Facebook fights clickbait articles, you won’t believe what happens next
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Source: Facebook Newsroom
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App security flaw makes your iPhone call without asking
If you’re an iPhone user, you may want to be cautious about opening messages that contain phone numbers in the near future; they may cost you a lot of money. Developer Andrei Neculaesei notes that maliciously coded links in some apps will abuse the “tel” web handler (which covers dialing) to automatically make a phone call the moment you view a message. Potentially, an evildoer could force you to call an expensive toll number before you’ve had a chance to hang up. The exploit isn’t limited to any one app or developer, either. Facebook Messenger, Gmail and Google+ all fall prey to the attack, and it’s likely that other, less recognizable apps exhibit similar behavior. Apple’s Safari browser will ask you before starting a call, but FaceTime’s behavior lets you pull a similar (though not directly related) stunt.
In many cases, it’s the developers who are to blame. They’re supposed to put tighter controls on what happens when a number comes in, such as giving you a warning. However, Apple could theoretically mitigate the issue by requiring prompts for all phone links. You may not have to worry about a spam flood in practice, but let’s hope app writers act quickly — as Android users have already learned, “tel” exploits can cause a lot of grief if left unchecked.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Apple, Google, Facebook
Via: PCWorld
Source: Algorithm.dk
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India makes ‘liking’ blasphemous content illegal
India’s previously criticized Facebook for not censoring material that was critical of its government, so let’s agree that the country has something of a strained relationship with social media. Now, however, the south-west state of Karnataka has announced that even clicking ‘like’ on a post could land you in jail for 90 days before you even get to see a magistrate. Because India has no blasphemy laws, any material that could offend someone’s religious beliefs is prosecuted as hate speech, and that includes uploading, forwarding, sharing, liking and retweeting something. We hate to be cynical, but we can’t imagine it’ll be long before the first dissenting voice gets thrown in jail to protect the feelings of the government general population
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Source: MediaNama
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Facebook is doling out bounties to folks who find Oculus bugs
Facebook has a storied history of shelling out bounties to whomever manages to unearth bugs in its systems, and according to The Verge now it’s willing to pay out cash to folks to find who do the same for Oculus VR’s code. Interested? You’ll stand to make a minimum of $500 for your efforts, and just how high that reward goes depends on the complexity and severity of the issue you dig up. This sort of bug hunting has the potential to become an awfully lucrative hobby – after all, Facebook didn’t shell out billions of dollars to invest in the future of communication only to skimp when it comes to patching potentially critical problems. Here’s the thing, though: you probably won’t be ferreting out bugs in the Oculus hardware just yet. Facebook product security engineer Neal Poole told The Verge that most of the issues facing Oculus aren’t found in the face-mounted VR goggles; instead, they lay dormant on Oculus’ website and in the messaging system developers use to keep tabs on each other. Yeah, we know, sort of bummer – just know that Poole didn’t completely close the door on more involved bug hunts down the road.
Via: The Verge
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Facebook is testing a “satire” tag to help you figure out what’s real and what’s not
Sure, you’re smart enough to know that “New Study Finds Humans Shouldn’t Spend More Than 5 Consecutive Hours Together” is a headline from well-known satirical publication The Onion. But not everyone is, which could lead to some misdirected — and embarrassing — outrage. That could be a thing of the past, however, as Facebook is currently testing a “Satire” tag that’ll distinguish fake news from the real deal. Ars Technica found that if you click through an Onion article, for example, Facebook would then automatically tag related articles with the aforementioned “satire” text in the headline (see screenshot after the break). A Facebook spokesperson confirmed this with the following statement:
“We are running a small test which shows the text ‘[Satire]‘ in front of links to satirical articles in the related articles unit in News Feed. This is because we received feedback that people wanted a clearer way to distinguish satirical articles from others in these units.”
As Ars Technica notes, this doesn’t seem to apply to all parody sites and is only for related article headlines so far. And, honestly, we’re not sure if a “satire” tag is a great idea — maybe you should be made fun of if you actually think stories like these are true. In the mean time, we’re holding out hope for a “Check Snopes before posting” reminder instead.
[Image credit: Steve Rhodes/Flickr, screenshot from Ars Technica]
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Source: Ars Technica
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Facebook brings voice to its Windows Phone Messenger app
Facebook Messenger for Windows Phone hasn’t always been quite as feature rich as its counterparts on other platforms — it’s just over five months old now, after all — but the social giant is quickly trying to close that gap. Case in point: the latest Messenger update finally packs the ability to send voice messages, something users have apparently been clamoring over for ages now. Since you’ll now have the ability to verbally chatter with your compadres (alas, there’s still no proper voice calling), it’s probably for the best that the update also comes with tweaks to reduce the amount of data the app consumes. Throw in the ability to fire off emoticons at your pals and you’ve got yourself this new build in a nutshell — it’s waiting in the Windows Store for you whenever you’re ready to gab.
Filed under: Mobile
Via: PhoneScoop
Source: Windows Store
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Google’s experimental Hangouts app borrows inspiration from Facebook
Ever since it ditched Google Talk and integrated everything into Hangouts, Google’s messaging service has become pervasive on mobile and the web. While the search giant routinely adds new features, a bigger update could be on the way, at least according to a new leak from Chrome tinkerer Florian Kiersch. He got his hands on a recent test build of Hangouts, known internally as UltraViolet, that shows Google is testing a new interface that mimics the “chat heads” found in Facebook’s Messenger app on Android. According to Kiersch, floating profile icons are just one of the many UI changes expected to come to Hangouts in the near future, but thanks to the experimental nature of the leaked browser app, it’s the only new feature we’re able to lay eyes on, at least for now.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Google
Via: Android Police
Source: Caschys Blog
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Facebook wants to get Hollywood directors and studios interested in the Oculus Rift
Those virtual reality tie-ins that were all the rage at Comic-Con (Pacific Rim, X-Men, Sleepy Hollow) could just be the tip of the iceberg for the Oculus Rift. Judging by the response they garnered the partnership seems like a no-brainer, and The Information reports that Oculus’ new owner Facebook has been meeting with studio execs and individual directors to create special content for the headset. Even though we’ve already seen examples of how to bring recorded video and live events to VR from companies like Next 3D, the focus here seems to be on companion shorts to start. That’s just one way Zuckerberg & Co. can recoup their $2 billion investment, the only question now is what can Hollywood dream up to take advantage of the headset’s immersiveness — and keep from wasting the opportunity as its done so often with tech like 3D and IMAX.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Facebook
Source: The Information
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Facebook Messenger adds support for Android Wear
Facebook Messenger has become the latest high profile application to integrate support for Android Wear. An update to the app now lets users view and respond to messages in addition to being able to “Like” them. Once a message arrives you can swipe to enable a voice reply or a tap to “Like” it. Good luck hiding…… Read more »
The post Facebook Messenger adds support for Android Wear appeared first on AndroidGuys.
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Celebrities outside of the US can now get Facebook’s Mentions app
If you didn’t already know, Facebook is targeting the celebrity set with a new iPhone-only app called Mentions. However, when it launched in July, it was only available to musicians, actors, athletes and government officials in the US. Today, the company has lifted one restriction, making it available to socially important people in over 40 countries worldwide, including the UK. The bad news is that you’re probably not a big enough deal to use it. Mentions is designed to help VIP’s interact with fans via their verified Facebook page, allowing them to post updates, host live Q&A sessions and identify if they’re trending. Tyrese Gibson supposedly used it to share news of Apple’s Beats acquisition with the world, but really it’s the overworked PAs trying to keep on top of their employers’ social lives who will be secretly rubbing their hands following today’s expansion.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Facebook
Source: Facebook Mentions (App Store)
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AIVAnet 