Fark.com Settles With Patent Troll … For Zero Dollars!
Satirical, bizarre and amusing news website Fark has kicked the fark out of a patent troll called Gooseberry Natural Resources LLC. The original lawsuit was leveraged in January, claiming Fark infringed on a patent that covered a “method of inputing news releases into a web form, which would then compile the news release and email it to media outlets.”
http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/10/fark-com-settles-with-patent-troll-for-zero-dollars/
Soviet Gamification
Gamification is the the use of “game-like” mechanics in marketing, user engagement, behavior motivation, and similar contexts. Some examples include Foursquare’s checkins and mayorships, FitBit’s approach to exercise motivation, and numerous schemes aimed at everything from motivating students in the classroom, to encouraging users to explore a webapp’s functionality (or engaging them to return), or to pay attention to a company’s advertising campaign.
http://www.kmjn.org/notes/soviet_gamification.html
NYPD forms new social media unit to mine Facebook and Twitter for mayhem
Newly named Assistant Commissioner Kevin O’Connor, one of the department’s online and gang gurus, has been put in charge of the new juvenile justice unit. He and his staff will mine social media, looking for info about troublesome house parties, gang showdowns and other potential mayhem, sources said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/10/2011-08-10_nypd_forms_new_social_media_unit_to_mine_facebook_and_twitter_for_mayhem.html
London riots: Twitter says all tweets must continue to flow
Twitter has refused to shut down the accounts of any of the London rioters using the service to incite hatred or violence, saying that the tweets must continue to flow, as per its statement earlier this year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/8691663/London-riots-Twitter-says-all-tweets-must-continue-to-flow.html
Wal-Mart shutting its music downloads store this month
t seems US retailer Wal-Mart isn’t the next iTunes after all. The company has announced that it is closing its MP3 download store later this month, having failed to make a dent in Apple’s dominant market share in the US.
http://musically.com/blog/2011/08/10/it-seems-us-retailer-wal-mart-isnt-the-next-itunes-after-all-the-company-has-announced-that-it-is-closing-its-mp3-download-store-later-this-month-having-failed-to-make-a-dent-in-apples-dominant/
Twitter Begins Testing t.co Shortened Links in the Wild
Starting today, Twitter will begin testing its link-wrapping feature which will automatically shorten all URL’s 20 characters long or greater into t.co-wrapped links. This test will affect a certain percentage of tweets posted publicly through the service, or sent out via direct message.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/10/twitter-begins-testing-t-co-shortened-links-in-the-wild/
