ever built.”

Pages features six noteworthy improvements:

Cover Photo
Businesses and organizations can now place a large image at the top of their Pages.

Friend Activity
Visitors to Pages may now see recent posts from friends highlighted as friend activity and a list of friends connected to a Page.

Larger Stories, Milestones, and Page Timeline
Thanks to a new layout, Page publishers can show larger ads, or in Facebook parlance, tell stories with larger images and with milestone designations that include a date and related content.

Pinned Posts
Organizations can now keep posts at the top of their Page for up to seven days.

Admin Panel
A new control panel for Page adminstrators provides data about Page metrics and tools for responding to private messages.

Activity Log
Page admins now have a Page activity log to help with post management and tracking.

Empowered by Pages, all that remains for businesses and organizations is to make the one-to-one model of friendship work at scale. All you need is a good story, Facebook suggests. At least, that’s Facebook’s story and it’s sticking to it.

Attend this Enterprise 2.0 webcast, Rebalancing The IT-User Relationship: The Business Value In Consumerization, and learn how the consumerization of IT will ultimately help organizations drive innovation and productivity, retain customers, and create a business advantage. It happens March 7. (Free registration required.)

In this all-day Information Technology virtual event, The Future of Multi-Channel Distribution, top business technologists, experts, and solution providers will discuss strategies, essential technologies and evolving regulator/legal issues around the next generation of multi-channel distribution best practices. When you register, you will gain access to live webcast presentations and virtual booths packed with free resources. It happens March 1. (Free registration required.)

Article source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/productivity_apps/232601773

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Facebook Launches New Ad Offerings

BY SHAYNDI RAICE

Facebook Inc. is adding new ways for advertisers to reach more people on its site, as the social network tries to beef up its ad revenue prospects ahead of an initial public offering this spring.

Facebook executives announced that it will offer marketers the ability to have their messages and posts promoted by the social network on a variety of different platforms.

Previously marketers could pay to have advertisements reposted on the side of the home screen or in the news feed. Now, they can pay once based on the number of fans they have to get their branded messages …

Article source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203986604577253553148057484.html

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NASCAR won’t penalize Keselowski for using Twitter during Daytona 500

Jay Busbee

Jay Busbee is a NASCAR and Golf blogger for Yahoo! Sports.

Article source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/nascar-won-t-penalize-keselowski-phone-191631932.html

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Miley Cyrus Twitter threats: Actress receives string of chilling ‘death tweets’

By
Laura Schreffler

Last updated at 7:21 PM on 29th February 2012

Miley Cyrus has never been one to sit quietly – she takes action.

True to form, the 19-year-old starlet has called out Twitter honchos after receiving a series of threatening messages on the social networking site.

She furiously demanded that they enforce special security measures after several haters urged her ‘to die’ and attacked her clothing choices.

It’s time to take action! Miley Cyrus urged Twitter chiefs to implement new safety settings after receiving a series of threatening messages

The Hannah Montana star Tweeted
Sunday night in response to a now-erased post from @TheCyrusSlut: ‘I’m
surrounded by love I’m sorry 4 whatever happened 2 make u so bitter.

She added to a different follower: ”I won’t tolerate someone telling me 2 die.’

She then wrote: ‘I think Twitter needs to take some responsibility and make it a safe environment.’

Time to take responsibility: The 19-year-old urges Twitter chiefs to protect their users

Love, don’t hate! The Hannah Montana star says she’s surrounded by love

Though she was incensed by her online attack, the actress didn’t let it ruin her night.

Miley and boyfriend Liam Hemsworth had a blast at Elton John’s Oscar party before heading over to Vanity Fair’s exclusive bash.

She wore a sophisticated, floor-length silver fishtail Roberto Cavalli gown to both fetes.

A lovely evening regardless: The Twitter attack didn’t ruin Miley’s night: she and boyfriend Liam Hemsworth still had a great Oscar evening Sunday

Her Twitter haters didn’t stop her from accessing the site again during the evening to send a shout out to Sir Elton himself.

She wrote: ‘Thank you Sir Elton John for such a lovely night! Now to Vanity Fair.

‘I love all the glitz glam of the oscars celebrating such talent!’

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Some stupid people out there do it for the shock value and just because they can – it really beggars belief. But good for Miley for reporting it, and too to Stan Collymore to report all the racist abuse he gets (a lot recently from LFC fans). When these morons start getting charged with a criminal offence then maybe people will be more circumspect. But then again, there will always be another brainless moron to take their place

- Tab, UK, 29/2/2012 09:54

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Unfortunately, people don’t realise that these social media sites are the modern-day equivalent of standing on a soap box in Speakers’ Corner – and you can’t really be surprised when all sorts stop, have a listen, and heckle back.

- Carolyn, Buxton, 29/2/2012 08:54

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Why should she have to get off Twitter? Its the idiots who write these horrible things that should get off Twitter! And Twitter do need to monitor this more. Ps Miley and Liam love just gorgeous!

- mrsteece, notsogreatbritain, 29/2/2012 08:27

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As her dad got a mullet?

- noodles, Australia / Essex, 29/2/2012 08:12

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That’s why I never liked Twitter – such a creepy place in cyberspace (and so is Facebook). I wonder why some people still use these sites… haven’t they got bored yet?

- Victoria, Paris, France, 29/2/2012 07:27

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Twitter really is very silly, why do people have to publicise everything they do? Don’t they have friends to TALK to?

- Tamar, Bournemouth Dorset, 29/2/2012 06:48

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since stardom began celebrities received death threats and hate mail. albeit it arrived in the post. there are always nutjobs out there… however, normally it is screened by their management so they never get exposed to it unless perceived as an actual real threat…
she is exposing herself to this on twitter to receive this directly to her twitter account with no buffer… there are billions of people out there, the odds are you are going to get the odd weirdo sending hate mail.. its part and parcel of being such a huge star that you have made multi millions… this is the real world and its a tough one… if thats all she has to deal with in exchange for what she has in the bank im surprised she even batted an eyelid.

- crazyworld, cape town, 29/2/2012 06:12

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She looked amazing

- me, Maidstone uk, 29/2/2012 04:07

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Ms. Cyrus is asking for Internet censorship, pure and simple. Just because it’s a pretty, young superstar attempting to censor my main imput of information instead of a suit wearing businessman, does not make it any easier to swallow. Perhaps this naive youngster should focus on the value of freedom, not wallow in the self pity that someone would insult her.

- Belle, Denver, 29/2/2012 03:34

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Whatever… someone give her a couple of tissues and she’ll be alright. I doubt Ms. Cyrus knows what real bullying actually is, let alone real death threats! Even if she has, she can always wipe her tears with her millions of dollar bills. Oh and Miley, if your life is as great as you say… why are you wasting your time on the “haters”? These celebrities are so foolish that they tweet everything they do and everywhere they go and still expect people to “respect their privacy” (not only referring to Miley).

- Karl Vyn, US, 29/2/2012 02:37

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The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2107837/Miley-Cyrus-Twitter-threats-Actress-receives-string-chilling-death-tweets.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

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Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez not only stars whose body parts have Twitter …

• 

You know you’ve made it when your nipple or upper thigh gets its own Twitter account. 

After Jennifer Lopez’s and Angelina Jolie’s respective body parts made their stunning debuts on Sunday night’s Oscars (one on purpose, one not so much), they have made their presence known on the Internet in quite the creepy way.

Mere minutes after Jennifer Lopez has a slight wardrobe malfunction (which she denies) at Sunday night’s Academy Awards someone created a Twitter account called @JLosNipple, with the inaugural Tweet: “Did you see me?”

By Wednesday morning @JLosNipple had more than 5,000 followers.

During the awards shows, @JLosNipple was busy communicating with another new Twitter account @AngiesRightLeg, which popped up moments after Angelina Jolie walked the Oscar red carpet with her entire right leg exposed through the slit of her Atelier Versace dress.

“Just to clear the areola, me and @Angiesrightleg have no beef,” @JLosNipple tweeted to @AngiesRightLeg.

The Twitter dedicated to Ms. Jolie’s limb had more than 39,000 followers at last count and it was getting saucy, even attacking the real life Jolie’s tabloid foe Jennifer Aniston.

Welcome to Twitter infamy ladies. You’re in good company.

Shortly after the royal wedding Twitter handles were created for the princess’ royal sister Pippa’s fantastic backside. There was @Pippasbackside and @pippasass, the latter of which gained more than 3,000 followers. It also spawned its own tribute website.

Kim Kardashian’s ample asset has long had its own Twitter handles. @KimsAss has more than 7,000 Twitter followers and tweets about its troubles getting into an itty bitty bikini bottom and the perils of Kardashian eating too many carbs. 

If you think 7,000 followers is on the feeble side, think about this: There have only been five tweets from the account.

Rihanna’s legs have their own Twitter too (@Rihannaslegs) and in a disturbing turn, so do RB singer Keri Hilson’s feet (@KeriHilson_feet).

Lady body parts seem to do much better than their male counterparts. A Twitter devoted to Bradley Cooper’s mustache, @CoopersMustache only has 449 followers. The Twitter handle @Jay_Lenos_Chin, whose tagline is “Looking for other celebrity body parts to interview” has only 29 followers.

For a brief period prior to his run for the Republican presidential nomination Texas governor Rick Perry’s hair got its own Twitter account at the handle @govPerryshair which provided a daily update on the politician’s perfectly groomed coif as well as comparisons to other political follicles. Still the Texan governor’s hair never reached 1,000 followers.

And despite the intense fervor over teen pop star Justin Bieber on the Internet, particularly on Twitter (there are more than 5,000 fan handles for Bieber on the site), Bieber’s famous hairstyle @Bieber_hair has less than 1,000 followers.

The male celebrity body part with the most Twitter followers just might be 50 Cent’s teeth (@50CentsTeeth) with 3,920 followers.

On twitter’s bloggy cousing Tumblr, however, no celebrity body part is as popular as Ryan Gosling’s abs. There are more than thirty Tumblr accounts dedicated to the “Crazy, Stupid, Love” star’s perfectly cut abdomen, among them “Feminist Ryan Gosling” which pair typically topless pictures of the actor with feminist theory flashcards and “Biostatistics Ryan Gosling” which does the same with esoteric stat language.

Of course, who wouldn’t be interested in Chebvychev’s inequality when it comes attached to Gosling’s pecs.

Related Stories
‘Idol’ Recap: JLo denies her nipple was exposed, Steven Tyler exposes his
Angelina Jolie and Billy Crystal’s awkward appearances talk of the Oscars

Related Slideshow

When clothes don’t cooperate

Sometimes stars are caught with their pants down. Literally.

 

Article source: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/02/29/angelina-jolie-and-jennifer-lopez-not-only-stars-whose-body-parts-have-twitter/

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Dealing with the morning-after syndrome at Facebook

After the IPO buzz wears off, the new kid on Wall Street will face an old problem: how to adjust to a post-public world.

By Jack and Suzy Welch, contributors

Better stock up on the Alka Seltzer, kid

FORTUNE — Any day now there’s going to be one helluva party at Facebook. And why not? Companies don’t go public for a gazillion dollars very often.

So party on, Facebook. Just beware the day after. Actually, beware the year after and the year after that.

Because once Facebook has its massive new liquidity infusion, the company stands to get nailed by something that can hurt a lot more and last a lot longer than a hangover — a changed culture. The reason: It’s just plain hard to generate wide-scale paranoia, passion, and humility — the defining values of an energized enterprise — when everyone’s feeling fat and happy.

And after the party, Facebook is going to be feeling pretty darn fat and happy, especially the people who have been around the longest and control the most action — its senior managers.

Oh, come on, you’re thinking now, Facebook’s managers aren’t stupid. They’re not going to let the IPO wreak havoc with their winning culture. And we agree — with the first part. Sure, many Facebook managers are top-notch. Look what they’ve done so far.

Facebook’s nouveaux riches

But a new world order is about to dawn in Palo Alto, one where Wall Street will soon start demanding to know how Facebook plans to spend the company’s newly created equity. Will it own the social media space by buying Twitter? Will it expand its global reach by rapid acquisition? Such questions are important, of course, and Facebook’s managers will focus on them. Indeed, they must — the only caveat being that strategy making often tends to distract leaders from culture building.

And then there’s another dynamic sure to take hold. After its IPO, Facebook is going to have two classes of citizens. That’s just reality. Some of its 3,000 or so employees — several hundred in number by some counts — will have significant riches in the hand. Newer hires, though, will mostly have options in the bush.

Not good.

Unless, that is, someone makes sure that Facebook’s haves care desperately about the fate of its have-nots, who will do well only if the whole company continues to thrive. “Someone” meaning Facebook’s top-notch managers.

How can they do that? Well, it actually starts with a kind of campaign stumping on their part, complete with vivid imagery about how great Facebook is going to become in the years ahead — if, and only if, every last employee recommits to the company’s mission.

But words are only the half of it. Performance reviews are the other.

Yes, yes, we’ve heard people claim performance reviews are not a Silicon Valley thing. But we would argue that the facts of organizational behavior are universal. If Facebook wants urgency, speed, and intensity around its mission, those values must be evaluated, and when demonstrated, they must result in bonus money and upward mobility — or not.

Not to get mired in the details of Facebook’s HR process. The bigger point we’re trying to make is that good cultures don’t happen by accident.

Like any company with its coffers full and its managers feeling a bit impervious, Facebook — without a top-down commitment to values — runs the risk of letting its guard down and inadvertently creating an organizational mess. Mission and values — and the culture they create — really do matter.

In a few short years, Facebook’s winning culture has brought it a long way. And if Facebook continues to get that right after its IPO, it will really have something to party about.

This article is from the March 19, 2012 issue of Fortune.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/QGPvd_JCPH8/

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Defence investigating sexist Facebook page

THE Australian Defence Force is investigating claims that serving members have posted racist and sexist material on a closed Facebook page.

It’s been revealed by ABC TV that more than 1000 former and serving Royal Australian Regiment soldiers belong to the group, which contains material including images that state “This is a rag head free zone” and “All women are filthy lying whores”.

There are also comments such as: “What do u do if u see a muslim limping across your yard? Reload.”

Below a picture of a drunken women someone has written: “She looks a little ‘used’ to me.” Another member then replies: “Which woman isn’t.”

Former Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) cadet Naomi Brookes says such disparaging views are commonplace within Defence.

“I’ve heard it before,” she told ABC TV.

“Comments like the ones on the Facebook groups aren’t all that unusual.

“And because they are not all that unusual as time goes on they seem less and less obscene. So it feeds back into itself.”

Ms Brookes quit the academy after just one year because she was disgusted with the way a friend who had been raped was treated by her peers.

In particular she was upset with one fellow cadet who argued the victim “should just get over it already”.

Ms Brookes acknowledged today that everyone had a right to a private life and it was difficult for Defence to intervene when it came to social media.

“But I think in terms of the attitudes that they have and their own sense of dignity, one should hope that Defence would have the capacity to engage in training and make it clear there are standards of behaviour for members in Defence,” she said, adding external pressure was probably needed to drive real cultural change within Australia’s armed forces.

Comment was being sought from Defence regarding the allegations.

Army chief Lieutenant General David Morrison told ABC TV in a statement that the issues raised were “serious”.

He said army headquarters was working to determine if any serving members were linked to the offensive comments posted on the Facebook page.
“Where they have been I intend to take action to deal with them to the extent that our policies and the laws allows,” Lt Gen Morrison said.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith launched six reviews into defence culture last year following a number of sex scandals.

A report into the treatment of women at ADFA released in November found that Australia’s premier military officer education institute remained rife with low-level sexual harassment of female cadets but was much improved on the 1990s when high-level sexual misconduct was rampant.

A separate report into the so-called Skype scandal at ADFA in March 2011 remains under consideration.

Article source: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/defence-investigating-sexist-facebook-page/story-e6frfku0-1226285561488

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Facebook launches Timeline for Pages

The new timeline feature is now available for Pages as well as personal profiles, allowing uses to visually check out the history of a business or brand.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)

Companies with a Facebook profile can now update their page to use the new Timeline feature.

Doled out to individual FB users last year, the Timeline presents information in a more visual two-column format. The design allows friends and followers to view a company’s products and scroll down to see a history of its Facebook posts from the past.

Organizations with pages can jump to the Timeline starting today, but the new look and layout will become mandatory on March 30.

Facebook has created a help page explaining the Timeline feature for businesses and answering some common questions and concerns.

Article source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57387495-93/facebook-launches-timeline-for-pages/

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Bryce Harper deletes his Twitter account

(Julio Cortez – AP)
Bryce Harper made no small share of headlines with his Twitter account, from rooting for the Yankees to dissing the Redskins, from introducing his dog “Swag” to the world to coining the “WSinDC” hashtag, meaning “World Series in D.C.,” and or “Wichita State in D.C.” for fans of the 2006 NCAA tournament.

In fact, his tweeting appeared to catch the eye of skipper Davey Johnson, who talked Twitter during his media-training session, sort of.

“We warned them about Tweeter and Facebook and all kinds of sites,” Johnson said this week, via Kilgore. “Nothing’s secret anymore. I did point to a couple guys and said, ‘Now you listen to this.’ I’m mentioning any names, but you know probably who.”

Welp, message sent. Harper deleted his Twitter account this week. Gone. Vanished. No more adorable photos of Swag, who really is a lovely dog.

“I’m over it,” he told Kilgore Wednesday morning. “Just bored.”

A team official said that Harper made the choice on his own. And so Tweeter loses one of its brightest, Swaggiest stars.

(Via Nats Enquirer)

Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/bryce-harper-deletes-his-twitter-account/2012/02/29/gIQAKxXCiR_blog.html

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