Loccit Puts All Your Social Networking Activities in Print

I used to keep a diary until I realized that I was just copying down events and things I said about my day from my social media accounts. Not that I share personal details or too much information online. However, I have realized that it’s easier to sum up my day in 140 characters than spend about 30 minutes a day to write it all down.

Loccit

Compiling everything and printing a modern diary sounds like hard work, though, which is why I find the concept of Loccit so appealing. It’s an online service that lets you print and bind your posts and updates from various social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Loccit ships to Europe and the US, although the prices aren’t going to be so friendly to your wallet: a hardback diary costs £14.99 (~$25 USD), and each page after the twentieth will cost 20 pence (about 32 cents.)

What do you think of the concept? Would you want all your online memories printed out, or are they best left “in the cloud?”

[via Red Ferret]

Instagram Class-Action Lawsuit Demands Right to File Class-Action Lawsuits

Yowza, it hasn’t been the best month for Instagram. After changing their terms of service to allow them to use images for advertising purposes – and facing a huge backlash by its users, Instagram came back and redacted the changes. Apparently, this didn’t placate everyone. It actually doesn’t surprise me, ever since Instagram was bought by Facebook, I’ve been expecting this kind of upheaval.

instagram sign

Now, Instagram is facing a class-action lawsuit, which was filed by the San Diego-based law firm Finkelstein & Krinsk. Instagram user Lucy Funes, on behalf of all others against Instagram, claimed a breach of contract and other claims. The claims say that Instagram is also attempting to cover its tail by prohibiting users from seeking legal injunction against the service, adding a mandatory arbitration clause, and a $100 limitation of liability. In addition, they are demanding that users be allowed to export images should they decide to leave the service – something not currently permitted.

Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes simply responded to the lawsuit as follows: “We believe this complaint is without merit and we will fight it vigorously.” 

[via Ubergizmo]

Websites Skew Prices Based on Where You Live

Depending on where you live, Staples might try to sell you a more expensive stapler. The Wall Street Journal has conducted an Important Investigation and found that a lot of online retailers vary their pricing based on the buyer’s location. More »

Facebook Testing Paid Messaging

Some people love Facebook, some people hate it. For me, it’s somewhere in-between. Unlike some other services like Twitter for which I keep a tab or a screen open, I check on what’s happening on FB a couple of times a day, no more. Facebook has announced that effective December 20, they will allow a small group of users to pay in order to have their messages routed directly to your inbox.

facebook messages

During the test, Facebook will let select non-connected users send messages into your inbox, instead of going to the “other” folder. It’s supposed to be an experiment that will validate the usefulness and create a new revenue stream for Facebook. They’re claiming it’s supposed to discourage unwanted messages and facilitate delivery of messages that are relevant and useful. Has anyone ever heard of useful spam? I haven’t.

On the plus side, there will be a maximum of one message per user per week – and is charging $1 per message – so it’s unlikely that it can be abused by spammers – at least not yet. However, it’s unclear how the service will evolve once the testing ends.

[via Facebook]

Canoodle Dating Site Finds a Suitable Pair By Pairing up Your Facebook Likes

Online dating sites are a dime a dozen nowadays. In order to get noticed, a site really has to up their game and offer something that others don’t. For example, Trekkie Dating is a site that specializes in pairing Star Trek fans with other fans.

Another example is Canoodle, which pairs up its users based on their Facebook ‘Likes’.

Canoodle1That obviously isn’t the only criteria they’re looking at, but it’s one of them.

It might seem silly at the outset, but it’s a pretty sensible feature if you think about it. Many people are faced with the pressure of creating a really good profile so that other users checking out their page will be interested in them.

Canoodle

This is where the ‘Like’ matching feature comes in handy. Because aside from a good profile, users can now try to find their match based on similar pages and interests that they’ve ‘liked’ on the popular social network.

What do you think?

[via BuzzFeed]

Someone’s Going to Get a $20,000 Flash Mob Wedding Proposal Soon

If you were eyeing that flash mob wedding that was up for sale on Gilt, then too bad, because it looks like someone already beat you to it.

News about the 20-grand proposal offer first made its rounds on the interwebs about a week ago. It obviously caught someone’s eye because it is now marked as ‘sold out.’

flash mob wedding proposalThe offer included providing the proposer with up to 30 dancers to pose as dinner guests, who will be guided by an ‘award-winning’ photographer. A professional videographer to capture the entire event on tape (and for YouTube) will also be available at the proposer’s disposal. Of course, it also included a gourmet five-course tasting menu and wine pairings at New York’s Artisanal Fromagerie and Bistro for the happy couple. I’m not sure if the flash mob itself gets anything to eat.

There’s also a specified date for the proposal: December 12th. So whoever bought it better have that ring ready, because the twelfth is coming very soon.

[via Racked]

Twitter Parody Accounts Hail the Eventual Arrival of the #royalbaby

So it’s official: Prince William and Kate are having a baby. To some, it’s great news. To the curious, it’s information worth knowing. To the vast population, it’s merely news that doesn’t have anything to do with them. But among this latter group exists a smaller group who make it their business to talk about it anyway: Twitter parody accounts.

Royal TwitterIf you’re active on Twitter, then chances are you’ve seen a couple of these accounts and might even be following some of them.

They’re mostly there for comic relief when you need it. With the lack of mockable news lately, it’s only to be expected that most of them will leech onto news of Kate’s pregnancy:

Royal Twitter1 175x175
Royal Twitter2 175x175
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Royal Twitter4 175x175
Royal Twitter 175x175

Laugh a little. If you like what you see, then follow them for more.

[via BuzzFeed]

Birds on Twitter: Real Birds are Tweeting Online (and in Real Life)

A baby girl named Hashtag. A fox that can answer calls and send text messages. And now birds that tweet? Now I’ve seen everything.

Of course, these birds were only able to do so with the help of humans. They didn’t really know what they were doing when they did it either, but hey, a tweet is a tweet.

twitter birdsThe project was devised and carried out by Latvian conceptual artist and creative director Voldemars Dudums. He essentially came up with a bird feeder which he built using an old keyboard and huge chunks of bacon fat. He then placed it outside and waited.

Birds on Twitter1

Eventually, the birds came and began munching away at the bacon. As they did so, the keys that were pressed were fed to an API which parsed each tap into a tweet which was posted on @hungry_birds. Clever, clever.

What will humans think of next?

[via Colossal]

The Chiptastic Chiptune List Will Have You Buried in 8-Bit Tunes for Months

If you’re into retro style beep and bleeps and beats, then here’s a fun way to discover lots of cool chiptune acts – many of whom you’ve never heard of before. A group of chiptune artists and fans has compiled the Chiptastic Chipmusic List, or as I like to call it The Ultimate Chiptune List.

chiptune list

The Facebook-compiled list currently showcases over 360 different chiptune performers, including links to their websites, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, or Facebook pages, as well as links to a number of streaming chipmusic radio stations. Whether you’re into chiptunes or just like retro gaming, you’ll discover all kinds of sweet new electronic music by clicking around to the artists on the list. Some of my faves: Abducted by SharksMario Frog Suit, I Set My Pixels on Fire, Solarbear and PandaSTAR.

And while we’re on the subject of chiptunes, here’s some cool sounds from the monthly Philadelphia chipmusic showcase show 8static:

After you’re done listening to the concert footage above, head on over to the Chiptastic Chipmusic List on Facebook. Be sure to post a comment below and us know who your favorites are!

[Thanks for the tip, Jesse!]


World, Meet Baby Hashtag; Hashtag, Meet the World!

The first act of cruelty that some parents inflict on their children is giving them weird names or names that they can never live down. For example, magician Penn Jillette named his daughter Moxie Crimefighter. There’s also that actor, Jason Lee, who named his son Pilot Inspektor.

Another name to add to the list is Hashtag. Hashtag Jameson.

hashtag jameson
Apparently, her parents have a thing for Twitter and they decided to take it out on express it through her. Ironically, the parents announced Hashtag’s unusual name on Facebook. Go figure.

We can’t really verify that they did name their kid Hashtag, but we’re hoping that it’s some kind of joke. Either way, people on Twitter have already begun reacting to the news, which eventually gave rise to the creation of hashtags like #Foolishparents, #YourParentsHateYou, and #StupidestNameEver.

[via Buzz Patrol]