Would a phone-based alert system have saved lives in Japan, had one been available for iOS users when the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that raised a wall of water devastating much of Japan’s Pacific coastline hit in early March this year? Apple’s betting yes. Cupertino’s adding a special earthquake notification widget to the Japanese version …
Apps & Web
Facebook Comments Make Websites Smarter, More Polite
Believe it or not, Facebook is making the internet a nicer place to be.
Apparently, the use of Facebook Comments on blogs and websites is resulting in higher quality discussions, as well as the expected increase in traffic. The reason for the new civility? Facebook’s accountability.
Rain or Shine: Weather Layer Added to Google Maps
Google announced yesterday that it has added a new layer to Google Maps. Now, on top of seeing satellite images and street maps, users can see the weather all over the world as well.
Clicking on a weather icon on the map will also show a four-day forecast, humidity and wind speed with more options to see hourly or 10-day forecasts …
Yahoo, Facebook Want to Find Out if It’s a ‘Small World’ After All
Just how small a world is it, after all? A British journalist may have found that you can go from a random tweet to personal information in just nine steps, but now Yahoo! and Facebook are teaming up to find out more with the Small World Experiment.
According to Yahoo! Research, the experiment is “designed to test the hypothesis that …
With Electronic Toys, Simplicity Is Everything
Only a weirdo would use a thirty-year-old word processor to get real work done. (I know what I’m talking about: I used word processors back then, and don’t want to go back.) There’s nothing particularly strange, however, about playing thirty-year-old electronic games.
Such as Ms. Pac-Man, for instance, a game that’s still beloved and …
Nielsen Wants to Know How Many People Watch TV on Mobile Devices
While the collective television industry still hasn’t exactly worked out how to successfully move its business online—Hulu? Netflix? Live broadcasts? Some mix of those?—they can rest assured that when they do finally make it happen, someone will be there to tell them how many people are tuning in.
Nielsen has started what it’s …
Ashton Kutcher, Sleazy Journalist
Not content with Hollywood fame and a bit of entrepreneurship, Ashton Kutcher decided to try magazine editing, putting together a special online edition of Details that included two features on hot tech startups. Just one problem: Kutcher’s an investor in most of the companies he writes about, and doesn’t disclose the conflict of …
YouTube Quietly Settles Lawsuit with Music Publishers Association
If you’re the kind of person who finds themselves trawling YouTube for music videos from your youth to remember whether or not that crush you had on that lead singer was reasonable or just teenage hormones (don’t judge me), then rest assured that you can finally do so without upsetting musicians over lost income. YouTube has announced a …
Google Launches ‘Magnifier’ Blog for Music Discovery
Remember Google Music? You know, the era before Spotify? Google’s launched a music blog called Magnifier to help you discover music that you can add to your Google Music Beta account.
The blog is basically updated every day, spotlighting a specific artist. A couple of songs will be featured, and then each song can be added to your
…
Don’t Blame Social Media for Social Unrest
Last week’s horrific London riots have been blamed on everything from solar flares to incredibly good design, but one contributing factor has been villainized above all others: social media.
The Daily Mail ran the headline, “Rioting thugs used Twitter to boost their numbers in thieving store,” and police officials and members of …
New iPad App from Google Gives Catalog Shopping a Digital Twist
Catalog shopping seemingly received its death knell with the rise of e-commerce, but it is poised for a comeback with Google Catalogs, a free app for the iPad (and coming soon for Android) that lets you flip through digital versions of print catalogs.
Recognizing that mobile technology can make catalog shopping a more dynamic, …
Report: Watching Television Reduces Your Lifespan Greatly
Turns out, your mother wasn’t entirely wrong: Scientists in Australia are reporting that sitting and watching television too much may not be the death of you, but it’ll definitely shorten your lifespan.
A report from the School of Population Health in the University of Queensland published recently in the British Journal of Sports …