Will Twitter's Photo Sharing Win Over Facebook Users?

COMMENTARY | When it comes to social networking, Facebook and Twitter are extremely popular avenues for people to explore. While Facebook allows users to post pictures easily from wherever they are, when Twitter users want to upload a picture, they have to turn to third-party applications like yfrog or Twit pic. However, Twitter is apparently moving to launch an official photo sharing service very soon. Sharing pictures in a tweet stream is fairly popular activity, and it really makes sense that the folks at Twitter would want to have everybody using their service, instead of a third part app. Most of the third-party...

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Congressman Weiner Twitter Scandal Erupts Over Holiday Weekend

Anthony Weiner is the epitome of a career politician. He put in his time after college working for future Sen. Chuck Schumer then won a seat on the New York City Council. In 1998, he ran for Congress in New York's 9th Congressional District and won. He has been reelected ever since. Weiner has an account on the social media website Twitter. His verified account is @repweiner. He follows 198 people, which means the tweets from those accounts appear in his Twitter stream. Last Friday, he followed a mere 91 people. More than 100 have been added since the following scandal erupted. On Friday night,...

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Five Gadgets Your Smartphone Will Replace

COMMENTARY | The smartphone is what's called a convergence device: It's where multiple different gadgets converge, becoming one. And I've got apps on my Android smartphone that turn it into a camera, a camcorder, an MP3 player, a calculator, and even a flashlight. Most of you already know that smartphones are starting to replace these gadgets. But you may be surprised at the territory our phones are now encroaching on: 5. Tablets "Say what?" you ask. "Isn't the iPad the fastest-selling gadget of all time?" Why, yes, notes PCWorld. But what if your smartphone could replace it?...

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Disconnect Iranian Cyberspace From The Rest Of The World

Iran is taking steps toward an aggressive new form of censorship: a so-called national Internet that could, in effect, disconnect Iranian cyberspace from the rest of the world. The leadership in Iran sees the project as a way to end the fight for control of the Internet, according to observers of Iranian policy inside and outside the country. Iran, already among the most sophisticated nations in online censoring, also promotes its national Internet as a cost-saving measure for consumers and as a way to uphold Islamic moral codes. In February, as pro-democracy protests spread rapidly across the Middle East and North Africa, Reza Bagheri...

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Why Are Android Apps Ugly?

It's true that not all Android apps are ugly. But if you spend awhile using an Android smartphone or tablet, then switch to an iPhone or iPad, you can see the difference: iOS apps don't just look shinier, they work better and are easier to use. Even when an app is available for both iPhone and Android, the iPhone one usually looks better. Why does this happen, and should it be a concern if you're thinking of buying an Android smartphone? Low barrier to entry Writing apps for the iPhone or iPad costs $99 per year, if you want to put your apps on the App Store. You use a language...

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Amazon Kindle Tablet Rumor Roundup

We should've known this was coming. The Kindle may have made it to the gate first, but pretty soon Barnes and Noble had the Nook, with its mini-color touch screen. Then came the iPad and Nook Color, and now more people are reading on color touch screens, and expecting games and apps and things like that. Now the rumors are in, and it sounds like Amazon is planning to enter the tablet market "with a bang." So what does it look like the future Kindle tablet will be like? Android under the hood This one's a gimme, for several reasons. First, the Android operating...

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Q&A: How Google Wallet Aims to Replace Everything in Your Pocket

Apple likes to say "There's an app for that." But now Google's released Google Wallet, which it says is "an Android app that makes your phone your wallet." Confused? Well, think of it this way. In the same way that credit cards, gift cards, and store loyalty cards replaced carrying cash around, Google's trying to replace all your plastic cards with virtual ones, tied to an app on your phone. How does that work? It uses a technology called Near-Field Communication, which is a fancy way of saying "You wave your phone at things and stuff happens." In this case, credit card payments...

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Four Tablets with Features the iPad 2 Lacks

The iPad 2 has over 65,000 apps for it in the App Store, and every one of those is a feature -- most of which aren't shared by tablets that run Google's Android operating system. There are still few tablet apps in the Android Market. There's a greater variety of Android tablets themselves, though, and each one has some signature feature the iPad doesn't -- and probably won't -- have. Here are a few examples. Motorola Xoom -- Widescreen display Don't think this one matters? You'd be surprised how much it does. Movies look better and waste less screen space, and typing...

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Q-and-A: AT&T Allows Sideloading of Android Apps

Unlike the iPhone, where apps can only be bought from the App Store, Android smartphones and tablets can get apps from anywhere: Google's Android Market, Amazon's Appstore, and even third-party publishers' stores like Gameloft's. Until a few days ago, Android smartphones on AT&T's network were the exception. What do you mean? Where did AT&T phones get their apps from? An Android smartphone on AT&T's network could only install apps from the Android Market. Why's that? The official reason, given by AT&T, was that making you get...

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Best Web-Based Beauty Experts, Fashionistas

We all get stuck in beauty and fashion ruts or don't know how to step it up to the next level. But there are plenty of resources on the Internet or at social media sites like Twitter that can help you get refreshing ideas to upgrade your beauty and fashion knowledge. Whether you want to learn new techniques to applying makeup or looking for inspirational fashion ideas or advice, there are three sites that I love to check out constantly for tips and trends: Chriselle Lim Chriselle is a fashion stylist based out of Los Angeles and her blog at ChriselleInc.com has plenty of information...

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Louisiana Might Ban Sex Offenders from Social Media

There are many types of technology that are constantly working to keep our children safe. Most children now have cell phones, and there are even now GPS devices that can be attached to kids so that even if they wander off we are able to find them. All of these new things have made our children safer, but there is one new type of technology that has made the world more dangerous for our children; and that is social media. Now, even when our kids are home their lives can be invaded by dangerous people. And this is exactly what the state of Louisiana is trying to stop. A bill that was introduced in the Louisiana...

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The Lucky Ones: A Near-Miss From the Joplin Tornado

JOPLIN, Mo. -- My trip to Joplin on Sunday afternoon was going to be nothing special. I was just going to pick up a new cell phone and get some treats for my dogs. But around 5:30 p.m., as I left Northpark Mall on the north side of the city, I saw the menacing clouds in the sky. I turned on the radio when I got in my car and listened as the announcers relayed information about the storms that were in Cherokee County, Kan., at the time. As I listened, they were predicting the storm was going to go about 5 or 6 miles north of where it actually hit. That meant I would have had to drive...

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Xperia Play vs. Verizon IPhone 4

Imagine if someone crossed a smartphone with a game console. It'd have a multitouch screen that'd be great for browsing the web, plus thousands of apps and a huge library of games -- some of them exclusive. Throw in a hardware controller and you're all set. Well, the iPhone 4 doesn't have a game controller (although some people are trying to fix that). But it might make a better gaming device than the Xperia Play, because the iPhone has more games than Android does, including exclusives from major game companies. Both cost $199, but when the "PlayStation Phone" comes to Verizon on Thursday, will it be a...

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Louisiana Might Ban Sex Offenders from Social Media

There are many types of technology that are constantly working to keep our children safe. Most children now have cell phones, and there are even now GPS devices that can be attached to kids so that even if they wander off we are able to find them. All of these new things have made our children safer, but there is one new type of technology that has made the world more dangerous for our children; and that is social media. Now, even when our kids are home their lives can be invaded by dangerous people. And this is exactly what the state of Louisiana is trying to stop. A bill that was introduced in the Louisiana...

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Why Android Fans Annoy IPhone Users

Full disclosure: I'm an Android fan. I bought an HTC Aria on AT&T's network, before Verizon got the iPhone. I like how Android phones work, I like that I can customize them, and I like that the Android operating system is open-source -- I even run Ubuntu on my laptop. Having said that, I've noticed we Android fans tend to do, say, and believe stuff that's hard for most people to swallow. Especially iPhone fans, who often have a totally different idea of what makes a good smartphone. So here's some friendly advice, for me and my fellow Android fans! Good taste is, in fact, a feature. ...

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'Zombie Apocalypse' Has Important Information for All

Emergency preparedness is usually a dry topic and not a frequently searched term, especially by young adults and teens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found a fresh approach that changed that. On May 16, the CDC posted "Zombie Apocalypse," a social media blog post about disaster preparedness aimed at a young audience. Dr. Ali Khan, of the CDC's Public Health and Preparedness Center, created the post as a less-than-mundane attempt to get the American public interested in the important topic of disaster preparedness, reports Yahoo! News. The usual response from the public...

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Facebook Page of Houston Serial Killer Elmer Wayne Henley Taken Down

A Facebook page dedicated to the notorious Houston serial killer Elmer Wayne Henley has been taken down on behalf of the state of Texas and the sister of one of Henley's victims, Cindi Yates, according to KHOU. Yates' brother, Danny, was one of the victims of a serial killer ring that consisted of Henley, a teenager at the time of the killing spree; David Brooks, another youth; and Dean Corll, a man in his 30s at the time. Henley and Brooks are serving life sentences for their participation in a series of rape/torture/murders that took place between 1970 and 1973 in Houston, Texas. Inmates...

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Verizon 'PlayStation Phone' Unlikely to Lure Gamers Away from iPhone

COMMENTARY | Who knew, when it first came out, that the iPhone would be so popular with gamers? Epic Games, ID Software, EA and Square-Enix already have games on the App Store, some of them truly -- well, epic. Even the iPad's getting some gaming love, from "Plants vs. Zombies" to analog joystick attachments. Obviously, not all of the major players in the gaming space are happy about this. Nintendo considers Apple a threat, according to Forbes, and Sony Ericsson is building Android phones now. "PlayStation Certified" Android phones. Like the Xperia Play, which is coming to Verizon May 26 for $199, reports...

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LinkedIn IPO Value Jumps to More Than $4 Billion

Online social networking service LinkedIn is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday with a value of at least $4 billion, making it the biggest initial public offering by a U.S. Internet company since Google went public in 2004. The company is the first U.S. social networking website to go public. In its initial public offering, the company set the price range for shares at $32 to $35. On Tuesday, however, the 8-year-old Mountain View, Calif.-based social networking firm boosted the price of its IPO by 30 percent to a new range of $42 to $45 per share, indicating the demand among...

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Sony Not the First or Last Company to Experience Data Breach

Sony is busy restoring the PlayStation Network to a useable level after hackers gained access and stole personal data from 100 million users including credit card numbers. The PlayStation Network has been offline for almost a month. Analysts believe the breach will cost Sony around $1 billion, which would make it one of the most expensive cyberattacks in history. In an effort to thank customers, and perhaps retain users, the company has even offered free video games and other services as incentives. While the breach is a huge blow to Sony and the customers, it is not the first major hacking of information from a large company....

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Q-and-A: What Apps Are There for Android Tablets?

Everyone knows about the iPad, that "magical" new product from Apple that's been taking over the world with its charm and simplicity. But what are these new things the electronics stores are pushing at you, that look like the iPad but aren't? These "tablets" are made by manufacturers like Acer and Motorola, and are powered by Google's Android operating system. That means they work a bit differently, with a series of persistent on-screen buttons and menus instead of a single home button. But the biggest difference? Android tablets can't run any of the iPad's 65,000 apps. Wait, so these "tablets"...

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Four Android Smartphones for Less Than $200 Off-Contract

Smartphones are the new black. Seemingly everyone has one, and the people who don't have one want one. Unfortunately, in order to get most smartphones you have to sign away a good chunk of your income, for the next one or two years. Even if the plans were reasonably priced (they aren't), those contracts should make you think twice, especially in this day and age. Apple gives students, teens, and people who can't afford a data plan an easy alternative: The iPod Touch, which is basically an iPhone minus the phone. You can buy one for a little more than $200 off-contract, and it runs the same apps that an iPhone...

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