Here’s where you’re most likely to take an Instagram photo
Certain locations are obviously Instagram photo magnets, like the Golden Gate Bridge or Times Square. Have you wondered which locations are actually the most popular, though? Busbud has done some legwork to find out. The tourism site recently published an interactive map that shows the most popular locations on Instagram in each US state and Canadian province… and they’re not necessarily the ones you’re expecting. It makes sense that Disneyland would be a hotspot for Californians, for example, but you might not know that Dollywood gets the most attention in Tennessee — sorry, Elvis.
The data also reveals which location types lure the most shutterbugs. It won’t shock you to hear that parks top the list in the US, but you probably didn’t expect wineries and vineyards to be close behind. Also, North Americans don’t share the same tastes — Canadians are fonder of landmarks and historic sites. Yes, this info is a not-so-subtle plug for Busbud’s ticket-finding service, but it might prove helpful if you’re wondering what to visit when you’re in unfamiliar territory.
Source: Busbud
Instagram blames Apple for strict anti-nudity stance
There’s a reason why the #freethenipple campaign blew up on Instagram: the photo-sharing website is typically quick to pull down posts showing women’s nipples, even if there’s nothing pornographic about the photos. Why? Well, according to Business Insider, the app’s cofounder puts the blame on Apple. Instagram CEO Kevyn Systrom explained his Facebook-owned company’s side during a talk in London, claiming that its guidelines can’t be changed due to Apple’s age rating. Since IG wants to retain its current 12+ rating in order to have a wider audience — only rated 17+ apps are allowed to feature explicit content — it has to continue taking down posts that showcase nudity.
It’s worth noting, however, that photos showing men’s nipples don’t get deleted, and a quick search on the app using the right keywords will surface truly pornographic posts. Mic also pointed out that Twitter’s full of porn accounts and posts despite its 4+-year-old rating, but Apple hasn’t kicked it off the App Store yet. A number of celebrities helped the #freethenipple campaign take off on Instagram, some even posting topless photos of themselves. They include comedian/host Chelsea Handler, pop star Miley Cyrus and models Chrissy Teigen and Naomi Campbell, whose magazine photo with fully visible nipples stayed up for 20 hours before the app pulled it down.
[Image credit: PhotoObjects.net/Getty]
Outlook on the web borrows Facebook’s Like and Twitter’s @mention
Microsoft is giving Outlook on the web a couple of familiar social media-flavored features. First, it’s adding a thumbs up on every email, which you can click on the reading pane. That gives you a way to publicly “Like” or show ideas support, particularly for school/work group messages — if someone else likes the email you sent, you’ll get a notification. The other one is obviously inspired by Twitter’s @mentions: when you want to call someone’s attention in the body of an email, simply type @ to open up your directory and list of frequent contacts. If the person wasn’t originally in the group message, his email address will automatically be added in the To: box.
You can enjoy both features soon if you have an Office 365 commercial subscription that comes with Outlook on the web. Office 365 First Release customers will get the Like feature sometime today and @mentions by mid-October. Everybody else, on the other hand, will have to wait until late October to see a thumbs up icon in their emails and until mid-November to @mention somebody in a group message.
Source: Microsoft Office
Facebook to support short videos as profile pictures
Fed of up boring profile pictures? Well, Facebook will soon allow all of its users to stick up a short looping video in place of a regular motion-less profile picture.
Along with the new short video clips, Facebook will also be updating its social network to support temporary profile pictures that will revert back to a default after a set period of time. Facebook envisages users temporarily changing their picture for special events, such as birthdays or a vacation, to show support for sports teams or simply to reflect your mood.
This update aims to offer users a lot more choice over how their profile looks and Facebook is also adding in a new customizable space at the top of your profile. This space can be filled with details about your location, education or place of work and can also be accompanied by a selection of up to five of your favourite photos.
Finally, mobile profiles will be receiving a layout tweak which moves the profile photo or video right into the centre of the page and also makes them slightly larger. Photos and friends are also moved closer to the top of the page, which Facebook says will help people get to know each other a little easier.
This update is only available for a small number of iPhone users living in the UK and California at the moment, but it will be rolling out to every Facebook user in the near future.
Facebook brings videos and temporary pictures to your profile
Users will soon have a host of new ways to personalize their profiles and control what content is shared on their walls, Facebook announced on Wednesday. The biggest change comes as tweaks to the mobile app UI. Your profile picture will be centered on the screen and the entire profile page is being revamped to “better present information about you and your friends in a more visually engaging way,” according to a release from the company.
And what a profile picture it will be. Facebook also announced the addition of profile videos. These small, looping clips (not unlike Apple’s new “Live Photos“) will be publicly available. Facebook is just “starting to test” the feature so there isn’t much more detail currently available. The company is also investigating a feature that would allow users to post temporary profile pictures which would revert back to the original after a set length of time. So if you have a special profile pic you like to use during say holidays or vacations you’ll be able to “set and forget” that image in your profile.
One the privacy front, users will soon be able to control what facts about them appear on their profile. That is, you’ll be able to pick and choose (and reorder) which public About fields are displayed. You’ll also be able to highlight up to five Featured Photos at the top of the profile page.
[Image Credit: Getty]
Facebook will help the UN bring internet access to refugee camps
Refugees already have a hard life, but that’s made worse by the typical lack of internet access at refugee camps — unless you resettle, you may never get online. Facebook isn’t content with this state of affairs, however, and is promising to help the United Nations bring internet access to those camps. Company chief Mark Zuckerberg (who revealed the plans at a luncheon) didn’t explain how and where this would take place, but it won’t be shocking if Facebook relies on its upcoming internet drones to connect these sometimes remote places.
As with efforts from Google and Microsoft, this gesture isn’t strictly about kindness. Facebook knows that more internet access means more potential users. As Mark Zuckerberg explains, though, this is an instance where everyone could benefit. Facebook gets more ad views, while refugees can communicate with the rest of the world and (hopefully) get closer to finding permanent homes.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Emrah Gurel]
Source: New York Times
Unfriending Facebook friends can be considered bullying in Australia
It’s tempting to unfriend people on social networks when you’re mad at them, but you may want to think twice about it when coworkers are involved… at least, in Australia. The country’s Fair Work Commission has determined that an administrator’s decision to unfriend a fellow employee on Facebook constituted evidence of bullying. While this wasn’t the only example (there was plenty of name-calling and purposeful neglect), it helped demonstrate the “lack of emotional maturity” involved with the harassment. As a result, the victim now has an order to stop the bullying, which triggered anxiety, depression and sleeping disorders.
It’s doubtful that you’ll see cases that lean primarily on unfriending as evidence. However, the act may prove more important in legal disputes down the road. After all, it’s frequently a strong sign that one person has fallen out of favor with another. Don’t be shocked if your fellow staffers are more reluctant to accept your friend requests in the future — they may be worried that any online connections could work against them down the line.
[Image credit: Oli Dunkley, Flickr]
Via: News.com.au, CNET
Source: Fair Work Commission
How Netflix works in virtual reality, and why it’s not HD
It’s true, the Netflix VR app is ready for your compatible* Samsung phone and Gear VR headset (if you don’t see it, try uninstalling and reinstalling the Oculus app), and has a virtual living room for you to chill in. Oculus CTO John Carmack worked with Netflix on the app, and in a post to the tech blog explained how it all comes together. Besides the technical details of how the app creates a screen inside a virtual environment, and includes controls for use while browsing or viewing, Carmack also explained one more thing: the streaming video in VR is limited to standard definition (720×480). According to Carmack, because the area you’re actually looking at is only composed of so many pixels, anything higher than 720p is the highest res video you should consider for VR right now. The reason he can’t hit that mark? Content protection, aka DRM.
The Hollywood studios have very strict requirements about the path their content takes within the device, in order to prevent someone from making a high-quality copy directly from the stream. Because of the nature of how it’s rendered in VR in order to blend with the virtual world, this stream doesn’t quite cut it, and so it has to make do with a less-than-HD source feed. This isn’t going to be the case with all video setups in virtual reality, as NextVR (behind the Oculus event stream and the upcoming Democratic Party debate VR stream with CNN) has DRM implemented on its streams for the Gear VR. Fox said its movies in the Oculus store would be in HD, and we’ll be interested to see if they’re available in HD on all devices.
So after all the pixel counting is done, the real question is — how did it look? I gave it a shot on a Galaxy Note 4 plugged into the original Gear VR headset, and it was surprisingly good. The video stream was clear, and the virtual world actually did help settle me in. The resolution wasn’t nearly as much of an issue as you would expect. While it’s not the sharpest or highest quality looking stream, I saw very little artifacting, and decent color reproduction. Watching the racing documentary Gonchi, subtitles were perfectly clear and readable with no eye strain or any other problems.
RoadtoVR posted this video of the experience that should give you an idea of what it’s like. In virtual reality, the screen seemed a lot like watching an 80-inch 1080p HDTV, and just like HDTVs that large, when you’re up close you can start to make out pixels. There aren’t any advanced features like group watching (perfect time to bring back the Xbox 360’s old Movie Party feature, Netflix), but it can lose the virtual living room and go to “void mode” to save on battery. As for higher res, Netflix says it does not have “near term” plans to add HD streaming for VR because of “technical limitations there that could sacrifice a comfortable viewing experience.”
John Carmack said he watched the entire season of Daredevil in VR for “testing” purposes. I’m not sure I would want to use it for that long, but mostly because of the weight of the first-gen Gear VR (the new unit unveiled yesterday is significantly lighter). It’s hardly a replacement for an actual living room and big-screen TV, but Netflix VR is already good enough to fill in when that’s just not an option.
[Image credit: (top) AFP/Getty Images]
Source: Netflix Tech Blog
Now anybody can be a blogger using Facebook Notes
Facebook announced a host of changes to its Notes feature on Friday. Notes originally appeared on the site as a means for users to write extended entries (not unlike Engadget’s own Public Access) though it never really caught on with the user base. However, the update transforms Notes into a tiny CMS within the Facebook ecosystem. Changes include the ability to add cover art, caption images, resize inline photos and format text.
You can see the difference between the two iterations in the image above. Instead of the standard wall of plaintext that longform Facebook posts have traditionally eschewed, the additional formatting makes the entries much easier to read and digest. And though the editing feature is exclusively web-based, the new Notes do appear on mobile as well.
[Image Credit: Facebook]
Source: Facebook
‘Free Basics by Facebook’ replaces Internet.org website and app
A few months ago, Facebook opened up the Internet.org platform to developers after being accused of violating net neutrality rules, mostly by users in India. Now, Zuckerberg’s project has added 60 new services created by third-party developers, including BabyCenter for pregnancy and parenting info and SmartBusiness for novice entrepreneurs. Since it has undergone quite an overhaul, it has also been renamed to “Free Basics by Facebook” to distinguish it from the larger Internet.org initiative. The revamped website comes with a menu where its users in Asia, Africa and Latin America can choose which services to activate and access. In addition, the new mobile website — now FreeBasics.com instead of Internet.org — supports HTTPS just like the Android app does. Note that the platform is still open to developers, and those interested in helping out can get all the details from the Internet.org platform page on Facebook.
Source: Internet.org
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