Twitter Adds Two-Step Authentication Feature

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Twitter has finally implemented a two-step authentication feature to keep its users’ accounts more secure. The extra security measure is the use of a phone to verify a user.

“With login verification enabled, your existing applications will continue to work without disruption. If you need to sign in to your Twitter account on other devices or apps, visit your applications page to generate a temporary password to log in and authorize that application,” writes Jim O’Leary, twitter Product Security Team. “Of course, even with this new security option turned on, it’s still important for you to use a strong password and follow the rest of our advice for keeping your account secure.”

https://youtube.com/watch?v=IsdvJI0AK5M

“This release is built on top of Twitter via SMS, so we need to be able to send a text to your phone before you can enroll in login verification (which may not work with some cell phone providers),” he added. “However, much of the server-side engineering work required to ship this feature has cleared the way for us to deliver more account security enhancements in the future. Stay tuned.”Source: Blog.Twitter.com

Mayer Gives Flickr A Makeover

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By Elena Zanone 

Yesterday Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer took to the stage at the company’s New York headquarters to debut a long awaited redesign for a majority of the Internet — the revamping of photography website Flickr.

The new and improved interface emphasizes high-resolution photographs, removing the wide open white space and clutter that once surrounded images. In addition to the aesthetic changes, the company is also generously giving all users one terabyte of storage free of cost. Yahoo! says that equates to an impressive 537,731 photos at 6.5 megapixels each.

“You can take all the pictures ever taken and upload them to Flickr . . . and there would [still be room].” Mayer said.

Yahoo! acquired Flickr back in 2005, but the photo-sharing service suffered under persistent mismanagement and Yahoo!’s inability to make Flickr better.

In fact, when Mayer took the CEO chair last year, a web campaign to redesign Flickr went viral. The website DearMarissaMayer.com launched and had one ask: “Please make Flickr awesome again.”

While Flickr suffered, Facebook and Pinterest became the dominant photo-sharing apps, and later, Instagram became the app of choice for photo sharing with friends and family.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer even acknowledged that the Flickr acquisition “didn’t go so well.”

“I think Flickr is awesome again with these new announcements,” Mayer said. “Photos make the world go around. Flickr was awesome once. It languished. But now it’s awesome again.”

Flickr users seem to agree. The petition site now reads, “Dear Marissa Mayer, Thank you for making Flickr awesome again” in bold all caps.

Before

 

Now

“We’ve made Flickr spectacular,” Mayer said. “We’ve got full high-resolution photos. You don’t lose any fidelity. No one else does that.”

The improved Flickr photo platform came only hours after the company’s dramatic acquisition of blogging site Tumblr for $1.1billion.

Source: VentureBeat

Social Media’s Battle Of The Sexes

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Recently Internet Service Providers created a detailed infographic highlighting the differences between men and women across social media platforms. Surprisingly, the study revealed more than just the fact that more females populate Pinterest. For instance, women do the bulk of Facebook sharing (more than 62 percent are on the largest social network) while more men are on LinkedIn than women at 54 percent. Men also spend more time on YouTube each week than women, clocking an hour compared to 35 minutes for women. Twitter appears to be female-dominated, around 62 percent are female and, not surprisingly, Pinterest is 70 percent women users.

Overall, a higher percentage of women (71 percent) use social media than men (62 percent). For more differences, enjoy the image below:

Source: Internet Service Providers

Twitter ‘A Threat to National Unity’ According To Saudi Arabia

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By Elena Zanone

Last week BBC news reported that the head of Saudi Arabia’s religious police Sheikh Abdul Latif Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh has warned its citizens against using Twitter, a platform that has been gaining in popularity among Saudis over the past few years.

The religious boss believes that anyone using social media sites, especially Twitter, “has lost this world and his afterlife.”

As BBC elaborates,  Abdul Aziz al ash-Shaikh’s comments are just the latest in a collaborative effort from the kingdom’s disgruntled officials in attacking the U.S.-based 140-character microblogging site because its difficulty in tracking users and what is being said on the platform.

His remarks reflect overarching concerns from the capital over Saudis using the platform to discuss sensitive political and other issues.

“The sheikh’s comments echo those of the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in April who used his sermon – seen by millions on TV – to warn that Twitter was a threat to national unity.” stated a BBC news correspondent.

Unlike some other social sites like Facebook, Twitter allows people to maintain multiple accounts and maintain them anonymously. That protection has allowed Saudis to use the real-time network as an immediate and effective platform to shed light into a traditionally opaque society.

In fact, protests in the Eastern Province were recently tweeted and images of human rights activists on trial were uploaded directly from courtrooms, challenging many taboos in the country.

The authorities are taking action and a number of web activists have already been detained. However, some elements of the Saudi elite have also warned against moving too harshly on social network users.

Billionaire businessman Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a self-proclaimed reformist, has described attempts to restrict social media as a losing battle.

Souce: BBC News

Twitter’s ‘Game of Thrones’ Favorites Are Coming

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Earlier this week BuzzFeed analyzed 200,000 tweets relating to HBO’s Game of Thrones to determine viewers’ demographics and positive and negative sentiments to different characters. Using what they call “ninja machine learning techniques,” the website discovered that there are more male viewers than female, more New Yorkers than Californians, and that everyone — male or female — is in love with the captivating Khaleesi.

The website also found Twitter users’ favorite and least favorite members of the Game of Thrones universe, measured by the percentage of positive and negative tweets.

Not a major shocker, the social study deemed Jon Snow the bronze recipient of the top favorites. Barely edged out by his brother.

 

Robb Stark, besides his militant struggles in the show, made runner-up to the top fan favorite.

The Queen of Twitter is the lovely Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons.

Sitting in the loser throne is Joffrey Baratheon with the highest number of negative reactions on Twitter.

Which GOT character is your favorite Let us know in the comments below! 

Source: BuzzFeed

Arizona Bistro Has Epic Social Media Meltdown

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This week may have marked one of the most fantastical social media faux pas the internet has ever seen. Earlier this week two hapless Arizona restaurant owners of Amy’s Baking Company became the first to be abandoned by no-nonsense chef Gordon Ramsay on Kitchen Nightmares. The two have now become the subject of online ridicule after their unsophisticated attempts to repair their reputation using social media.

Husband and wife Samy and Amy Bouzaglo, who butted heads with the TV chef after inviting him to critique their Italian bistro and bakery, took on the entire Internet of what they repeatedly call ‘haters’ after the episode aired on Fox last week showing the married owners in an unflattering light.

 

The owners, who have already established a less than flattering social media presence, took to the restaurant’s Facebook page to post their reaction to the show.

“We do not feel the need to make any excuses for our behavior on tonight’s show.However we would like to make the following statement: We do not, nor have we ever stolen or taken any of our servers ,waitresses, or waiters tips at Amy’s Baking Company.We pay our staff members anywhere between $8.00 to $14.00 per hour to ensure that at the end of the week regardless of it being busy or not, that they go home with money and a well paid paycheck. As do many other restaurants.They are aware of this when they are hired.I would challenge any of our employees past or present to come forward with proof that we have ever done such a horrible thing.
So please enjoy the show! Amy & Samy”

Naturally, when a tainted restaurant with a history of ranting against web reviewers is focused on by a prime time television show, one can only expect to see a storm of backlash through social media platforms. The owners unfortunately fell right into the laps of the Internet trolls.

 

 

 

 

 

The owners have since claimed that all of their social media accounts were hacked and posted the following to the restaurant’s Facebook page. Of course, users responded swiftly and with much skepticism.

 

 

 

Since the avalanche of online and media attention, Forbes social media contributing writer Kelly Clay has outlined a well-written playbook for brands to learn from the unsavvy small business owners.

Source: BuzzFeed

KIFFLOM Wants You

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Rockstar has launched a promotional site for the notorious Epsilon program, a faux-religion of Los Santos. Fans are instructed to submit their photo via a multitude of sharing sites and join now with the chance that they may appear as a Kifflom follower in GTA V.

Click here to download the official Epsilon program screensaver.

To learn more about the tenets of Kifflom and watch a brief video, click here.

For Twitter updates, you can follow @EpsilonProgram.

If you would like to donate you can send a check or money order to:

Cris Formage
Epsilon Cult of America
PO Box 10012
Grand Canaria
Cayman Islands

You can also send a fax at 1-866-FUN-CULT.

 

Fast & Furious Star: ‘Facebook Owes Me Billions Of Dollars’

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In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Fast & Furious star Vin Diesel joked that Facebook owes him billions of dollars.

The 45-year-old claimed he helped boost the social network’s profile when he signed on back in 2009, creating a maelstrom of online fans that have now swelled into a colossal page with over 41 million Likes.

“What Facebook didn’t realize is something very big was about to happen, and that was, for the first time in history, and it’s kind of a fluke they didn’t see this coming, when I jumped on that page in April 2009, I started talking to people. In the realest ways,” Diesel told the magazine.

Facebook pages for Rihanna, Lady Gaga, The Simpsons and other high profile pages have since eclipsed the actor, but in the early years of the social network, Diesel was on top. He attributes that social media success to fan engagement and personal involvement.

“My audience knows me so well on the page that if my producing partner’s in the room when I post, they’ll know somebody was around me. That’s kind of cool, that’s how sophisticated they are. Facebook really owes me billions of dollars. But whatever.”

According to Diesel, when he first signed up he was the only person whose Facebook page had more than a million fans, runner-up to President Barack Obama. Now, because of his intimate involvement on the network his online fandom has even surpassed Mr. President. Even Facebook headquarters originally didn’t understand how he was so popular on the new site.

“Facebook used to ask me to come up to their office to explain what the f–k I was doing, and why I had so many fans,” he reminisced. His secret, he believes, is that he decided to stick with a personal approach.

“I never let anyone do a post, I never let anyone post for me in the last four years,” he told the magazine.

“Imagine if you could’ve been a Facebook friend to Marlon Brando, or whoever your role models are. Imagine, if you were able to Facebook Elvis, and talk to him, and hear from him without the Hollywood of it all.”

Source: USmagazine

Comedians Bring Facebook Updates Into Your Living Room

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Facebook is notorious for successively changing its design structure, algorithm and privacy settings often frustrating users and marketers. In order to shed some humorous light on the platform’s frequent renovations Los Angeles based comedy sketch group Extremely Decent has responded to this very feeling of frustration with their take on what it would look like if Facebook were tangible and making daily changes in users’ homes.

The comedy ensemble touches on customary changes to what is displayed in the News Feed by showing the video’s main character’s favorite comfy couch being replaced with a chair and his TV downgraded to make room for a bookshelf he didn’t want or need.

Of course, the comedy group also touches on Facebook’s changing advertising placement – replacing the protagonist’s personal wall photos with what looks like awkward dating website ads and other various adverts.

The social network’s privacy settings get a real life part in the bit too when the main character opens the door to his bedroom only to find high-school friends he hasn’t seen in years rifling through his private possessions with people he’s never met before.

The video was uploaded to YouTube less than a day ago and has already received over 900,000 views.

Check out the video above and tell us what you think in the comments below.

Source: Mashable

Set Your Phasers To Stun!

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Action Movie FX lets you add Hollywood FX to iPhone AND iPad movies that YOU shoot! The Star Trek Into Darkness Update features 5 FX (3 for FREE!) that include models and assets from the actual film, all created by the VFX masters at Industrial Light & Magic!

100% of Bad Robot’s proceeds from the STAR TREK PACK (TRANSPORTER & WARP!) will be donated to THE MISSION CONTINUES, a charity that supports post-9/11 veterans. See the app to learn more!