Facebook Messenger is getting a new Home screen

Facebook is continuing to evolve its Messenger app. Following the announcement earlier this week that built-in SMS support had returned to the messaging service on Android, the social network has just announced that its incredibly popular application wiill be receiving a revamped look.

Messenger’s redesigned homepage keeps the most recent conversations at the top, but scrolling past them will reveal a new section that shows your favorite contacts. It contains the family and friends you engage with most on Messenger.

Beneath this is a new section that reminds you of people’s birthdays. Not that Facebook itself doesn’t have enough ways of alerting you when a person you barely know gets another year older.

The final and arguably best new part of the Messenger update is the “Active Now” section. It works in the same way as the chat sidebar found on the desktop version of Facebook, showing a green dot next to people who are currently online. There’s also a “see all” option that brings up a list of all friends that are available on Messenger.

Explaining the changes in a blog post, the company wrote: “Up until now, most inbox experiences haven’t kept up with the new ways people connect.So, we’ve been thinking about how we can make it simpler and easier to find what you want to start a conversation.”

Facebook didn’t say when Messenger’s 900 million users can expect to see its new look, but the rollout probably won’t take long to get here. The company didn’t mention which platforms will be supported but, seeing as it’s only shown iOS images so far, it may arrive on Apple’s handsets before coming to Android.

Ori here > 

Facebook now officially owns WhatsApp

By Ellis Hamburger on October 6, 2014 10:20 am

Eight months after announcing its intent to acquire messaging giant WhatsApp, the deal has finally gone through. Facebook announced the closing of the deal with the SEC in the United States, and with the European Commission in Europe. Since the deal was announced for $19 billion, its price tag has actually increased to a whopping $21.8 billion. This is in part due to Facebook's rising stock price over the last several months, Recode points out.

As WhatsApp officially joins the Facebook fold, WhatsApp founder Jan Koum has joined Facebook's board. He will also be paid just $1 per year like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, according to filings, but has been given a very hefty purse of Facebook shares to hold on to. Facebook now has the right to do whatever it wants with WhatsApp, though the company likely won't make any dramatic changes to the service for a long while. Facebook has pledged to operate its latest acquisitions, from Instagram to Oculus, largely independently — seeing as these companies were already doing so well on their own. For example, don't expect WhatsApp to abandon its $1 / year business model or add advertisements any time soon.

"There would have been no partnership between our two companies if we had to compromise on the core principles that will always define our company, our vision and our product," Koum said when the deal news broke months ago. Facebook does, however, plan to its new businesses to achieving larger scale, according to Facebook. Like Mark Zuckeberg said on a recent earnings call, it's all about ramping up Instagram, Oculus, and now WhatsApp to reaching one billion users. So why mess with something that isn't broke?

asal disini

WhatsApp Web - wanna use it?

Part 1 - Using Google Chrome & Android

This WhatsApp Web review (as we go on) is from an end-user perspective. I am a late WhatsApp user - just had a samsung smartphone with android version 4.2.2. I had opted to use WhatsApp Web, due to my physical shortcomings. You may like WhatsApp Web, if you like to try - here’s how, Kindly note that WhatsApp Web is browser based.

1] Checking your Browser.

Firstly, you have to check that your browser is ‘compatible’ with WhatsApp Web. As for me, I have been religiously using Google Chrome, for Chrome the version needed is minimum ver36 or above. To check your browser’s version – just key in whatversion.net in the navigation bar and once that page is fully loaded just press on the browser you are using, in my case the Chrome (for now I cannot advice you on the versions of other browsers need to operate WhatsApp Web) I am using is:-

2] to use WhatsApp Web - Follow this simple steps here:-

Open this site on your browser (by keying in the navigation bar)  

: - Web.whatsapp.com         

Open WhatsApp on you android (I am using Samsung)

In Chat tab, Go to WhatsApp Web menu and pressed it[the green buttons tell you where & how to get the relevant menu]

3] "Camera mode" will be activated automatically, scan the QR code on the screen with the phone, in the required location [square boundary on your phone], let the phone read the code, a scanning cursor is there as a guide. An Example of the QR code is given below. Please remember to “tick” where the green notification is, to avoid having to activate WhatsApp Web frequently.

Your phone need to be "on" and stay connected all the time, to the internet to use WhatsApp Web on PC.

<end of part 1>

fixing the Internet?

Last week, the administration said the United States will begin negotiations to cede control of one of the Net’s most powerful institutions, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. Currently overseen by the Department of Commerce, ICANN will be taken over by an international agency to be assembled later. The process is set to begin next week in Singapore, where the current ICANN members are scheduled to meet.

More here>>

Who controls the Internet?
a short history & the future? Published on 24 Mar 2014

The Internet began as a Pentagon-funded project called ARPANET, a network linking computers in some American universities and government agencies. Eventually, it was opened up to become the world wide web, connecting everything from computers and mobile phones to tablets and video game consoles.No one government fully controls the Internet, but the US does regulate some protocols. Faced with pressures, it is now considering relinquishing some of it to global stakeholders.Al Jazeera's Gerald Tan reports.

Facebook To Buy WhatsApp For $19 Billion

WhatsApp's Brian Acton and Jan Koum are billionaires
thanks to a $19 billion deal with Facebook.
(Photo: Robert Gallagher for Forbes)

Facebook announced on Wednesday afternoon that it had reached an agreement to buy popular mobile messaging startup WhatsApp for an upfront total of $16 billion, including $4 billion in cash and about $12 billion in Facebook shares.

Co-founder and CEO Jan Koum will join Facebook’s Board of Directors, but WhatsApp will continue to operate independently within Facebook, much like Instagram. The purchase price could rise to as much as $19 billion once you factor in an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units that will be granted to WhatsApp’s founders and employees vesting over four years.

full news here >>>

Google launches voice search app

Published on 7 Nov 2013 | Google Voice Search aims to understand the context of requests, allowing follow-up questions to be asked on the same topic. This means someone asking about the current weather in Birmingham, for example, could then ask: "How do I get there?" - without reminding the device which city they are referring to. Google claim the new voice search is faster than its nearest rival, Apple's Siri facility, and also provides users with more detailed answers.

Experts Say Leave Twitter IPO to Professionals

Published on 7 Nov 2013 | Google Voice Search aims to understand the context of requests, allowing follow-up questions to be asked on the same topic. This means someone asking about the current weather in Birmingham, for example, could then ask: "How do I get there?" - without reminding the device which city they are referring to. Google claim the new voice search is faster than its nearest rival, Apple's Siri facility, and also provides users with more detailed answers.

What is Social Media?

Twitter is an excellent example of a social media website. (Image of Twitter)

What are Social Media Sites? | By Daniel Nations

Social media is a phrase being tossed around a lot these days, but it can sometimes be difficult to answer the question of what is social media. If MySpace is a social media site, and Mag.nolia is a social media site, and Wikipedia is a social media site, then just what is social media?

Is it social networking?

Is it social bookmarking?

Is it wiki?

What is Social Media?

The best way to define social media is to break it down. Media is an instrument on communication, like a newspaper or a radio, so social media would be a social instrument of communication.

In Web 2.0 terms, this would be a website that doesn't just give you information, but interacts with you while giving you that information. This interaction can be as simple as asking for your comments or letting you vote on an article, or it can be as complex as Flixster recommending movies to you based on the ratings of other people with similar interests.

Think of regular media as a one-way street where you can read a newspaper or listen to a report on television, but you have very limited ability to give your thoughts on the matter.

Social media, on the other hand, is a two-way street that gives you the ability to communicate too.

30-Second Tech Trick: Search Twitter Back to 2006

Published on 25 Sep 2013

The next big IPO : Twitter

Twitter well-placed to exploit the future

The news of the initial public offering of Twitter Inc. is unsurprisingly doing well on the micro-blogger's platform. It is the most hotly anticipated IPO since that of its predecessor as the hot social networking platform, Facebook, in May 2012. As it stands, the announcement appears to be a clever trial balloon. It enables the pioneering micro-blogging company to test the waters for valuations, without any obligation to actually undertake an IPO in a given timeframe. What Twitter did was to use the "jumpstart our business startups" or JOBS option to file an S-1 declaration to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The S-1 merely signifies an intention to make an IPO sometime. The financials declared may be kept confidential until 21 days before the first IPO road show. In fact, Twitter was under no obligation to even declare it had filed an S-1. All that's known for sure is that Goldman Sachs is the lead underwriter, and that annual revenues are under $1 billion, since that is the cut-off for S-1 eligibility. Market estimates are that revenues are about $500-600 million. Previous venture capital offerings suggest Twitter is valued at around $11-14 billion; but it reportedly refused a 100 per cent buyout offer for $14 billion earlier this year. Silicon Valley believes that Twitter's revenues more than doubled in the last year and revenues could treble again by 2015. Its CEO, Dick Costolo, claims that Twitter makes more from mobile micro-applications, than from web advertising. This is interesting since mobile is the growth platform of the future, and Twitter appears well-placed to exploit it.

Comparisons with Facebook are inevitable. Twitter has just 200 million accounts compared to Facebook's billion-plus. And Facebook's market value at $110 billion is also many multiples more than that of Twitter. However, Twitter users match Facebook users in terms of sheer volume. People tend to tweet far more often than they update Facebook. The social media search engine, Topsy, has indexed over 425 billion tweets since 2010. The service has evolved from the simple text messages it offered when launched back in 2007. Twitter delivers multimedia content, embedded links and micro-applications. It is the latter that are reportedly generating the major mobile revenue. The platform-agnostic nature of 140-character tweets is of major importance. It means Twitter is similar in looks and functionality on mobile and the big screen, and no more difficult to use than a short messaging service or SMS. Facebook, in contrast, has struggled to generate revenues on mobile, where it offers an attenuated experience compared to the big screen. As more people go mobile, it is difficult not to imagine that the future belongs to Twitter.

The immediacy of Twitter contact and the ability to reach total strangers are revolutionary. The hashtag (#) delineating content has proved so popular that other social media companies are trying to emulate it. Twitter also triggered new paradigms in terms of political, bureaucratic and corporate brand-building and feedback since it removed the layers insulating billionaire CEOs, political leaders and bureaucrats from the common man. It has also forced media to accelerate the delivery of breaking news. Everything from the raid that killed Osama bin Laden to the Boston bombings to Tahrir Square, sundry natural disasters and communal riots hits Twitter within minutes. Adoption is growing - fastest, it appears, in the 55-64 age group - the age-cohort with the most money. Monetising any web-based service has always been a headache. Twitter seems to have put together a working business model with its combination of advertising, direct marketing reach and its micro-applications. The IPO strategy, timing, pricing and structuring will presumably depend on the feedback it gets from the S-1 announcement. Well-handled, the IPO could be more successful than Facebook's, which has so far, struggled to justify its IPO valuations.

source >>>

A Security Expert Says Get A 2nd Offline Computer!

Published on 10 Aug 2013 | Most home computers have malware or spyware in them.

Twitter users stage protest in the UK

Published on 4 Aug 2013 : Users of the Social Networking site, Twitter, are staging their own protest in the UK against the online menace of trolling, when abusive and threatening messages are sent to other users. The call to boycott the social networking site for 24 hours follows a series of death threats and abusive messages sent to prominent women on Twitter. Twitter has apologised and attempted to tackle the problem by updating its rules and complaints proceedure, but the attacks have continued.

Meet Gmail's New Inbox

Published on May 29, 2013 : New customizable tabs put you back in control so that you can see what's new at a glance and decide which emails you want to read and when.

Twitter sued for $50m after refusing to reveal anti-Semitic tweeter identities.

The Union of Jewish French Students (UEJF) has sued Twitter and is pursuing further court action after the social networking site declined to expose names of anti-Semitic tweet authors, despite a French court ruling commanding their identification.

The case began in October 2012, when #UnBonJuif (a good Jew) and # UnJuifMort (a dead Jew) became popular tags for posts on Twitter. Over 350,000 tweets were posted.

In January, the French Court decision decreed that Twitter was bound to hand over the names of the authors of the tweets. The UEJF demanded that it release the names so that police action could be taken against the authors for ‘hate speech’.

Twitter ignored the ruling, saying it was “currently reviewing the court’s decision” at the time of issue. It was given 15 days to either give up the names, or file an appeal. The ruling was exactly two months ago on Sunday.

It was said that Twitter would have to pay 1,000 euro (approximately US$1300) a day until it gave up the names. Given the time elapsed, it has left itself open to fines of around 44,000 euro (just over $57,000).

Action on this decision was still pending when UEJF filed the new $50 million lawsuit with a Paris correctional tribunal earlier this week. The lawsuit claims damages because of Twitter’s refusal to provide names.

Google now redirects Picasa Web Albums to Google+ Photos.

Google is once again trying hard to convince users of Picasa Web Albums to jump over to Google+ Photos.

The URL http://picasaweb.google.com no longer brings you to Picasa Web Albums but instead redirects you to Google+ Photos. As described by the Google Operating System Blog, which is unaffiliated with Google, you have to enter the URL https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos?noredirect=1 to sneak back into Picasa Web Albums.

You only need to enter that URL once, though. After you use it the first time, Google sets a cookie that turns off the redirection. So you can then go back to using http://picasaweb.google.com to access your Picasa photo album page.

Google has been touting Google+ as the "new home" for your photo albums. The search giant has already replaced Picasa Web with Google+ Photos in the navigation bar and has been redirecting individual photo albums to the Google+ interface, according to the Google Operating System Blog.

MORE HERE >>

YouTube Studios Aim To Increase Viewership

Published on 11 Mar 2013 : YouTube no longer shows mostly home videos of cute babies and pets. Recently, it opened high tech production studios in London, New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo. The aim is to improve the quality of what's on YouTube at a time when the Internet is becoming the main source of entertainment for the younger generation in many parts of the world.

Half of Parents Join Facebook to Creep on Their Kids.

Elisha Hartwig

Are you friends with your parents on Facebook? You might be surprised to find out that one in two parents join Facebook just to keep tabs on their kids. In our increasingly digital world, it is difficult for parents to monitor their children's activities — so perusing social media is an obvious solution. 

To give you more heebie-jeebies, 43% of parents check out their kid's profile daily — with special interest given to status updates and photos you are tagged in. So you might want to think twice before you tag yourself at that frat party doing a perfect keg-stand. 

This data is courtesy of Education Database Online, a resource designed to help current and prospective students learn about the many educational opportunities and higher degree programs available within the United States.

 

more here >>

Facebook Just Declared War on Google: Meet Your New Search Engine

Today's big bad Facebook revelation is a search engine—not for the web, but for your life. And it's just another step in Facebook's attempt to conquer the entire Internet. Meet Graph Search.

Facebook's search has been convoluted and weak for years until now—it's hard to expect what you get when you type anything in, even if it's your best friend's name. People, pages, maybe places. Boring and often broken. But with today's search monster, Zuckerberg isn't just offering you a way to find your friends (or college frenemies). And it's beyond just some attempt at a Google replacement. It's an attempt to do what Google failed at doing—pulling all the information that matters to you within the context of your social life, skipping the results that are popular to The Internet, in favor of the results that are popular within a group you actually give a damn about. Not a horde of strangers. Everyone you know uses Facebook, and now those people are going to work for you when you search.

For example: searching for a sushi restaurant won't just bring up a well-linked list a la Google. Instead, your restaurant query will be answered with a little help from your friends, presenting you with suggestions based on where your relations have checked in. Or if you're looking for music, the recent selections of your pals will inform the results. For any occasion, the answer doesn't lie with some invisible algorithm pointed out toward the web void, but at the people you know, who are doing or have done the thing you're talking about. Your friends' experiences will give you answers to what you're wondering. At least that's the idea. And if it works, we'll have all the reason to skip opening a new tab headed to Google.com—an enormous victory for Facebook, and a profound change in how we all use the Internet every single day.

from Gizmodo : Sam Biddle -  read more >>

The new YouTube app for iPad

From : The YouTube Team

Introducing the new YouTube app for iPad Get the new app now Improved search & faster loading More ways to share A sleek new design

Also available for iPhone and Android Update your app through the App Store. Update your app through Google Play. New features: Improved search New tools include auto-suggestion and the ability to browse for new videos while you watch More ways to share Share a video on Google+, Facebook, Twitter, email or text message — right from the YouTube app More videos Tens of thousands of videos now unlocked for your phone

Social media analyst: Internet censorship is a grave concern

Published on 2 Dec 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish : The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an agency of the United Nations responsible for international information and communication technologies regulations, is set to meet in Dubai to revise regulations for the first time since 1988.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Thomas Crampton, the Asia Pacific director of social media at the communications firm Ogilvy and Mather, says much is at stake in the negotiations.