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Home / Archive: 17. April 2012
The Netflix CEO is lambasting Comcast again for what he says is its continued violation of net-neutrality rules.
FORTUNE — People are still paying attention to Reed Hastings after all. The Netflix (NFLX) CEO’s Sunday rant directed at Comcast (CMCSA), a favorite target of his, is getting all kinds of attention. Including, reportedly, the attention of the Federal Communications Commission, which is looking into the matter. Comcast, he says, is violating net-neutrality rules by favoring its own video streams on its Xfinity network over those of competitors.
Many of the responses have to do with his chosen venue: Facebook. Some commentators have remarked upon this choice. But this isn’t new for Hastings, who after all sits on Facebook’s board. And it makes sense: a blog post or, certainly, a press release probably wouldn’t have gotten so many media outlets to pick up on this. Posting it to Facebook makes it seem more personal and more visceral — more like a rant rather than a mere expression of a company’s position. It’s possible that if the company had simply issued a press release, it would have gotten little attention and the FCC might never have picked up on it.
Hewing to the personal, Hasting said he spent the weekend using “four good Internet video apps” through his Xbox: Netflix, HBO Go (TWX), Xfinity and Hulu. Only in the case of Xfinity, he said, was the stream not counted against his Comcast data cap.
“For example,” he wrote, “if I watch last night’s SNL episode on my Xbox through the Hulu app, it eats up about one gigabyte of my cap, but if I watch that same episode through the Xfinity Xbox app, it doesn’t use up my cap at all. The same device, the same IP address, the same wi-fi, the same internet connection, but totally different cap treatment. In which way is this neutral?”
Good question. Comcast didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment. As Time‘s Matt Peckham notes, Xfinity streams video over its own private IP network. But that network “still intersects with the Internet where streaming rivals like Netflix or Hulu are concerned,” he writes. In other words, for end users, it doesn’t matter that Comcast’s network is private. They still get their video from the public Internet, which is supposed to treat all data equally.
Article source: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/04/17/hastings-facebook-rant-draws-fccs-attention/
The issue is most large companies have concerns about actions done on their network. What if that creepy guy in accounting was stalking an ex or posted something that is inappropriate (or illegal) So you filter the content which is not what people want.
People want PRIVACY at work to do whatever they want so any company is going to have a hard time from an HR / Legal / Compliance stance to provide that and ENABLE employees to do so. Thus people use their own mobile devices.
If work provides access to Facebook why can’t they allow others to game, watch video etc.
Unless your in some marketing department and use social networking for such reason leave your personal usage to home. Many Gen Y workers need to understand and learn this as I see the “entitlement” attitude in interns and it casts a negative light on how you perform at work.
The other side of the argument is how does internet usage differ broke a smoke break, or walk etc? Lets not confuse the issue between usage and unproductive employees. One is complex and the other is a management / HR issue.
Article source: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/facebook-breaks-mean-happier-more-productive-employees/11866
Ryan Lytle
U.S. News World Report
April 17, 2012
Article source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-201204170945usnewsusnwr201204160416facebookapr17,0,4920929.story
Jason LaVeris/Getty Images
She’s ba-a-ack!
Demi Moore, aka @mrskutcher, sent us into Twitter heaven when she tweeted for the first time since Jan. 7.
And while we couldn’t be happier that the social media enthusiast is back and ready for more, we’re still scratching our heads as to why the ode to ex-husband Ashton Kutcher is still attached to her Twitter handle.
What’s up with the @mrskutcher moniker that reminds all 4.9 million of Dem’s loyal followers that she is going through a painful (and public) divorce?
READ: As Demi Moore Seeks Help, Pals Worry: “Demi’s Been Through It All”
Seriously, we find it very odd.
Months ago Demi fired back at all of her followers who insisted she get down with a Twitter name change after her split in November.
“Changing my twitter name isn’t a top priority right now. sorry it bothers so many of u. should I not tweet until I do?does it really matter?” Demi tweeted in December.
And at the time, we totally supported the babe’s decision. In the wake of all of Demi’s drama—a painful cheating scandal, filing for divorce and a stint in rehab—a name change on the social media site was understandably the last thing on Demi’s mind.
READ: How Hard Is It for Demi Moore to Divorce @MrsKutcher Twitter Name?
But now?
Girl’s fresh out of rehab, has a new movie with Miley Cyrus and she’s already tweeted twice to her adoring fans. Not to mention nothing—absolutely nothing—will happen when Moore decides to make the inevitable switch. Seriously, Demi’s followers will simply see a new name next to her photo if she goes back to “Moore”—which, if we want to get technical, is her legal name.
But in the tech-savvy world that we live in today, we’ve come to expect some kind of virtual notification when a couple calls it quits. (Facebook relationship status, anyone?)
So is it fair for us to ask the same of dear Demi, or should we simply let the babe be? Vote in our poll, and then let us know why you think @mrskutcher hasn’t changed her name in the comments.
PHOTOS: Demi Moore Pals Help Haiti
Article source: http://www.eonline.com/news/the_awful_truth/poll_should_demi_moore_switch_her/309379
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo
(Credit:
Stephen Shankland/CNET)
After Facebook spent $1 billion on Instagram, one would think Twitter would try to buy a competitor of its own to keep pace. But that doesn’t appear likely.
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo told reporters in Japan yesterday that Twitter has no plans to buy an Instagram competitor to keep up with Facebook. Quite the contrary, Costolo said that he plans to improve his company’s application programming interface (API) to help third parties improve integration on the social network.
“I think that sometimes there is a tendency for companies to react to events in the marketplace that are inconsistent with their strategy….and I think that tendency is a mistake,” Costolo said yesterday, according to The Wall Street Journal. Costolo went on to say that companies that start “copying” others with an acquisition tend to waste money.
Facebook made a splash in Silicon Valley last week after announcing plans to acquire photo-sharing company Instagram for $1 billion.
As Costolo pointed out yesterday, when similarly massive acquisitions have occurred online in the past, other companies have tried to respond by buying another firm in the given market. After Google acquired YouTube, for example, other prominent Web firms rushed to find suitable YouTube alternatives to pick up. When Google bought DoubleClick, Microsoft wasted no time to acquire aQuantive. In those cases, Google — not its competitors — won out with its respective purchases.
Still, Twitter can’t be happy with the Facebook purchase. Instagram worked well with Twitter, and seemed to keep the social network’s users heavily engaged. And although Instagram says it’s “not going away,” it’s hard not to believe that Facebook will be getting preferential treatment.
Article source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57415202-93/twitter-ceo-we-wont-buy-an-instagram-lookalike/
Nicki Minaj is down on illegal file sharing.
(Credit:
YouTube-Vevo)
A decade after Metallica took on Napster, rapper Nicki Minaj has launched a silent protest against Web piracy.
“Like seriously, it’s but so much a person can take,” Minaj wrote Sunday on Twitter just prior to closing down her account, telling fans “Good f—ing bye,” according to numerous reports.
Lord ‘Black Jesus’ Harrison of the group Harlem 6 says artists must make a deal with the devil: online piracy.
(Credit:
Greg Sandoval/CNET)
The tantrum came after Minaj accused fan site NickiDaily.com of leaking several songs from her new album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded,” online. Minaj, whose first album, “Pink Friday,” was considered a major commercial success last year, risks inviting the wrath of the Internet crowd.
Ever since Metallica attempted to thwart the use of Napster in 2001 and alienated many fans, most artists have steered clear of the debate on illegal file sharing.
But seemingly more artists are taking a stand about what’s fair for them when it comes to online distribution. Recently, popular blues-rock band The Black Keys have criticized subscription music services such as Spotify and Rhapsody for not returning more money to artists.
In Minaj’s defense, studies have shown that rap music is among the most pirated genres. That said this could all be a marketing ploy. If her label really was upset about the leaks and could prove where they came from, whoever did it could be in trouble.
There’s a criminal penalty involved when distributing copyrighted material before it’s released to the market. Something tells me no one is going to jail over this.
Article source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57415194-93/nicki-minaj-dumps-twitter-account-to-protest-web-piracy/
FREMONT, Calif., Apr 17, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
BlueSnap, a global provider of open Cloud Commerce technology and
services that meet the rapidly changing needs of today’s digital brands,
today announced that Zibaba has selected BlueSnap’s complete eCommerce
infrastructure and payments solution to support Zibaba’s Facebook social
commerce and marketing platform. Zibaba offers an open cloud, SaaS-based
platform that enables businesses of all sizes to create, promote,
advertise and optimize Facebook-based commerce. BlueSnap’s SaaS commerce
solution is designed to help innovative companies such as Zibaba quickly
realize the benefits of “commerce as a service” with BlueSnap’s Plimus
technology platform, expert services and ecosystem of solution partners.
Said Ronen Shlomo, CEO of Zibaba: “U.S. Internet users now spend more
time on Facebook than any other Web brand. They spend triple the amount
of time on Facebook than on Yahoo — and that number climbs to four and a
half times when compared to time spent on either Google or AOL. Zibaba
gives businesses the tools needed to successfully meet their customers
where they spend the most time online to maximize potential
revenue. BlueSnap gave us everything we needed to get our offering to
market as soon as possible.”
Zibaba is the leading Facebook eCommerce platform. Businesses of all
sizes – from SMBs to enterprise – can use Zibaba’s one of a kind
solution to sell, share and advertise their products directly on
Facebook. A truly comprehensive solution, Zibaba provides sharing,
coupons, group offers, daily deals, email marketing, targeted Facebook
advertising, affiliate tracking, order management and payment processing
all from one single dashboard.
With Zibaba, shoppers do not have to pry themselves away from Facebook
to make purchases directly online. Shoppers can pay without leaving
Facebook and highlight their purchases on their Facebook wall for all
their friends to see. Zibaba allows businesses to update inventory in
real time and also incorporates a powerful ad manager that allows
businesses to create and optimize customized ads on Facebook for every
product in their catalog. Zibaba is easy to set up and offers a variety
of affordable subscription plans.
“We are pleased to have Zibaba as one of our newest BlueSnap customers,”
said Hagai Tal, CEO of BlueSnap. “Our mission is to help companies like
Zibaba overcome the hurdles inherent in implementing traditional
eCommerce platforms. In a world increasingly dominated by Facebook and
the social Web, Zibaba gives vendors the ability to adapt and evolve
business and commerce models quickly and strategically. BlueSnap also
allows Zibaba to offer its content and services through a wide array of
traditional, subscription and emerging ownership models. We are planning
on integrating Zibaba into our eco-system and offering it to our vendors
as well.”
About Zibaba
Zibaba, Ltd. (
www.zibaba.com )
is the leading Facebook eCommerce platform. Businesses of all sizes –
from SMBs to enterprise – can use our one of a kind solution to sell,
share and advertise their products directly in Facebook. We offer a
truly comprehensive solution. Sharing, coupons, group offers, daily
deals, email marketing, targeted Facebook advertising, affiliate
tracking, order management and payment processing are all available from
one single dashboard. We support thousands of companies in the United
States, Europe and the Middle East. We’re also one of a small number of
exclusively approved Preferred Facebook Developers and authorized
Advertising API vendors.
About BlueSnap
BlueSnap is a global provider of open Cloud Commerce technology and
services that meet the rapidly changing needs of today’s digital brands,
helping companies of all sizes optimize customer engagement to maximize
revenue. BlueSnap offers flexible monetization solutions that allow
companies to create competitive advantage. Built on proven technology
that leverages more than a decade of digital commerce expertise,
BlueSnap provides a compliant and secure business environment that
scales the consumer experience and turns browsers into buyers. For more
information visit
www.bluesnap.com .
SOURCE: BlueSnap
The Racepoint Group for BlueSnap
Allison DeLeo, 415-694-6711
adeleo@racepointgroup.com
Copyright Business Wire 2012
Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bluesnap-monetizes-zibaba-facebook-social-commerce-and-marketing-platform-2012-04-17
OSLO |
Tue Apr 17, 2012 4:31am EDT
OSLO (Reuters) – The court putting Norwegian killer Anders Behring Breivik on trial for massacring 77 people last year dismissed a lay judge on Tuesday after he posted a comment on a Facebook page saying the gunman should face the death penalty.
The trial against Breivik began on Monday, with two professional judges, as well as three lay judges chosen from civil society, presiding over the court.
After the killings last July, lay judge Thomas Indreboe posted “the death penalty is the only just outcome of this case” on a Facebook page.
The dismissal is not expected to lead to any mistrial verdict and Breivik is still expected to take the stand for the first time on Tuesday. He has pleaded not guilty, saying he acted in defense of Norway against multi-culturalism.
If found guilty and sane, Breivik faces a maximum 21-year sentence but could be held indefinitely if he is considered a continuing danger. If declared insane, he would be held in a psychiatric institution indefinitely with periodic reviews.
(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi and Walter Gibbs, Writing by Alistair Scrutton)
Article source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/17/us-norway-breivik-judge-idUSBRE83G0C720120417
Computerworld - A third of U.S. consumers now use social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to seek medical information and track and share symptoms. They’re also using the sites to vent about doctors, drugs, treatments, medical devices and health plans.
The survey of 1,040 U.S. consumers was put together by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and includes data from a separate survey of healthcare and pharmaceutical executives on how social media is used in their business strategies.
Not unexpectedly, young adults rely on social networks for healthcare information far more than older Americans. The survey found that more than 80% of those between the ages of 18 and 24 said they’re likely to share health information through social media channels — and nearly 90% said they would trust information found there.
By comparison, less than half (45%) of those surveyed between the ages of 45 and 64 said they’re likely to share health information via social media.
The PwC report showed that four in 10 consumers have used social media to find health-related consumer reviews of treatments or doctors; one in three have sought information related to other patients’ experiences with their disease; and one in four have posted comments about their health experience.
“The power of social media for health organizations is in listening and engaging with consumers on their terms,” Kelly Barnes, U.S. Health Industries leader at PwC, said in a statement. “Social media has created a new customer service access point where consumers expect an immediate response.”
Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said they would use social networks for scheduling doctor visits and nearly half said they would expect a response within a few hours after doing so.
When asked whether information on social networks would affect their health decisions, 45% said it would play in role in whether to get a second opinion; 41% said it would affect their choice of a specific doctor, hospital or medical facility; and 34% said it would affect any decision to take a certain medication.
PwC’s report found that consumer activity on social media sites dwarfs that of healthcare organizations such as hospitals, insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Social media, the report notes, is changing the nature of healthcare interaction, and “health organizations that ignore this virtual environment may be missing opportunities to engage consumers,” Barnes said.
Community sites that allow people to weigh in on various medical and healthcare issues had 24 times more social media activity than corporate sites, according to PwC. That shows how much room to grow corporate sites have.
“Health organizations have an opportunity to use social media as a way to better listen, participate in discussions and engage with consumers in ways that extend their interaction beyond a clinical encounter,” Barnes said. “Savvy adopters are viewing social media as a business strategy, not just a marketing tool.”
More in Healthcare
Article source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9226244/U.S._consumers_turn_to_Facebook_Twitter_for_healthcare_answers?taxonomyId=13
Using her regular Twitter account – @MrsKutcher – Demi Moore posted a shot of herself on Sunday, saying only, “Testing …”
Moore hasn’t been in the public eye much since she filed for divorce from Ashton Kutcher in November and then sought treatment in January for “exhaustion and to improve her overall health.”
The tweet caused a flood of well wishes from fans, saying things including:
“Welcome back Demi! its great to see you back in Twitterland! 
”
“@mrskutcher have a amazing day my sweet! God bless you! Xox”
“Glad to see u back. I hope you’re feeling better u have good people around u to give u a big hug (tweeting from England)”
Article source: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2012/04/demi-moore-returns-to-twitter-after-three-months/1
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