Social networking

The story so far: Microsoft has dispensed with defense and is throwing at least five (very) wide receivers at Apple -- and Google, Samsung, and whoever else stands in the way of it and nirvana.

Wednesday, Redmond released an ad in which it kidnapped Siri and persuaded her to denigrate the iPad, as if it was, oh, the rotund man in glasses who used to represent Microsoft.

Thursday, the company decided to release another ad offering that the iPad was nothing other than a slab of old bloat. At least when compared, for example, to the slightly lesser-known Asus VivoTab. … Read more

Twitter users may see more videos start to pop up in their timelines.

The microblogging site has already worked with companies to display videos in their tweets. ESPN and Ford Fusion teamed up to show instant replays in tweets during college football games. Turner Sports, the NCAA, AT&T, and Coke Zero united to tweet real-time video highlights of basketball games.

But now this program has a name and a bunch of new partners.

Dubbed Twitter Amplify, the program will expand to show Twitter users more video clips, accompanied by short ads. The tweeted videos tie in with programs … Read more

Eighteen months after a national launch, San Francisco-based startup Nextdoor is making its neighborhood-only social networks accessible from iPhone and giving people a quick-response way to spread urgent alerts or exchange messages with neighbors.

Nextdoor plays host to nearly 13,000 neighborhood networks spread across all 50 states in the U.S., with each one private to members in the area who must verify their address before they join.

The service, which has raised around $50 million in funding, is partnered with more than 100 police departments to provide people with information on pressing city matters. It has particularly high … Read more

Yahoo is clearly aware that many Flickr users are unhappy about the photo-sharing site's new look and layout.

On Monday, Yahoo revamped Flickr with a host of changes, including a larger photo layout, new home page and photo stream page, and 1TB of free storage space per person. But Flickr users quickly expressed their unhappiness over the changes. A slew of people chimed in on the site's help forum to give the new look a thumb's down and pleading for a return to the old style.

Users are always thrown by major changes to their favorite Web … Read more

Microsoft isn't bothering to merely flex its muscles these days.

It's opening fire in all directions, because what is there to lose? Oh, perhaps money. But apart from that.

It's gone after Google in a quite chilling manner. It's gone after the Apple-Samsung phone feud.

So, in a further escalation of hostilities, a new Windows 8 ad sees Microsoft take Siri hostage, tie her up in a chair, and make her tell the truth. … Read more

Technology and love have a long relationship.

In recent times, the former has played the dominant role.

We now find partners online and one-night stands on our phones.

However, Samsung would like you to know that the best way to meet the woman of your dreams is to pull out your gadget and stalk her a little.

Perhaps this is already your preferred form of seduction. This new Galaxy S4 ad will be, therefore, a touch redundant for you.

For the rest of us, though, it is an education. Here is a boy who cannot help taking pictures of the … Read more

Starting Wednesday, LinkedIn will be sporting a much sexier and simplified navigation bar inspired by the design of its just-improved mobile applications.

"Over the last year and half we've had the chance to learn quite a bit from you about the types of changes that add the most value to your daily professional life, and we've brought some of these learnings to the new navigation," LinkedIn Principal Designer Amy Parnell wrote in blog post.

The idea is to make LinkedIn's navigation menu on the Web not only nicer looking, but easier to use. The search … Read more

It's not easy being the boss at 1 Infinite Loophole.

Instead of traveling around the world to expand your business and inspire your troops, you go to Washington in order to expand narrow minds and perspire at the absurdity.

You even have to find a polite way to answer Sen. John McCain when he demands to know why he's always having to update his iPhone apps. … Read more

After several high-profile incriminating pictures hitting the Intertubes this year, TMZ reports that Justin Bieber wants all visitors to his Calabasas, Calif., mega mansion to sign a liability waiver restricting any social-media divulge about the goings-on behind closed doors.

The supposed waiver (PDF) isn't the friendliest welcome mat, as anyone with loose lips automatically gets pegged with a $5 million lawsuit -- plus they forfeit a few rights, including the ability to sue Bieber.

"Without in any way limiting the foregoing, under no circumstances will you divulge the details of you entering and being on the Property or engaging in the Activities by any means or through any media whatsoever, including without limitation, through photographs, video, blogging, texting, "tweeting" or posting any such information on any social-media site," says the alleged waiver. … Read more