Social Media Field Guide

A couple whose car fell down an embankment in the Catskill Mountains tried to make rescue calls on their cellphone but shoddy reception prevented them from reaching help in time.

Arthur and Madeleine Morris’ car was stuck when it fell down an embankment near their driveway of their vacation home. Five times they tried to call 911, their son and a neighbor, but the calls failed due to bad reception in the rural area. Investigators say Arthur Morris tried to climb out of the car, but became wedge between the door and the ground. He soon died of asphyxiation. His wife was able to get out of the vehicle and again attempted to use the cellphone. She went to a neighbor’s house, but realized they weren’t home. She covered herself with a tarp and died in the night due to hypothermia.

It was reported that the Morris’ son had purchased the cellphone for his parents and signed a contract with the nation’s largest carrier, AT&T, with the belief that it offered the best signal in that area.

CNET reported AT&T said:

“Our thoughts and sympathies go out to the Morris family during this extremely difficult time. Wireless coverage in mountainous and remote areas is an industrywide challenge, and AT&T, along with other carriers, are continually striving to improve service levels in those areas.”

Should AT&T be held responsible in any way for the Morris’ deaths? Tell us in the comments.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, PashaIgnatov

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Google Music users learned of a frightful new policy this morning that dictates a user may de-authorize only four devices in a year, out of ten total activations. While the policy is likely to go unnoticed by the majority of consumers, it instantly created a great pain for those who regularly flash ROMs to their phones and tablets. It seems the road to de-authorization hell is paved with good intentions, however, as Google has since responded to critics with the revelation that it'll introduce an activation system that accounts for such nuances.

We've determined through our own experimentation that Google has temporarily suspended the de-authorization limit of four devices, and while it's difficult to know how long this reprieve will last, we're hopeful that it'll remain in effect until Google implements this new system to recognize duplicate authorizations. Additionally, we've learned through our conversations with the company that users may, in fact, sign in to their Google Music account from any number of devices, and it's only when a tune is deliberately streamed that your smartphone or tablet will be added to the list of ten.

What's more, while the company was rather insistent that songs couldn't be streamed to multiple devices at the same time, it seems that Google's system of checks and balances is spotty at best -- we were able to simultaneously stream tunes to three devices without so much as a hiccup. Yes, the system eventually shook its finger at us, but it serves as a nice reminder to have fun while the insanity lasts.

Google Music users granted de-authentication reprieve as company retools activation system originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 22:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First time accepted submitter cvenky writes "The Indian Government is proposing to create an intergovernmental body 'to develop internet policies, oversee all internet standards bodies and policy organizations, negotiate internet-related treaties and sit in judgment when internet-related disputes come up.' This committee will be funded and staffed by the UN and will report to the UN General Assembly which effectively means the control of the internet passes on to World Governments directly."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is taking quite a bit of heat for renouncing his U.S. citizenship prior to the social network giant’s estimated $100 billion IPO this Friday. And after apparently growing tired of people painting him as greedy, he’s now speaking out.

Saverin told the New York Times today that he filed the paperwork to renounce his citizenship in January 2011, but it wasn’t approved until the following September. The government then reported his renouncement in April as part of a regular process. It just worked out that the announcement happened to coincide with Facebook going public, he said.

“This had nothing to do with taxes,” Saverin told the New York Times.

However, the 30-year-old does stand to save an estimated $100 million for dropping his U.S. citizenship. The Times points out that Saverin is currently living as a permanent citizen of Singapore, a country that doesn’t collect a capital gains tax. Essentially, that means it’s very attractive for rich people.

“I was born in Brazil, I was an American citizen for about 10 years. I thought of myself as a global citizen,” Saverin also said.

I don’t really buy his logic. Captain Planet is a global citizen. He’s also a hero and someone who’s going to take pollution down to zero. Saverin, on the other hand, is a billionaire with a Harvard economics degree who lives in capitalist-friendly Singapore. These two identities have nothing in common. That doesn’t make Mr. Saverin a bad person, it just means he’s not a global citizen.

In the New York Times report, Saverin seemed concerned about his personal image. He quashed the notion that he leads a playboy lifestyle, explaining that, “It’s a misperception, especially the playboy… I do have a Bentley. I do go out. I’d rather not go into personal details.”

Also, the depiction of him from hit movie The Social Network (which is based on the true story of how Facebook was founded) was “more art than documentary,” he said. One of the key elements of the film’s story was Mark Zuckerberg’s betrayal of Saverin. The film even ended with Zuckerberg agreeing to a settlement to avoid a costly and messy lawsuit between he and Saverin. These details are true, but Saverin said “there was no burning there. Mark is a phenomenal guy.”

There is some truth to Saverin’s statement though. He and Zuckerberg are among the very few people who, at a young age, have achieved an incredible level of success so quickly. Both men also share an inability to speak to the press in a natural manner.

Kidding aside, Saverin does seem keenly aware of his situation. According to the report, he’s asked a number of very rich individuals for advice on how they handled their success. He’s also honest about the difficulty in trying to wrap his head around his wealth — a problem most people probably wouldn’t mind having.

Saverin photo via National University of Singapore

Filed under: deals, social, VentureBeat

Gadgets such as smartphones and tablets are becoming more and more embedded in kids’ lives. From middle schoolers with smartphones to babies who are comfortable with an iPad but can’t work a magazine, many children today grow up as true digital natives. And parents are catching on that gadgets can help control and distract their little rugrats.

According to one study, nearly a quarter of parents have given their kid a smartphone, iPod or iPad to keep them busy while they take care of business. Nearly 40% of kids aged eight and under have used tablets or smartphones in some capacity. And tablet usage by kids aged 12 and under rose nearly 10 percent from last summer to fall, according to another survey.

But can so much tech immersion ever replace human supervision and interaction for young humans? The online education portal Schools.com pulled statistics from a variety of news and research sources to compile an infographic showing just how much technology modern kids grow up around.

Many parents seem to think gadgets don’t just keep kids occupied — they can also help them grow and learn. 77% of parents think tablets are beneficial to kids, and 77% think they help develop creativity, according to Schools.com’s findings. More than a quarter of parents have downloaded apps for their kids. The top genres? Fun, at 46%; education, at 42%; and creative, at 28%.

Check out the infographic below for the fuller picture on just how much trust parents put in gadgets.

Do you think smartphones and tablets do more to help or hurt the development of kids today? Let us know in the comments.

More About: infographics, smarthphones, tablets, Tech

There’s a new product that just came out of Disney Interactive Labs — a video portal for clips, movie trailers, and even a collection of curated YouTube videos, all designed to be watched online or on any of your mobile devices. The new Disney Video site, located at video.disney.com, combines the best of Disney past and present, with a whole lot of content that might not be found anywhere else.

It’s too early for us to know a whole lot about the site — we checked out the portal after it was announced on Twitter by Henry Work, Senior Software Engineer for Disney Interactive Labs. But at first glance, it seems like a pretty cool example of what a major media company can do with a huge library of content that it hopes to bring to multiple platforms and devices.

First of all, let’s talk about the content. The site is broken down into movies, shows, collections and YouTube, and highlights a wide range of content across Disney’s family-oriented media properties. In the movies section, Disney Video features trailers, as well as behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with stars of upcoming and recent feature films like Frankenweenie and The Avengers. Its shows page puts the spotlight on popular clips from the Disney Channel and related cable networks. Collections organizes its video library into themes, like Disney Fairies, for instance, or content available from Disney Theme Parks.

But the most interesting section might be the YouTube channel on the site, which provides a curated page full of kid-friendly content. The YouTube page is the result of a deal that Disney struck with the video site late last year, through which the media companies will cross-promote each other’s content. YouTube will get some original kids programming from Disney, while Disney is making YouTube clips available on its new portal.

As for the multiplatform aspect of the site — as far as we can tell, it’s formatted to work on web browsers, delivered via Flash, as well as on mobile devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Android handsets and tablets. That’s a huge step for Disney, as it seeks to make its content available on whatever device kids are using.

There’s no real long-form content on the site — for now it’s all promotional clips and trailers — but it is designed to keep viewers watching, with an autoplay feature that loops new videos in ten seconds after the last one has been completed.

Interestingly, the Disney online video portal is being launched at the same time that some analysts are questioning the effect that Netflix is having on the ratings for cable TV networks like Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. While the portal isn’t as kid-friendly as Netflix’s Just For Kids implementation online and on some connected devices, Disney no doubt hopes that its large library of content will keep kids coming back.

American Android users started getting carrier billing in Google Play early this month through T-Mobile (and later AT&T), and now Sprint can join the party. Any app, book, music or video purchase can be tacked on to the monthly bill for your EVO 4G LTE instead of going through Google. The move leaves Verizon as the only major US carrier without a carrier billing option, so you'll have to sit tight if you own the original US Galaxy Nexus and hate the thought of a separate download bill. We've also heard nothing about regional carriers being on the roadmap, but we'll keep you posted.

Sprint's Android users get carrier billing in Google Play originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 21:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Facebook is getting ready for what may be history’s largest initial public offering for a tech company on Friday. But is it really a good business?

Maybe not, say an increasing number of critics, who point to how Facebook ads don’t work as well as marketers might hope. As a result, General Motors unfriended the social network, and now, says Larry Kim of internet marketing software firm Wordstream, Facebook ads aren’t converting surfers into customers effectively.

We’ve known for some time that Facebook ads have poor engagement. In fact, they have an average click-through rate of .05 percent, which is almost 10 times worse than Google’s display ad network. That means that for every thousand viewers, precisely half a person will click on your Facebook ad.

For the full, ugly details, see Kim’s infographic at the bottom of this post.

Even for an increasingly ad-blind internet, that’s not just bad, it’s horrific. So VentureBeat talked to Kim and asked: What is it about Facebook ads that makes click-through rates so low?

“There are two factors, primarily,” said Kim. “The first has to do with ad formats. On Facebook, you have very vanilla, very basic ads only. They’re not very compelling, and not very engaging.” In contrast, ad units on other sites or apps are richer, more media-centric, and more interactive. And, there’s simply more choice in style, size, and positioning.

“The second problem is ad targeting,” Kim said. “Facebook is really, really good at identifying demographics and interests, but not very good at deciphering intent.” In other words: Facebook knows who you are, but it doesn’t know very much about what you want right now. As Kim says, “Just because you like cars doesn’t mean you’re ready to buy a car today.”

The result is predictable: irrelevant ads. “We define relevancy as the right message to the right people at the right time,” says Kim. If a message isn’t relevant, you’d expect it to be ignored, and that’s what’s actually happening on Facebook, he says.

This, of course, compares poorly with Google, where intent is much clearer, particularly on searches. If someone is Googling for a specific keyword right now, it’s a pretty good indication of their intent — much better than the fact they “liked” Car & Driver‘s Facebook brand page some time ago.

So what’s causing the issue? Kim blamed lack of innovation. Sponsored ads were Facebook’s most recent ad format update, but Kim is not impressed. “I applaud Facebook for trying to be more engaging and relevant, but this is their second ad effort in six to seven years.”

“I wish Mr. Zuckerberg could be open to the possibility that ads would not ruin Facebook, and delivering the right ads could deliver value to both advertisers and users,” Kim said. “I think it would be really profound if they could get a clue.”

Photo credit: Luc Legay on Flickr

Filed under: social

Former Ohio State linebacker Andrew Sweat has a real shot at the NFL, if he wants it. But Sweat won’t risk head trauma by living out the dream of millions of kids across America — and he used Twitter to confirm his decision not to chase an NFL contract.

The Columbus Dispatch originally reported that Sweat told the paper his choice on Friday in a text message. On Sunday night, Sweat told the rest of the world with this tweet:

Concussion symptoms didn’t want to risk it.. Thanks to the browns for the opportunity. Health trumps football any day

— Andrew Sweat (@asweat42) May 14, 2012

The next day, posts on the popular sports blog Deadspin and legal blog Above the Law chewed up and spit out Sweat’s decision to forego NFL riches, where a rookie minimum contract commands $390,000. Above the Law called it “the biggest mistake of his life.” By Wednesday morning, CNN had picked up the story as well.

Sweat‘s statement takes on added significance following the suicide of NFL legend Junior Seau earlier this month. News of Seau’s death spread rapidly on Twitter, as fans, players and media commentators debated the role that a career of high-impact collisions may have had on Seau’s mental health (see gallery below).

Over the past couple years, the NFL has been increasingly framed by some as a blood sport that has become too dangerous for humans to play and fans to not watch with a free conscious. In that context, Sweat’s decision probably makes perfect sense to many. But Above the Law and Deadspin both argued that a dragging economy in the law field means Sweat is unlikely to land in a desirable spot without an elite education.

Fittingly, Sweat went back on Twitter to rebuke that assertion:

@Deadspin might need to get facts right. “good setup” my dad has a very successful law firm think I’m okay here..

— Andrew Sweat (@asweat42) May 14, 2012

Do you think Sweat is making the right decision, or a huge mistake? And do you think Twitter was an appropriate place for him to discuss the choice? Let us know in the comments.

BONUS GALLERY: Twitter Mourns Junior Seau, Questions Pro Football
1. @DeionSanders

NFL legend Deion Sanders expressed disbelief when he first heard the news.

Click here to view this gallery.

Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, LUGO

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Looking for a rodent to help you frag your way through the competition, southpaw style? The FCC may have just uncovered your new best friend: The Razer Ouroboros gaming mouse. Like the Cyborg RAT series, the Ouroboros features a sliding palm rest and swappable side panels to better fit your mitt. Unlike the RAT, however, Razer's rodent is completely symmetrical, and therefor, ambidextrous. While Ouroboros may not actually devour its tail, it can at least detach it, switching between wired and wireless modes with relative ease. The versatile vermin appears to pack nine buttons (the regular left and right triggers, three buttons on each side, plus the mouse wheel), a toggle for on-the-fly DPI adjustments, left / right trigger locks, compatibility for Windows 7 and MAC OS X and a charging stand. No word yet on the device's max DPI sensitivity or price point, but we'll let you know when Razer makes things official. In the meantime, feel free to browse the rodent's manual at the source link below.

Razer's Ouroboros gaming mouse outed by the FCC, transforms to fit lefties originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 21:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung's CES blitz included a tease of five new camcorders, but precious little in the way of launch details. Some of the mystery has ended, as two of the camcorders -- the QF20 and W300 -- are at last hitting US stores. The QF20 caters to the Internet crowd and, for $350, will let you upload your 20x-zoomed 1080p videos straight to Facebook, Picasa or YouTube without thrusting a computer into the process. If you're more concerned about your camera surviving a rafting trip than producing viral videos, the W300 will give you dustproofing, 15-foot waterproofing and 6-foot shockproofing in a pocketable form for a more frugal $160. We're still waiting on launches for the camcorders' closely-related F80, Q20 and W350 (pictured) cousins, but for now you can catch full details of the QF20 and W300 after the break.

Continue reading Samsung ships QF20 camcorder with WiFi, toughened-up W300 pocket cam

Samsung ships QF20 camcorder with WiFi, toughened-up W300 pocket cam originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 20:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On this week's edition of the Gadget Lab Show, the gang takes a gander at the Nook Simple Touch e-reader and Pebble Smartwatch, the most successful Kickstarter project ever.

How many articles have been written about Facebook in its eight-year history? Impossible to tell — by the time you came up with an estimate, no doubt, another dozen would have been added to the list.

It is, at least, easy to pinpoint the very first story written about the social network. It appeared in the Harvard Crimson on February 9, 2004, five days after Zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com from his dorm room. The headline says it all: “Hundreds Register for New Facebook Website.”

Nowadays, of course, hundreds of new users sign up for Facebook every minute. But in those first few days, 650 signups across the university was a huge deal — and Zuck wasn’t shy when it came to crowing to the Crimson:

“Everyone’s been talking a lot about a universal face book within Harvard,” Zuckerberg said. “I think it’s kind of silly that it would take the University a couple of years to get around to it. I can do it better than they can, and I can do it in a week.”

This is classic young Zuckerberg; the same cocky punk who handed out business cards that read “I’m CEO, bitch.” Still, there’s one very humbling detail further down the article:

Just as with the popular website Friendster, which Zuckerberg said was a model for his new website, members can search for people according to their interests and can create an online network of friends.

That’s it — no mention of the Winklevoss twins, whom as we all know had been hoping to build a similar Harvard-based site with Zuckerberg’s help just weeks previously. But a very clear pointer to the primacy of Friendster, the only widely-known social network at the time (save, perhaps, for the up-and-coming MySpace).

In 2004, Friendster was at the height of its powers, but also frustrating its users with slow load times, and on the edge of imploding. Some months after this article, it would begin a dizzying succession of CEOs that would hasten its decline (and eventual transformation into a Malaysia-based social gaming service).

If only someone had alerted Friendster’s founder (and then CEO) Jonathan Abrams to this genius coder at Harvard who had created an homage to his site, the future of social media might have turned out very differently.

Even then, however, it might have been too late. One week later, a second Harvard Crimson article on Zuckerberg revealed that the site had shot up to 4,300 users — or 55% of the student population. Facebook was well on its way.

Does the Facebook founder owe a debt of gratitude to Friendster? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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It's like Highlights for kids, but with a decidedly techno-centric spin. The company known more for what it's put inside our gadgetry has just unveiled a new digital magazine, iQ, intended for the youthful, über-connected masses. Looking much like Flipboard in design and borrowing a live tile-ish approach, the internally-curated Intel webzine culls content from outside pubs and mixes it in with original and partner-contributed pieces to, as EIC Bryan Rhoads puts it, "tell... the bigger story of who we are as a brand." Indeed, it may do just that via the circuitous route of social recommendations, given that each news box grows in prominence along with its viral importance. There's no paid or free app to download, just a simple URL to link you to that dynamic "front page." So, if you feel your angst-ridden teenagers are in need of an industry-specific educational focus, this might be one site to add to their bookmarks.

Intel launches youth-focused iQ webzine, tells its brand story through aggregation originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 20:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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mcleland writes "I'm not getting the bandwidth I paid for from my DSL connection. My '3mbps' fluctuates between about 2.7 during the day down to 0.1 or 0.2 in the evening according to speedtest.net. Let's assume DSL is the only viable option for broadband at my house and I can't really move right now (rural area, on north face of the mountain, no cable service, very poor cell coverage). This was discussed 6 years ago, but I'd like to see if there are any current thoughts on whether I'm just stuck or if there is some way to make the ISP hold up its end."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Conch shell flower pots, Radio Flyer wagons-turned-go-karts, bamboo bicycles. The Internet's made it easy to share individual projects. But the web's also given designers a sense of community, says Shoshana Berger, Wired Development Editor and curator of Wired Design, the magazine's newest addition to its website. Ten years ago, creative types didn't have outlets like Etsy ...

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