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Aug 29

Japan considers using social networks in disaster situations

Emergency services are embracing technology as new ways to investigate, send alerts and receive reports of crises. And now, the Japanese are looking at social networks to support communication in disaster scenarios, especially when traditional services fail. The local Fire and Disaster Management Agency put together a panel discussion on just that topic, with representatives attending from the likes of Twitter, Yahoo, Mixi and NHN Japan, as well as various government and emergency bodies. The talk was motivated, in part, by the March tsunami, when the internet was the sole means of information for some, and with initiatives like Google’s Person Finder playing a role in the aftermath. Any formal implementation of the ideas discussed is probably a long way off, and this is the first of three planned meets to hash it out. In the meantime, however, Twitter’s Japanese blog posted some suggestions on how their network could be used in emergencies — we just hope they won’t be needed anytime soon.

Filed under: Internet

Japan considers using social networks in disaster situations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source PCWorld, Twitter blog (Japanese) | Email this | Comments

Aug 28

Facebook Camera update adds notifications, lets you pick and choose albums

Posted in: Today's Chili

The Facebook Camera just scored a nice little update in the iTunes app store. Now the filter-equipped shooter will let you pick and choose which folders to upload your pics to — something that probably should have been included in version one. It also brings notifications to the party, letting you keep track of when friends comment, tag or like a photo. It’s actually not bad for a measly .1 update.

Filed under: Mobile

Facebook Camera update adds notifications, lets you pick and choose albums originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 17:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source Facebook | Email this | Comments

Aug 27

App.net causes a HooHa with its first Android app

Posted in: Today's Chili

It’s a good time for confusingly-named App.net, hot on the heels of smashing its funding goal and cooking up its first terms of service, the paid-Twitter startup now has an Android mobile client. HooHa chief Deniz Veli told The Next Web that he cooked up the software after seeing a “thriving developer community” surrounding the new service — with many presumably encouraged by Twitter’s recent API changes. Like the service itself, the app is only an Alpha release, but you can download it for free at the Play Store, no need to causes a hoo-hah (geddit?).

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software

App.net causes a HooHa with its first Android app originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 08:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Next Web | source The Modern Ink | Email this | Comments

Aug 24

App.Net posts terms of service, asks for feedback

Posted in: Today's Chili

Against all odds App.Net met its funding goal, which has allowed the fledgling social network to shift its focus to the next phase of its founding. That means putting together all those essential documents that will govern its operation, including a terms of service and privacy policy. Creator Dalton Caldwell has posted first drafts of several docs and asked his backers for feedback, offering them an attempt to shape the rules that will guide how the site is run. Those policy documents are also going to be subjected to a quarterly review, which should allow the service to remain nimble if some rules turn out to be controversial or cumbersome. For more info, check out the source link.

Filed under: Internet

App.Net posts terms of service, asks for feedback originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 12:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Next Web | source App.Net (GitHub) | Email this | Comments

Aug 22

Facebook for Android app updated with messaging emoji, easy event creation and a bit more

Posted in: Today's Chili

If you were wondering what features would be on the way after Facebook ditched pre-Froyo Android support for its app your questions have been answered. This revision lets users easily create events from their mobiles, share photos quicker and annoy their friends across platforms thanks to the kind of emoji iOS users have been annoying each other with for ages. In the screenshot above you see the new event creation pages and messaging screen where friends can toss in the icons or a picture while chatting privately, although updating to v1.9.8 will require a manual approval since it also seeks permission to obtain your location via coarse network-based methods. Assuming you’re already down with Facebook’s Open Graph-enabled tendrils snaking their way throughout your digital life (and, as an existing user already allowed it access to precise GPS-based location data) that’s probably not too much of an issue, hit the Google Play link below to upgrade.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Facebook for Android app updated with messaging emoji, easy event creation and a bit more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 01:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source Google Play | Email this | Comments

Aug 22

Twitter warned by Indian government to kibosh inflammatory tweets

Posted in: Today's Chili

India’s in the midst of a security crisis and has asked Twitter to curtail “inflammatory messages” or prepare to face legal action, according to the Times of India. The country has shut down numerous websites, while Google and Facebook have already pledged to remove any threatening content. Officials reportedly said that Twitter “failed to cooperate” in efforts to curb messages or help the government find their source, despite an earlier pledge by the social network to censor content when a country demanded it. Indian ISPs have started blocking the service’s accounts, according to TNW, but not Twitter itself, as the site first reported. In any case, the country still has a long way to go to catch the censorship leader.

Filed under: Internet

Twitter warned by Indian government to kibosh inflammatory tweets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 07:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET | source Times of India | Email this | Comments

Aug 22

Facebook adds mention tagging to Open Graph for more efficient name-dropping

Posted in: Today's Chili

Facebook has given developers that link to the social network with Open Graph a new way let let users play tag with their friends — while also increasing exposure to their app. It’s called mention tagging, and allows a user to link a friend in the text body of a message, and is not to be confused with action tagging, an existing feature which references friends only in story text. The option requires a deliberate action by the user, so the developer must implement a way to clearly show how to do that with an icon (as shown above for Foursquare) or drop-down menu, for instance. Apps must also distinguish between action and mention tags, and are not allowed to pre-fill them in the message — that can only be done by the user. Though no privacy changes are needed, Facebook requires apps using the feature to request user approval before any action can be taken. All that would increase tagging and app visibility significantly — so developers will likely be all over it.

Filed under: Internet

Facebook adds mention tagging to Open Graph for more efficient name-dropping originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 03:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source Facebook Developer Blog | Email this | Comments

Aug 18

Facebook to backup its servers with low-power storage devices at ‘Sub-Zero’ data center

Posted in: Today's Chili

Data backups come in all shapes and sizes. For some, they take the form of external hard drives or a slice of the amorphous cloud. As for Facebook, its upcoming solution is low-power deep-storage hardware contained within a 62,000 square-foot building in Prineville, Oregon near its existing Beaver State data center. Unofficially referred to as “Sub-Zero,” the facility will store a copy of the social network’s data in case its primary servers need to be restored in an emergency. Rather than continuously power HDDs that are only occasionally used, the new setup can conserve energy by lighting-up drives just when they’re needed. One of the company’s existing server racks eats up around 4.5 kilowatts, while those at Sub-Zero are each expected to consume approximately 1.5 kilowatts once they’re up and running. Tom Furlong, Facebook’s vice president of site operations, told Wired that there are hopes to create a similar structure alongside the firm’s North Carolina data center. Since the Prineville project is still being planned, Zuckerberg & Co. have roughly six to nine months to suss out all the details before your photos are backed up at the new digs.

Filed under: Storage, Internet

Facebook to backup its servers with low-power storage devices at ‘Sub-Zero’ data center originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Aug 2012 20:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge | source Wired | Email this | Comments

Aug 16

Facebook starts really, truly deleting removed photos

Posted in: Today's Chili

For those who haven’t kept track, Facebook has had a years-long history of only maybe-sort-of-more-or-less purging our photos: they could be removed from a profile, but they would sometimes float around the site’s content delivery networks for months or years, just waiting for a prospective employer to spot those embarrassing frosh week snapshots by accident. As Ars Technica discovered through experiments and official remarks, that problem should now be solved. In the wake of a months-long photo storage system migration and an updated deletion policy, Facebook now won’t let removed photos sit for more than 30 days in the content network stream before they’re scrubbed once and for all. The improved reaction time isn’t as rapid as for a service like Instagram, where photos vanish almost immediately, but it might be a lifesaver for privacy advocates — or just anyone who’s ever worn a lampshade on their head in a moment of insobriety.

Filed under: Internet

Facebook starts really, truly deleting removed photos originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source Ars Technica | Email this | Comments

Aug 16

Instagram 3.0 adds Photo Maps, infinite scrolling and speed improvements (video)

Posted in: Today's Chili

Wondering if that Facebook acquisition would slow down the pace of innovation at Instagram? Perhaps v3.0 will answer that. The famed photo sharing network — now some 80 million users deep — is detailing its latest user interface overhaul today, and geolocation is at the heart of it. Lining up with our own feelings on the benefits of geotagging and the usefulness of tagged photos from an archive / diary perspective, the newest edition of the app introduces a Photo Maps view. As the name implies, it overlays photos with a map underneath, giving people a far more visual look at what they were seeing at a given point on Earth (or Mars, assuming Curiosity hasn’t reached its data limit this month).

Beyond that, the app includes “multi-line caption editing, more streamlined photo uploading, speed improvements and infinite scroll,” according to our pals at TechCrunch. Interestingly, the Twitter “Find Friends” feature has been yanked in the latest build due to Twitter shutting off its API to the company last month. If you’re wondering about a master plan for Photo Maps, it’s pretty simple; just as you’d tune into #nbcfail on Twitter to read the latest musings about the Summer Olympics, hovering over London in Instagram could give you a highly filtered look at what kind of photos are emerging from an event in real time. And really, who wouldn’t want to see 807 sepia-infused 1:1 shots of Usain Bolt? Per usual, you’ll find the demo vid after the break.

Gallery: Instagram 3.0 on Android