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Facebook today announced the Antivirus Marketplace, or just The AV Marketplace for short. The news is two-fold: the social network giant has partnered with Microsoft, McAfee, TrendMicro, Sophos, and Symantec to provide its users with access to full version antivirus software free for six months, and the five companies will also augment Facebook’s URL blacklist system with their own URL blacklist databases.
First let’s talk about the free software, since everyone likes free stuff. The AV Marketplace is aimed at the hundreds of millions of Facebook users who don’t currently have security protection on their computer. Facebook lets you download licenses to full versions of antivirus software: Microsoft Security Essentials, McAfee Internet Security 2012, Norton AntiVirus, Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition, and Trend Micro internet security for PCs and Macs. After six months, for the ones that aren’t free forever, you’ll have to pay up.
Out of the five options, I prefer Microsoft Security Essentials, which is free forever, not just six months. I’ve recommended MSE since day one, and I will continue to do so until something better comes along.
The marketplace is accessible from the Facebook Security Facebook Page, or via this direct link: on.fb.me/FBAVMarketplace. Facebook wouldn’t say, but I’m assuming it will eventually expand its list of antivirus partners to offer further free alternatives for its users. The social networking giant says arming its users with antivirus software will “empower them to stay safe no matter where they are on the web.”
At the same time, Facebook’s over 901 million active users will now be protected by the combined intelligence blacklists of the security industry. Facebook’s URL blacklist system, which already scans trillions of clicks per day, will now incorporate the malicious URL databases from these security companies.
This means that whenever you click a link on Facebook, it not only be checked against Facebook’s blacklist, but also the blacklists provided by Microsoft, McAfee, TrendMicro, Sophos, and Symantec. For more information on how Facebook’s URL blacklist system works, check out How Facebook protects users from malicious URLs.
Last but not least, Facebook also said these companies will be writing posts on Facebook Security to provide important security material to help Facebook users keep themselves, and their data, safe. To get these updates in your News Feed and Ticker, you’ll need to Like the Facebook Page.
“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the people who use Facebook, and the security of their data,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. “The Facebook Security Team has pioneered many innovative defense systems against viruses, spam and phishing attacks, as well as extensive automated enforcement mechanisms that quickly shut down malicious pages, accounts and apps. Truly effective security requires cooperation and we are excited about this partnership with many of the leaders in the security community to better help us defend against existing threats, anticipate new ones and arm people with the tools they need to protect themselves.”
See also:
Article source: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/facebook-announces-antivirus-marketplace/12139
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Facebook’s recent acquisition spree could delay the social network’s highly anticipated Wall Street debut until June, according to reports.
Citing people familiar with the matter, CNBC reports that Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been so focused on acquisitions lately that his company isn’t prepared for its initial public offering. Facebook has indeed been busy – the social media giant earlier this month agreed to buy the photo-sharing service Instagram for $1 billion, and on Monday said it would pay $550 million for hundreds of patents from Microsoft.
Though Facebook’s IPO date hasn’t even been made official, the social media giant has reportedly been shooting for an IPO sometime in May, with a roadshow as early as May 7. Rumors swirled earlier this month that Facebook was eyeing a stock market debut on May 17.
But with the recent acquisitions, Facebook executives haven’t been able to focus on their IPO plans. As a result, the company likely won’t launch its roadshow until May 14, at the earliest, pushing initial trading until early or mid-June. With the Memorial Day holiday falling on May 28, the market will likely by less liquid for several trading days in late May, and thus a bad time to begin trading.
Facebook is looking at a “plan A, B, C, and a D” for its IPO, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Meanwhile, Facebook’s profits have dipped from a year ago but revenue increased 44 percent to $1.06 billion, the company said in an amended S-1 filing on Monday. Facebook reported profits of $205 million, down from $233 million a year ago. The social network also reported a steady increase in daily active and monthly users. Facebook’s monthly active users climbed to 901 million worldwide.
For more from Angela, follow her on Twitter @amoscaritolo.
For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.
Article source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403528,00.asp
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This week the folks at Facebook have updated their Android application to a version that adds two icons to the app tray and in doing so tips how a Facebook phone with HTC will end up working later this year. Though HTC has already created several Facebook Button devices – starting last year at MWC 2011, they’ve now reportedly got plans to make a more full-fledged Facebook device later this year. This does not stick with their plan to stay small with the models and the HTC One series of course, and also doesn’t bode well given the relatively negative feedback the new Facebook app integration has received over the past 24 hours.
What you’ll see above is a screenshot taken from Android Community‘s post on this same subject, with Instagram in the photo as well to illustrate that no, Instagram was not installed with this update but yes, it does still work with the app. Like hundreds if not thousands of other media-sharing apps, Facebook is already an option without Facebook’s input. This is one of the main criticisms of the Facebook app’s update bringing on two unasked-for shortcuts to the mix. Have a peek at a few reviews of the app from Google Play here:
Because these reflections are not so nice and tidy as Facebook might have hoped they would be, it’s very possible that the plan to create an entire Facebook-themed smartphone is in HTC’s plans at all. The rumor mill is fickle, and there are indeed liars out there. What we’ve got to consider, on the other hand, is that Facebook has already gotten so far as to add a physical button to several smartphones over the past year. They did it before, and they’ll likely try to do it again, even if those phones didn’t go to far for sales.
Have a peek at the timeline below and see what we’ve seen in the Facebook phone saga thus far. Will we see an(other) HTC Facebook phone in the near future? It’s very, very possible.
BONUS: Facebook has also begun working with Native App Linking, this also pointing toward a Google Chrome-like future in which Facebook is your operating system as well as your social network:
Article source: http://www.slashgear.com/facebook-app-update-tips-terrible-smartphone-25224715/
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LONDON – Meet the king of the sporting Twittersphere: Brazilian football superstar Kaka.
The Real Madrid midfielder on Wednesday became the first athlete to amass 10 million followers on the social networking site, joining an elite group which previously contained mostly musicians.
“Thank youuuuu. To celebrate I’ll make a twitcam” wrote the 30-year-old Kaka, who at the last count had 10,012,862 Twitter fans.
He’s nowhere close to Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber — who each have more than 20 million followers — but it’s not a bad haul for a player whose career appears to be on the wane after making himself a global icon in a golden six-year spell at AC Milan in Italy.
Close behind him in the most-followed stakes in the world of sport is Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently broke the 9-million barrier. As far as reputation and public image goes, they couldn’t be any more different.
By describing himself as a “Christian, husband and father who loves football” and with an angelic smile on his avatar, Kaka lives up to his image of being one of the most humble players in the increasingly celebrity-driven lifestyle of the modern-day footballer.
In early 2009, he turned down a move to English club Manchester City that would have earned him a reported world-record salary of 500,000 pounds ($800,000) a week.
Kaka moved to Madrid later that year for (euro) 65 million (then $92 million), making him the second most expensive football signing ever after Ronaldo. He still plays for the Brazil national team, despite his form having tapered off since moving to Spain.
“Having lunch with my parents and fulfilling the commandment. I missed u guys so much,” was one of Kaka’s recent tweets, which are written in English, Spanish and Portuguese for his global audience of fans.
He even personally thanked a stream of well-wishers who congratulated him on his 30th birthday on Sunday.
The world’s leading sports stars are increasingly turning to Twitter to communicate directly with their fans.
In the United States, retired NBA player Shaquille O’Neal has 5.5 million followers. LeBron James of the Miami Heat has 4.3 million.
In football, England striker Wayne Rooney and Brazil forward Neymar hover around the 4-million mark.
Article source: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/brazil-soccer-superstar-kaka-plays-real-madrid-athlete-pass-10-million-followers-twitter-article-1.1067290
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China flag
(Credit:
AP)
(CBS News) Chinese micro-blogging service Sina Weibo has deleted several accounts for allegedly spreading “malicious political rumors.”
Sina Weibo is a Twitter-like service lets its users broadcast text and photos in real-time. The service has over 300 million users. Twitter has been blocked from China since 2009.
China ousts top pol, accuses wife of murder
Bo Xilai scandal rocks secretive Chinese leadership
Fallen Chinese politician’s son defends himself
In the note sent out to users, the site accused the deleted accounts of spreading false information about an unnamed political scandal.
The Wall Street Journal reports Sina Weibo sent this message to users Tuesday: “Recently, criminal elements have used Sina Weibo to create and spread malicious political rumors online for no reason, producing a terrible effect on society.”
The scandal everyone has been talking about is over Chinese politician Bo Xilai, who was suspended from China’s Politburo on April 10 – a powerful 25-member group that runs the country.
Bo’s wife Gu Kailai was recently arrested for the murder of Nick Heywood – a British man who was found dead in a hotel room last November.
Chinese journalists who have been broadcasting information and opinions over the scandal over Sina Weibo were kicked off the site and in some cases arrested.
According to the Journal, senior editor of Chinese magazine Capital Week Li Delin was detained for spreading rumors of a coup in Beijing over Sina Weibo on March 19.
Chinese journalist Yang Haipeng’s account was also deleted after a post began spreading on Sina Weibo regarding a connection between Bo’s family and the deceased Heywood on March 24.
“Deceased: Guagua’s nanny. Nationality: British. Place: Chongqing. Handled by: Wang Lijun. Cause of death: Wang was not allowed to investigate. The body was not preserved and instead directly cremated,” said Haipeng’s post before it was deleted the following day.
The Journal reports six people were detained in the wake of the Beijing coup rumors. At least 1,000 more people were arrested for “what authorities said were Internet crimes.”
At this point, it’s unclear if Sina Weibo was prompted by the Chinese government to crack down on the micro-bloggers or if the company acted independently.
China has long censored websites with anti-government content, including social media sites. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are among some of the social media sites that are currently blocked. Google was famously banned in mainland China in March 2010 because the search engine began redirecting its site to Google Hong Kong, which was not censored, as a work-around China’s “Great Firewall.”
Article source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57421056-501465/china-shuts-down-twitter-like-accounts-amid-political-scandal/
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Get into a Twitter war. Become a Twitter star.
New Jersey graduate student and Devils fan Laura Rubino, who goes by @laurenashley07 on Twitter, saw a leap in the number of her followers after her comment to Florida Panthers President Michael Yormark was dismissed by him because of her lack of followers.
According to the Newark Star-Ledger, Yormark tweeted that the Panthers were no longer selling plastic rats at the arena because he said visiting fans were tossing them on the ice during the game.
Panthers fans toss the rats after a win as a tribute to the team’s 1996 run to the Stanley Cup Finals, but tossing them during the game could cost the home team a delay of game penalty.
Rubino and other Devils fans objected to Yormark’s assertion and challenged him on his Twitter account. His response to Rubino: “You have 70 followers. No one cares what you think.”
As of 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, she had 1,700 followers.
Greg Wyshynski, editor of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog, helped her cause with an account of Rubino’s trip to the Prudential Center, courtesy of the Devils, to sit in a suite behind Yormark.
“I really don’t care how many Twitter followers I have. I’m on Twitter because it’s fun,” she told Wyshynski. “But to tell someone their opinion doesn’t matter kinda rubs me the wrong way.”
Other fans have had similar responses.
As Margaret McGuire tweeted to Rubino: “Every fan in the NHL is important and their opinions matter, don’t forget w/out us, there is no NHL.”
Article source: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/04/devils-fan-becomes-twitter-star/1
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Even after some disappointing news came to light in the company’s latest public filing earlier this week, investors are jostling to get shares in Facebook’s epic debut in the stock market next month. Fuhgeddaboudit: Individual investors are unlikely to be able to buy Facebook shares before they start trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
There are three reasons for this: The big boys are at the front the line, you are at the back of the line, and there is no middle of the line.
Facebook is set to sell between $5 billion and $10 billion in stock for the first time sometime next month. The eight-year-old company has already been trading shares in the private market at levels that would make it worth $90 to $100 billion – about the combined value of its underwriters Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. You would think that there would be enough shares for individual investors to get some of the stock at the IPO price. But there probably aren’t, which is disappointing to investors who are hoping not just for bragging rights but big profits. Anyone who bought Microsoft at the IPO is now sitting on a profit of 34,186%. The SP is up just 449%. For the record, the underwriters who have been hired to sell the deal can’s speak about their distribution plans or they will get in trouble with the regulators. But in recent years, retail investors have been getting a smaller and smaller portion of shares in IPOs and just token amounts in hot deals.
(LIST: Social Windfall: Facebook IPO’s Billion-Dollar Winners)
“You have to accept that it’s a rigged deal,” says Dave Fry, founder and publisher of the ETF Digest. I had called Fry to see if there was a backdoor entrance to the biggest high tech sale ever. Not even loyal customers who buy hot and not-so-hot IPOs can count on receiving even a token allotment before the stock breaks for trading. That’s the most desirable time to buy because with white hot deals, the price pops with the very first trade. Anyone who has kept an eye on the IPO market knows what I’m talking about. LinkedIn, the ubiquitous online business networking site, more than doubled last year on its first day out of the gate. Millennial Media, a hot mobile advertising company, shot up 92% on its first day of trading in March. Yelp, the web consumer-review company, jumped 64% last month as well.
So what’s an individual investor to do?
There are a handful of exchange traded funds (ETFs), closed end funds, and mutual funds that have already invested in Facebook shares or own companies that describe themselves as social media investors, Web 2.0 in the lingo. Firsthand Technology owns about 600,0000 shares of Facebook that it accumulated in the private market. T. Rowe Price owns more than 5% of Facebook, and put a sliver of that stake — about $408 million — in some of its mutual funds, reports Bloomberg News. Global X Funds runs a social media product, though chief executive officer Bruno del Ama says his social fund can’t buy Facebook shares before the close of the fifth day of trading. And then there are “related” funds, like First Trust Internet Dow Jones Index, which invests in Internet companies that have been trading for at least three months on the public markets. Facebook would also be eligible to join the gargantuan $33 billion PowerShares ETF within three months, the result of a recent rule change at the Nasdaq. Could these possibly make good proxies for Facebook shares—a crack to get in on the action before the IPO?
Joshua Brown, a financial advisor and author of Backstage Wall Street, says he is discouraging his clients from scouring around for social media fund plays. “Investors are better off watching the spectacle.” He finds the ETFs piggybacking on the success of social media stocks to be gimmicky — “the Britney Spears of perfumes,” he says. Ouch. Groupon, he sniffs, is a coupon business delivered to your email box. So not Web 2.0 and so in every fund aspiring to Web 2.0 cachet.
(MORE: This is Your Life (According to Your New Timeline)
Even if you think the management on these funds is smart, it isn’t a good idea to use them as proxies. ETF Digest’s Dave Fry likes the First Trust Internet ETF but warns that such funds are volatile — not only because the sector has notable swings but because most are tiny. After Facebook filed to sell stock in February, some of them took off like rocket ships, riding on the wings of hope. In the past three months Firsthand Technology nearly doubled before fading with the rest of the market, up “just” 72%. (The Nadaq is up 7.7% in the past three months after trimming 2.4% in the past month.) Global X Social Media is up nearly 16% in that same time, but with a lot less volatility. It includes big stakes in Japanese and Chinese Internet companies, because that’s where the big growth is, says CEO del Ama.
What about T. Rowe Price? Well, that $408 million Facebook investment is a rounding error when thrown into the $290 billion in mutual fund assets it manages.
“When investors chase returns, they lose,” warns Tadas Viskanta, the blogger behind Abnormal Returns and the forthcoming book of the same name. He describes these funds as “tertiary” plays – based more on psychology than on fundamentals.
It’s tougher than ever for individuals to make money in hot high tech companies because they incubate for a much longer time, coming to market as grownups. They don’t need to raise money earlier because they don’t need funds to build factories; they can scale virtually and fund on a “just-in-time basis,” says Viskanta.
But take heart. Josef Schuster, CEO of IPOX Schuster, maker of benchmark indexes, says his studies reveal that for long-term holders, playing the first-day IPO pop game is a losing proposition. Stocks that jump more than 40% on the first day of trading generally don’t do nearly as well as the steady eddies.
MORE: Facebook Slammed Again Over Zuckerberg’s ‘Autocratic’ Control
Article source: http://business.time.com/2012/04/25/forget-facebook-why-regular-joes-cant-invest-in-the-decades-hottest-ipo-and-probably-shouldnt-try/
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Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:28pm EDT
By Alistair Barr and Gerry Shih
SAN FRANCISCO, April 24 (Reuters) – A recent acquisition
spurt by Facebook Inc may add about a week to the social
network’s journey to public markets, a source with knowledge of
the situation said on Tuesday.
Facebook recently agreed to buy photo-sharing start-up
Instagram for about $1 billion and on Monday the company said it
would pay $550 million for hundreds of patents from Microsoft
Corp.
The deals came weeks before Facebook was expected to enter
the final stages of what will likely be the largest Silicon
Valley initial public offering ever. The company has been aiming
for an IPO some time in May, with a roadshow typically taking
about two weeks before the stock market debut.
The delay adds another twist to the high-profile offering a
day after the company released quarterly results showing sagging
revenue and soaring operating expenses, prompting at least one
analyst to lower their valuations of the company.
Prospective investors will now have to wait about a week
longer to get a glimpse of Facebook’s roadshow, because the
company will have to discuss the impact of its recent
acquisitions with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the
source said.
The SEC’s Corporate Finance division is currently reviewing
Facebook’s IPO filing and the regulator must declare the
document effective before Facebook can begin selling shares.
The Instagram and patent acquisitions are likely not
material, which means Facebook will probably not have to answer
SEC questions through a new regulatory filing, which would have
taken more time, the source added. The person did not want to be
identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly
about the IPO.
A spokesman for Facebook declined to comment. An SEC
spokeswoman declined to comment.
Facebook management was aiming to launch a roadshow as early
as May 7 and for the start of trading late in the week of May
14. But now Facebook is more likely to start the roadshow in the
week of May 14, or even towards the end of that month, CNBC
reported earlier on Tuesday.
That would likely delay Facebook’s stock market debut until
early or mid-June. That is because the Memorial Day holiday,
which is May 28, will likely mean that the stock market is less
liquid and less hospitable to a new issue like Facebook, CNBC
said.
ASKING QUESTIONS
Financial results filed with regulators this week have
raised questions among some about Wall Street’s valuation for
Facebook, a subject of intense speculation ahead of its IPO.
During Facebook’s talks to acquire Instagram this month, the
two companies discussed a potential value of $104 billion for
the social network, the New York Times reported.
That figure would defy “any standard valuation metric” based
on the most current financial results, said Max Wolff, chief
economist and senior analyst at GreenCrest Capital.
“They’re putting out are very strong numbers, but they’re
not quite living up to the discussion that have stratospheric
valuations above $100 billion,” Wolff said.
Facebook’s net income slid 12 percent to $205 million in the
first three months of the year, the regulatory filing showed.
Total sales fell 6 percent to $1.06 billion while costs rose 16
percent to $677 million.
Advertising revenue fell roughly 8 percent last quarter to
$872 million.
The company attributed the decline to a typical slowdown
during the first three months of the year that has so far been
“partially masked” by its explosive overall growth.
But analysts said the latest results suggested more broadly
that the company was still figuring out its advertising business
– which makes up 82 percent of Facebook’s income, filings
showed — as it continues to reorient itself toward catering to
major brands.
“It calls into question the scalability of the business,”
said Brain Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group who
lowered his valuation of Facebook on Tuesday to $75 billion from
$82 billion. “Servicing large brands, which is Facebook’s
growing focus, is very labor intensive.”
Facebook last year hired Carolyn Everson, a former ad sales
executive at Microsoft and Viacom, to head its global marketing
team. And in February, the company organized a splashy
conference in New York, dubbed fMC, to woo marketers and
introduce its brand pages.
Article source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/25/facebook-ipo-idUSL2E8FOHC820120425
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HTC is reportedly working “in cooperation” with Facebook on a customized smartphone, set to be launched in Q3 2012 at the earliest, reports DigiTimes.
HTC worked with Google on the original
Nexus One, but the search turned mobile giant took its relationship to Samsung to develop its Nexus branded smartphones. HTC was left out in the dark, and its market share has fallen, and its profits dropped by 70 percent in Q1 2012 alone.
Samsung has the largest slice of the market share pie, while HTC holds out in fifth place with a fraction of Samsung’s share, according to recent ComScore statistics.
It makes perfectly good sense for HTC to climb back up the ladder and find its own niche. If Samsung has Nexus, and Apple has the
iPhone, HTC can go an entirely different direction and build a dedicated Facebook phone.
But it’s not the first time we’ve heard of a “Facebook phone,” nor will it be the last. The report said:
“The new
Android smartphone being developed by HTC will have a platform exclusive to Facebook to enable and integrate all functions available on the social networking site, the sources indicated. Previously, HTC launched two Facebook-enabled smartphones, the Salsa and Chacha.”
When Facebook’s “Buffy” smartphone was rumored last year, it was quickly thought of as a viable product. The rumours slipped away and little more was thought about it.
But Facebook has repeatedly said it is not looking to build a dedicated handset, nor will it allow any phone manufacturer to call any of their devices a ‘Facebook phone’, as ZDNet’s Emil Protalinski writes. Despite this, there have been a number of attempts at making Facebook-like handsets, with dedicated hardware keys and tight integration with the mobile operating system.
DigiTimes’ sources say the launch of its own-brand smartphones will be a valuable source of income for the company after it goes public. Instead, it seems Facebook is simply trying to get its software on every smartphone and cellphone it can, without throwing its efforts into a market it likely won’t win in the face of its competitors.
In the meantime, the HTC One series is all that keeps the company going. Without Facebook’s weight behind a phone, HTC needs to aggressively compete again. But as ZDNet’s James Kendrick notes, HTC’s situation shows how hard it is for Google’s Android partners to play in the smartphone space, forcing them to compete with other partners along with their competitors.
This story originally appeared at ZDNet’s Between the Lines under the headline “HTC’s to release ‘Facebook smartphone’ in Q3: report.”
Article source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57420758-94/facebook-phone-due-from-htc-this-year/
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Getty ImagesFlorida Panthers team president Michael Yormark smelled a rat among the rats.
In Game 5 of his team’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the New Jersey Devils, the plastic rats that fans litter the Panthers’ home ice with during victory celebrations were instead being thrown on faceoffs and during play. This was in violation of NHL rules, and risked the Panthers being whistled for a delay of game penalty.
Yormark announced on Monday that the team would stop selling the rats at their official store. His theory: Devils fans visiting BankAtlantic Center were the ones tossing the rodents on the ice in order to penalize the home team.
Laura Rubino found the claim to be patently absurd.
“That didn’t make any sense,” said Rubino, a 26-year-old Devils fan from Roseland, NJ. “I was like, ‘Just own it. [Say] our fans were too exuberant, sorry we can’t sell them anymore.’”
Tracking down Yormark on Twitter (@PanthersYormark), where he frequently interacts with fans and media, Rubino decided to file the following protest:
“It wasn’t the nicest thing to say. But he kinda was.”
A grad student at William Paterson, she was at the school on Tuesday morning while her Twitter feed was getting a surge in responses and followers. The reason? Yormark offered this retort to her criticism:
Dang …
“I was like, ‘Wow, this man is the President of a sports team and this is how he talks to people?’ I would have been fine if he had said shut up, but he said ‘your opinion doesn’t matter.’ I thought it was a fake account,” she said.
Thanks to the Devils and their fans, Rubino had the last laugh for Game 6 in New Jersey on Tuesday night.
By early afternoon, the story had been picked up by the Newark Star-Ledger, which torched Yormark not only for his comments about Rubino but other Devils fans.
Her back-and-forth, however, stood out: The snark about the number of Twitter followers she had, combined with the quick dismissal of her opinion, seemed unusually harsh for a team executive. (Well, at least to those unfamiliar with his previous social media impulse control problems.)
“I really don’t care how many Twitter followers I have. I’m on Twitter because it’s fun,” she said. “But to tell someone their opinion doesn’t matter kinda rubs me the wrong way.”
On Tuesday afternoon, a friend of Rubino’s who works for the Devils reached out and asked for her phone number. She soon received a call from Will Carafello, director of digital marketing for the team, with an invitation: After sticking up for Devils fans in her battle with Yormark, the Devils wanted to invite her to watch Game 6 of their series from a luxury suite at Prudential Center:
@WillCarafelloSuite 202 to be exact.
Right above where Michael Yormark was seated for the game, indirectly posing for a photo:
They didn’t interact at the arena, outside of someone in Yormark’s entourage throwing up seven fingers as they departed the suite, referencing Thursday night’s Game 7 after Travis Zajac’s Game 6 overtime winner sent red rally towels flying onto the ice.
When she arrived back home, her quasi-rivalry with the Panthers president took another turn. Yormark dismissed her for having 70 followers; thanks to hockey fans that had become aware of the story — in full disclosure, we gave it a push as well — her Twitter follower total (her handle is @LaurenAshley07) had surged to over 1,200 in less than 24 hours.
Devils fans in particular were rallying on Twitter, hoping she could surpass Yormark’s follower count (3,047) before Game 7.
“Maybe my opinion means more than his at that point,” she joked.
For Rubino, this surreal 24 hours of public discourse with an NHL executive, and the support she received after being called out, made her appreciate the tight knit and protective nature of puckheads.
“We’re so used to being put down — we don’t go to games, we’re not passionate — it speaks what kind of people Devils fans. And hockey fans in general. I’ve had Flyers fans say they’re following me, even though I’m a Devils fan,” she said.
As for Yormark: “I’m big on karma. We’ll see what happens in Game 7.”
Article source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/nj-devils-fan-gets-suite-revenge-panthers-coo-125652793.html
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