How Facebook is ruining sharing
news.cnet.comIn search of "frictionless" sharing, Facebook is putting up a barrier to entry on items your friends want you to see--that is, they're creating friction. Even if it's just a onetime inconvenience, any barrier to sharing breaks sharing. The barriers will keep popping up as more content publishers create social apps that have to be authorized before you can view their content.
Estimated reading time: 5 min
The inside story of how Microsoft killed its Courier tablet
news.cnet.comAnd while Apple was working on its iPad at the same time, Courier was designed to be something entirely different. The iPad is all about content consumption--surfing the Web, watching videos, playing games. Courier was focused on content creation--drafting documents, brainstorming concepts, jotting down ideas.
Estimated reading time: 13 min
Dive into the most influential tech, people, trends, and news stories of 2012.
news.cnet.comThat means that a hotel in Hawaii, for instance, could write a check to Facebook to license photos taken at its resort and use them on its Web site, in TV ads, in glossy brochures, and so on -- without paying any money to the Instagram user who took the photo.
Estimated reading time: 4 min
Paralyzed man sends first tweet with his eyes
news.cnet.comTony Nicklinson is a rugby fan, a husband, and a father. He also has locked-in syndrome, which has left him fully paralyzed. His only method of communicating is through a specially designed computer system triggered by small eye and head movements. The tweet that started Nicklinson's social-media foray last week reads, "Hello world. I am tony nicklinson, I have locked-in syndrome and this is my first ever tweet. #tony "
Estimated reading time: 1 min
FBI: We need wiretap-ready Web sites - now
news.cnet.comThe FBI general counsel's office has drafted a proposed law that the bureau claims is the best solution: requiring that social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly.
Estimated reading time: 9 min
Microsoft Office 2013: Designed for tablets, but great for everyone
news.cnet.comState prosecutors who investigated the late Aaron Swartz had planned to let him off with a stern warning, but federal prosecutor Carmen Ortiz took over and chose to make an example of the Internet activist, according to a report in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Estimated reading time: 5 min
Twitter developers dismayed by promise of stricter API rules
news.cnet.comThat string of events shocked many in the developer community. One developer on Hacker News said Twitter has a valuable set of Internet resources, but that the company "has never been particularly great at thinking of innovative uses for it or developing great clients."
Estimated reading time: 3 min
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