facebook

Does Mark know? Winklevii claim they own 1 percent of all Bitcoins

As I understand it, Bitcoin is the currency we will all use to buy gruel and grits when the current financial world's gills turn green.

It seems to be based on the idea of one person trusting another, which is an idea that has caused more wars, divorces, tears, and surgeries than any other.

Recently, Bitcoin endured something of a correction in value. This has not stopped those who have ideas ahead of their time, and even above their station, to invest.

The New York Times tells me today that the Winklevoss brothers -- yes, they who claimed Facebook was their idea … Read more

The 404 1,247: Where we hop in the ball pit with Emily Dreyfuss (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Hi-fi reviews based purely on the feel of the knob .

- Which celebrities can you pay to message on Facebook?

- Can you bully a celebrity? Short answer: no.

- How the hell do you pronounce GIF anyway?

- Follow Emily Dreyfuss on Twitter.… Read more

Mark Zuckerberg launches FWD.us political action group

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has launched a new political action group, FWD.us, to focus on immigration reform.

Zuckerberg, who announced the move through an editorial in The Washington Post, called U.S. immigration policy "strange" for a nation of immigrants and "unfit for today's world."

As a result, a deep roster of tech executives have banded to together to push a bipartisan policy agenda to change how the U.S. approaches immigration. The group has vowed to work with members of Congress from both parties, the administration, and state and local officials. It plans … Read more

HTC's 'Facebook' First will be front and center at AT&T

The Facebook-powered HTC First can count on at least one close friend: AT&T.

The Dallas-based wireless carrier, which is the exclusive partner to Facebook and HTC for the First, is promising to give the device its most prominent position in stores when it launches on Friday. That's because AT&T considers the HTC First its flagship smartphone for the spring, Claudia Knop, a device executive with the carrier, told CNET.

It's a curious decision by AT&T, which also has the HTC One and Galaxy S4 waiting in the wings. While AT&T … Read more

FB Plus for Facebook 1.2 Review

Facebook's signature app is updated often but still manages to be too slow for many users. Sadly, most of the apps that offer a faster experience don't have much else to offer. You can add FB Plus for Facebook to that list as well. Not only is it slower than Facebook's own app, scrolling can make you a little green around the gills.

This app doesn't offer any big improvements over Facebook's app. FB Plus for Facebook offers a layout Facebook abandoned a few updates ago, with a few weirdly placed buttons and annoying banner … Read more

Facebook Online Notification 1.2.0 Review

Need to talk with a friend but don't want to waste precious time on Facebook? This nifty app can alert you when they sign on. Facebook Online Notifications works well overall, but you may find it to be a drain on your battery.

In our tests, it seemed like the app was only able to tell if someone was online if they had their chat on. While most Facebook users leave it on by default, you'll still have some who have it turned off, so you could miss some of your circle when they get on the site. … Read more

Facebook Mobile With Chat 2.7 Review

Despite its sleek look, the default Facebook app on phones can be bulky and slow. Facebook Mobile With Chat is a free app that claims to get you faster browsing and posting, but you probably won't notice those improvements. What you will notice are the ads that Facebook Mobile With Chat litters your phone with.

As expected, you need to sign in with your Facebook credentials for this app to work. Once you're logged in, the app is the spitting image of the regular Facebook client. Everything is laid out exactly the same and the speeds aren't … Read more

Facebook boosts ad targeting with partner categories

Ever amping up new ways for advertisers to engage with users, Facebook began rolling out a new feature today that doubles down on the social network's use of ad targeting.

Dubbed "partner categories," Facebook's new feature aims to target ads to more categories of people. These categories use data from third parties, such as Acxiom, Datalogix, and Epsilon, to glean information about what users buy on the Web.

Here's more from a Facebook blog post:

For example, a local car dealership can now show ads to people who are likely in the market for a … Read more

Reddit co-founder sharpens knife for CISPA fight

As Congress readies for what's sure to be a heated debate over the controversial cybersecurity bill CISPA, leaders in the tech community are speaking out.

Unsurprisingly, a known activist for Internet freedom and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian is one of those leading the charge. In a comical video released today in conjunction with digital rights advocate group Fight for the Future, Ohanian calls on tech CEOs to join his cause (see below).

"I'm hoping all of these tech companies take the stand that their privacy policies matter. Their users' privacy matters," Ohanian said in the video. &… Read more

Facebook adds icons and links to status updates

Facebook is adding a new twist to status updates as of today. Any TV show, movie, or book that users mention in their status update will also contain an icon and link to the Facebook page of whatever's mentioned.

"For example, if you share that you're watching a movie like 'Jurassic Park,' your post will contain the movie icon and a link to the movie's page," Facebook wrote in a blog post today. "'Jurassic Park' will be added to the Movies section on your timeline."

In other words, those TV shows, movies, or … Read more