Wasiq Ansari’s World

The founder of the biggest social network has his personal page broken into – and used to spread a message suggesting ‘social investment’ rather than from bankers

Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page has been hacked by an unknown person who posted a status update suggesting that the site should let people invest in it rather than going to the banks.

The page belonging to the 26-year-old Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder who was named Time’s Man of the Year in 2010, was hacked some time on Tuesday.

The message left by the hacker read: “”Let the hacking begin: If facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn’t Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way? Why not transform Facebook into a ‘social business’ the way Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus described it? What do you think? #hackercup2011″.

That seems to be a reference to reports that Facebook has been valued at around $50bn following investments made by Goldman Sachs and a Russian venture capital firm. There have been rumours that the company is either preparing for a stock market flotation or that the shares purchased by Goldman Sachs would be sold on to rich investors who want to benefit from the company’s burgeoning success.

Embarrassingly for Facebook, more than 1800 people “liked” the update before the company took down its chief executive’s page. Facebook has made no public statement about how the hack occurred.

It is not clear how the break-in occurred, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at the security company Sophos. “Mark Zuckerberg might be wanting to take a close look at his privacy and security settings after this embarrassing breach,” he noted. “It’s not clear if he was careless with his password, was phished, or sat down in a Starbucks and got sidejacked [had his login details stolen over the air] while using an unencrypted wireless network. But however it happened, it’s left egg on his face just when Facebook wants to reassure users that it takes security and privacy seriously. Maybe Mr Zuckerberg would be wise to get a refresher on computer security best practice.”

More likely though is that Zuckerberg’s page is handled by a number of people, and that one of them might have had their access details stolen or guessed, which would give an attacker the same access to the page.

The only clue left by the hacker was a link embedded in the status update to a specific revision of a Wikipedia page about “social business”, which differs from the current page in one prominent link, and another link to a photo for Facebook’s “Hacker Cup” – described as “an annual worldwide programming competition where hackers compete against each other for fame, fortune, glory and a shot at the coveted Hacker Cup” – whose final rounds will be held at Facebook’s own headquarters on 11 March.

Facebook had not responded to requests for comment when this story was filed.

The hack comes just days after the Facebook account belonging to the French president Nicolas Sarkozy was also hacked to suggest that he was resigning; on regaining control of the account, Sarkozy pointed out that he plans to run for president again next year.

Source: guardian.co.uk /technology/blog/2011/jan/26/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-page-hacked

Arm your vuvuzelas: WordPress 3.0, the thirteenth major release of WordPress and the culmination of half a year of work by 218 contributors, is now available for download (or upgrade within your dashboard). Major new features in this release include a sexy new default theme called Twenty Ten. Theme developers have new APIs that allow them to easily implement custom backgrounds, headers, shortlinks, menus (no more file editing), post types, and taxonomies. (Twenty Ten theme shows all of that off.) Developers and network admins will appreciate the long-awaited merge of MU and WordPress, creating the new multi-site functionality which makes it possible to run one blog or ten million from the same installation. As a user, you will love the new lighter interface, the contextual help on every screen, the 1,217 bug fixes and feature enhancements, bulk updates so you can upgrade 15 plugins at once with a single click, and blah blah blah just watch the video. (In HD, if you can, so you can catch the Easter eggs.)

For a more comprehensive look at everything that has improved in 3.0 check out 3.0′s Codex page or the long list of issues in Trac. (We’re trying to keep these announcement posts shorter.) Whew! That’s a lot packed into one release. I can’t think of a better way to kick off the 3.X cycle we’ll be in for the next two and a half years.

The Future
Normally this is where I’d say we’re about to start work on 3.1, but we’re actually not. We’re going to take a release cycle off to focus on all of the things around WordPress. The growth of the community has been breathtaking, including over 10.3 million downloads of version 2.9, but so much of our effort has been focused on the core software it hasn’t left much time for anything else. Over the next three months we’re going to split into ninja/pirate teams focused on different areas of the around-WordPress experience, including the showcase, Codex, forums, profiles, update and compatibility APIs, theme directory, plugin directory, mailing lists, core plugins, wordcamp.org… the possibilities are endless. The goal of the teams isn’t going to be to make things perfect all at once, just better than they are today. We think this investment of time will give us a much stronger infrastructure to grow WordPress.org for the many tens of millions of users that will join us during the 3.X release cycle.

It Takes a Village
I’m proud to acknowledge the contributions of the following 218 people to the 3.0 release cycle. These are the folks that make WordPress what it is, whose collaboration and hard work enable us to build something greater than the sum of our parts. In alphabetical order, of course.

Source: wordpress.org/development/2010/06/thelonious/

Human Touch®, the #1 supplier of massage chairs in the U.S., has been making people feel better™ for over thirty years by developing state-of-the-art massage products. Our patented massage systems replicate techniques used by massage professionals thereby helping to reduce muscle tension, back pain and stress caused by today’s hectic lifestyle. Combining advanced technology and attractive design, Human Touch massage chairs are perfectly suited for today’s modern and traditional living spaces. Our customers include serious athletes looking to recover from intensive training, thousands of chiropractors who integrate a therapeutic massage on a Human Touch  into their professional services, back pain sufferers looking to reduce their aches and pains, and of course everyday people looking for a respite from the stress of today’s lifestyle. Human Touch produces a variety of massage and wellness products from award winning massage chairs, handheld massagers, foot and calf massagers and relaxation furniture. Experience Human Touch® and feel better™!
HT-1650 AcuTouch™ Massage Chair
Whether you are at home or in your corporate office, this classy and sophisticated massage chair hides your personal masseuse under the luxurious leather / leather match upholstery. The patented Human Touch Technology® replicates the skilled hands of a professional massage therapist to relieve stress, tension, and soreness from a day of hard work.

HT-7450 Zero Gravity Massage Chair
Let the Human Touch AcuTouch™ HT-7450 Zero Gravity Massage chair embrace you, and float in the ocean of comfort. This stylish massage chair releases you from the clutches of gravity and adjusts to your body to fit you like a glove. The patented Human Touch Technology® replicates the hands of professional massage therapists to give you a heavenly massage experience.
HT-102 Massage Chair
In the Human Touch HT-102 massage chair, you have your own personal masseuse at your command, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Similar to the HT-100 massage chair, the HT-102 has 3 back massage programs and a two-speed retractable foot and calf massager. Sit down in the HT-102 massage chair and let the multi-patented Human Touch massage system™ do what it does best – replicate the massage techniques used by massage therapists and orthopedists.

HT-103 Massage Chair
Work. Traffic. Lifting that heavy box on the top shelf in the garage. The dog eating your tax refund. It’s impossible to control all of life’s stress, but you now have full control of a great way to alleviate it. The Human Touch HT-103 massage chair makes it easy to customize its every movement to satisfy your every whim. This robotic massage chair is engineered to make you feel good.

HT-135 Massage Chair
Sit down and soothe your body with this Human Touch HT-135 Massage Chair. This massage chair imitates the massage techniques used by the professionals and Human Touch Technology is the preferred and recommended technology of the World Federation of Chiropractic. The HT-135 robotic massage chair is designed to trace the natural path of your spine and move three-dimensionally in four different modes.

HT-140 Massage Chair
The Human Touch HT-140 robotic massage chair combines elegant design and sophisticated engineering with the world’s most advanced Robotic Massage Technology™ to provide all the therapeutic benefits of a full body massage in an exquisite bonded leather recliner. From head to toe, every movement can be pre-programmed to your personal preferences. With a touch of the remote control, the HT-140 massage chair adjusts to the natural contour of the spine and moves three dimensionally at various speeds emulating the firm hands of a skilled masseuse.

HT-275 ThermoStretch™ Massage Chair
Beneath the luxurious upholstery of the Human Touch ThermoStretch™ HT-275 massage chair are the “hands” of a trained massage therapist – ready to offer you a customized back, leg, and foot massage at the touch of a button. You have to feel it to believe it. The ThermoStretch™ HT-275 massage chair is loaded with features, delivering an invigorating head-to-toe massage. ThermoStretch™ technology combines Dual-Lumbar Heat and Full-Body Stretching that helps alleviate stress, tension, back pain and sore muscles.

HT-3300 Massage Chair
Work. Traffic. Lifting that heavy box on the top shelf in the garage. The dog eating your tax refund. It’s impossible to control all of life’s stress, but you now have full control of a great way to alleviate it. The HT-3300 WholeBody™ Massage Chair makes it easy to customize its every movement to satisfy your every whim. The WholeBody™ massage is designed to be both strong and sensitive to melt away muscle soreness providing a revitalizing, therapeutic massage with just the touch of a button.
HT-5005 Massage Chair
Presenting the HT-5005 Massage Chair! Its elegant design and gentle, yet durable faux leather exterior place it in a class of its own. The Human Touch HT-5005 Robotic Massage Chair features clean, classic lines to complement any home’s décor – from contemporary and sophisticated to traditional and rustic.

HT-5040 WholeBody™ Massage Chair
It’s hard enough to find an affordable chair that fits your décor perfectly, let alone one that beautifully melts away muscle pain and stress with the press of a button. Introducing the Human Touch® WholeBody™ HT-5040 Robotic Massage chair! The HT-5040 WholeBody™ Massage Chair contains all the advantages of Human Touch’s Robotic Massage®, plus a suite of additional features designed to deliver a therapeutic massage. The WholeBody™ massage is designed to be both strong and sensitive to melt away muscle soreness providing a revitalizing, therapeutic massage.

HT-5320 WholeBody™ Massage Chair
With the Human Touch HT-5320 WholeBody™ massage chair, your tired and aching muscles have nowhere to hide. The HT-5320 WholeBody™ massage chair envelops the body in an array of the most advanced full-body massage systems available, soothing muscles from head to toe. The WholeBody™ massage is designed to be both strong and sensitive to melt away muscle soreness providing a revitalizing, therapeutic massage with just the touch of a button.

HT-7120 ThermoStretch™ Massage Chair
The Human Touch ThermoStretch™ HT-7120 massage chair has everything you’re looking for in a massage chair and some things you didn’t even know were available. The Human Touch HT-7120 is the only chair in its price range that offers Massage Comfort Control. This advanced technology allows the user to electronically adjust the comfort setting of the backrest and transform this powerful massage chair into a luxurious comfortable home theater chair. Loaded with some of the most advanced massage features on the market the ThermoStretch™ combines Dual-Lumbar Heat and Full-body Stretching that helps alleviate stress, tension, back pain and sore muscles. Give your body a treat of massage with the ThermoStretch™ HT-7120 massage chair.

HT-275 ThermoStretch™ Massage Chair
Beneath the luxurious upholstery of the Human Touch ThermoStretch™ HT-275 massage chair are the “hands” of a trained massage therapist – ready to offer you a customized back, leg, and foot massage at the touch of a button. You have to feel it to believe it. The ThermoStretch™ HT-275 massage chair is loaded with features, delivering an invigorating head-to-toe massage. ThermoStretch™ technology combines Dual-Lumbar Heat and Full-Body Stretching that helps alleviate stress, tension, back pain and sore muscles.

So, you have decided to buy a treadmill? Look no further. ProForm Perspective™ ES is the name behind the best treadmills for sale on the web, and the happy customers who wrote these treadmill reviews will say the same! Do you want a folding treadmill? A walking treadmill or an exercise machine suited for running? How about a TV treadmill? Are heart rate control programs important to you? A cheap treadmill is no less harmful to your joints than running outdoors on the sidewalk.

ProForm Perspective™ ES Treadmill – PFTL99806
ProForm Perspective™ ES – the most advanced entertainment treadmill ProForm have ever produced. Offering a vivid 7″ flat-screen television, the premium sound of an Intermix™ Acoustics sound system and the ability to plug in virtually any electronic music player, the ES lets you workout to whatever keeps you going. Featuring a multicolored TV and a sweet sound system which help you to overcome the monotony of exercising in place. The Proform Perspective ES Treadmill is one of the most affordable TV treadmills on the market right now. It also gives you a strong 3.0 HP motor, long 60″ walking belt and 28 different workouts. The treadmill itself is more stable than many other Proforms (350 lb User Weight Capacity) and the motor warranty is quite good at 20 years. However we’d recommend you get extra warranty coverage on parts, just to cover the TV. This model has been a big hit because of the low price point for a TV equipped treadmill with a powerful motor and a 60″ long treadbelt.

The ProForm Perspective ES Treadmill has some impressive features for the price. It is equipped with a hefty motor and an extra long deck. Considering the moderate price, you can see why this treadmill is such a big seller. When you include the flat screen TV and sound system, this treadmill is very appealing.
Features of ProForm Perspective™ ES Treadmill

Impact-Reducing Cushioning:
Perspective™ ES Treadmill is extremely quiet, and has great cushioning, you can get shin splints and by using this Perspective™ ES Treadmill. It has good workout programs to so you can just follow with what the treadmill has me do.

Heart Rate Monitor:
Make the most out of every workout by monitoring your heart beat with these sensors that are built into the handlebars.

Shock with Self-Locking Latch:
This treadmill features a drop shock and a self-locking latch, making folding and unfolding your treadmill easier than ever before.

7″ Entertainment Flat Screen TV:
Now you can watch your favorite show on TV and keep track of your workout with this vivid 7″ television with a multicolored on-screen display (OSD).

Theater Quality Sound System:
Discover the ultimate listening experience with Intermix Acoustics™. Integrated into the treadmill’s console, this premium sound system combines high-end speaker and subwoofer components to give you the best in crystal-clear sound quality.

Music Port:
Designed to hold most electronic music players, the Interplay™ music port makes it easy for you to plug in your MP3 player and listen to your music while you work out.

ProForm.com Discount Coupons

Source: Proform Perspective™ Es Treadmill Review

If you’re unfamiliar with dental plans, they’re different from dental insurance. Dental Insurance reimburses you for any expense you incur on your dental care. Dental plans do not reimburse you but offer you a generous discount on every dollar you spend on dental care. Dental Insurance can be rather expensive to opt for, especially to cover the entire family. A large number of people take their chances and prefer not to pay expensive dental insurance premiums. There are more than 100 million people in USA who do are not covered by dental insurance. Yet many people want to be sure than if they have to spend money on dental care, they’ll be able to afford it. This is where these plans take the pressure off by letting you pay for dental treatment at much lower prices than you usually would. You can also use dental plans and dental insurance together to increase the savings. You can pay lower prices for dental treatment using your membership card even if you’re covered by insurance.

Dental insurance is a concern for many Americans. They want to make sure that they obtain the best possible coverage for their selves and their family members without completely breaking the bank. The problem is, how do they find the best dental insurance out there? How do they even begin to compare dental plans that are available? This article is published to review dentalplans.com. There is a big difference between dental insurance and dental plans and I will leave that discussion for someone else. The reality is some dental plans actually do work. That is the purpose of this site, to review top rank dental plan website.

When you’re a member of DentalPlans.com you can just show your membership card at any of their dentists throughout USA and get a discount right away on dental examinations, dental cleanings, x-rays, fluoride treatments , dentures, gum surgery, extraction of wisdom teeth, fillings, crowns, bridges or any of the procedures earlier mentioned. They have various discount dental plans that cover individuals and families. There are no health restrictions. You can apply online and be instantly approved to save between 10% and 60% on anything dental that needs to be taken care of. You can print out the membership card within 2 days of applying online. There’s no paperwork because you pay the dentist at discounted prices at the time of receiving the service. There are no age limits and no background checks. Even if you’ve been nursing a bad tooth for a week you can get this and save money on your treatment in just 2 days.

About DentalPlans.com
Since 1999, DentalPlans.com has offered comprehensive and affordable discount dental plans to individuals, families and groups. Our discount dental plans may be used as alternatives to dental insurance options or along with existing dental insurance plans for even more savings on most dental care procedures. Whether you need individual dental insurance, family dental insurance or group dental insurance, the discount dental plans from DentalPlans.com are affordable alternatives and easy-to-use solutions.

DentalPlans.com is by far the largest dental website on the internet. Over 30 of the top discount dental plans in America are included. Great website and very informative. You can compare many different plans, search for specific providers, etc. The top “flagship” plan is the Aetna Dental Plan, which is a name brand provider. Also they offer 3 months free, a very tempting inticement. They have most of the same features of my number one pick – covers pre-existing conditions, no maximums (use as much as you need), orthodontics included, no claim forms, no deductibles, and save 10% on premium if you pay anually.

In today’s economy, many people are looking for ways to save on their dental care. DentalPlans.com offers our members more choices, more value and more savings. Discount dental plans are dental insurance alternatives that offer attractive dental care savings. Many dental insurance plans require you to wait for your treatments to have certain procedures such as root canals and braces completed.

DentalPlans.com can help you save 10%-60% on most dental procedures. They offer more than 30 discount dental plans for you to choose from. With 100,000+ dentists and dental specialists across the country, DentalPlans.com offers the most dentists and dental specialists in combined networks anywhere. With a discount dental plan, you’ll enjoy: Quick plan activation, No health restrictions, No paperwork hassles.

30-Day Money Back Guarantee:
DentalPlans.com offers a 30-day money back guarantee. If you’re not satisified you can cancel your dental plan within 30 days and receive a complete refund of your money.

Dentalplans.com Discount Coupons

Source: Dentalplans.com Review And Coupon Codes

Even though Search Engine Optimization has been a discipline for over 10 years, there are still a lot of site designs that make it hard for a search engine to make heads or tails of a website. While you would expect a certain lack of SEO knowledge from less sophisticated users and people who are new to site building, there are still quite a few cases where medium and large companies fail to consider search engines when creating a web presence.

Here are a few issues we (still) see in the year 2010, which effectively prevent a site from getting proper rankings:

• Lack of content on the homepage. There are some very big companies who believe that they can get decent search engine rankings without adding readable text to the sites homepage. This is a huge mistake. Some of these companies will point out that Google has sparse homepage content, at which point we usually indicate that Google isnt ranked in the top 10 for search engine.
• Site Designed Entirely in Flash. Adobe has made a lot of great strides in making its files readable, and should be commended for it. However, many of the designs we have seen fail to take SEO into account, so text in Flash files gets embedded into images, which arent read by the search engines. In many cases, the search engine sees a big blank spot when Flash is presented, so it cant judge how relevant a site is.
• No hierarchy. For very large sites, the lack of a clear hierarchy presents a problem. The distribution of pages on a website should look like an organizational chart for a major corporation. The homepage would be the CEO, the category pages would be the directors, and so on. A lot of sites present a very wide and shallow profile, so the search engine cant distinguish between an important category page and an ancillary product page. Hierarchies can be created using breadcrumbs, good directory structures, and HTML sitemaps, and are always recommended for sites with hundreds or thousands of pages. A Bad URL Structure can also keep pages from getting found which makes your pyramid look a lot smaller in the search world.
• Same Title on Every Page. Many enterprise level corporations are obsessed with branding, and want to be sure the same message appears on every title. A search engine cant figure out the topic of each page if all the titles are the same, and the information at the left of the title is the most important. If your company name (xyz.com) starts every page title, you are robbing your site of a higher natural search engine position.
• Set It And Forget It Mentality. Part of keeping a site relevant involves making sure the site is updated frequently in order to stay fresh and account for search engine algorithm changes. In the corporate world, inertia can set in, so outdated information may be left on the site for years, and changes to the website may happen infrequently or as part of an initiative where all the pages are updated at the same time. After awhile, search engines visit less frequently, and competitors who keep fresh websites get priority in the search engine rankings.

Naturally, there are quite a few other mistakes made when it comes to building websites, and most of those mistakes are made in the small business sector. However, search engines have gotten very good at spotting many common mistakes, and can usually figure out the relationship between pages on smaller sites. Larger sites, however, may be compounding their design mistakes, and may be fractionalizing the value that search engines apply to each of that sites pages. If you have ever wondered why a cheap looking site with minimal SEO work is beating a billion dollar brand name in the search engines, you may want to consider how good of a job that the big company is doing with its optimization.

Source” searchnewz.com/topstory/news/sn-2-20100312FrequentDesignMistakesinSEO.html

93 Million American Without High-Speed Internet Access

One-third of the country (or 93 million Americans) don’t have high-speed Internet access at home, according to a new consumer survey released Tuesday (Feb. 23) by the Federal Communications Commission. The report, Broadband Adoption and Use in America, comes about a month before the Commission is due to release its national broadband plan to speed up broadband access to Americans.

Broadband adoption by African Americans, Hispanics, lower-income households, the disabled and senior citizens, trail the national average. About 59 percent of African Americans have broadband at home, 49 percent of Hispanics, 42 percent of the disabled and 35 percent of senior citizens.

The results were based on a survey conducted between Oct. 19, 2009 and Nov. 23, 2009 among 5,005 Americans.

“In the 21st century, a digital divide is an opportunity divide. To bolster American competitiveness abroad and create the jobs of the future here at home, we need to make sure that all Americans have the skills and means to fully participate in the digital economy,” said FCC chairman Julius Genachowski.

The survey identified three main barriers to broadband adoption among Americans: affordability, lack of digital skills and relevance. (19 percent of nonadopters called the Internet a “waste of time.”)

On March 17, the FCC is set to deliver its National Broadband Plan to Congress. In the report, the FCC is expected to detail a strategy for connecting the country to affordable, world-class broadband and making the U.S. a global leader in high-speed Internet to create jobs and spur economic growth.

Source: mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/digital-downloads/broadband/e3ib108b71d68d61db95c9666c41a5af88c

BRUSSELS — European Union data privacy regulators are telling Google Inc. to warn people before it sends cameras out into cities to take pictures for its Street View maps, adding to the company’s legal worries in Europe.

Google should shorten the time it keeps the original photos from one year to six months, regulators also said in a letter to the company obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday.

In a statement, Google said its need to retain Street View images for one year is “legitimate and justified.”

The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., said it also already posts notifications on its Web site about where its Street View cameras are clicking. The alert system on Thursday indicated Google’s picture-taking vehicles have been cruising the streets of Cagiliari, Italy, Nantes, France and possibly other nearby cities.

Street View launched in the U.S. in 2007 and now adds photos of real-life street scenes to Google’s maps of around 100 cities worldwide. To soothe privacy concerns, it uses special software to blur pictures of faces and car license plates.

Google has been slow to roll out the service in Europe after governments raised concerns that taking pictures of people in public places could break some EU rules on personal privacy.

Greece told the company last year to halt plans to snap the nation’s streets until more privacy safeguards are provided and in April, residents of one English village formed a human chain to stop a camera van.

Google has also bowed to German demands to erase the raw footage of faces, house numbers, license plates and individuals who have told authorities they do not want their information used in the service.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said that Europe had “high standards for data protection” and that she expected that “all companies play according to the rules of the game.”

The head of EU data protection agencies, Alex Turk, told Google’s data privacy chief Peter Fleischer in a letter dated Feb. 11 that the company should always give advance notice on its Web site and in the local or national press before it takes pictures.

It should take care to avoid taking pictures “of a sensitive nature and those containing intimate details not normally observable by a passer-by,” Turk said.

He also said that the company should revise its “disproportionate” policy of keeping the original unblurred images for up to a year, saying improvements in Google’s blurring technology and better public awareness would lead to fewer complaints – and a shorter delay for people to react to the photos they see on the site.

Complaints about the images put online would usually be checked against the original photos.

The data privacy warning comes a day after an Italian court convicted three Google executives – including Fleischer – of privacy violations because they did not act quickly enough to remove an online video that showed sadistic teen bullies mocking and hitting an autistic boy.

Google said it would appeal the case, claiming it attacked freedom of speech on the Internet.

Also Wednesday, EU antitrust authorities said that Google’s rivals have complained that it demotes their sites in the rankings it uses on its search engine, the world’s most popular. The EU said it was not opening an antitrust case – and Google said it had done nothing wrong.

–

AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke contributed to this report from San Francisco.

Source:  washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/25/AR2010022504840.html

@yahoo + @twitter Sitting in a Tree…T.W.E.E.T.I.N.G.
Yahoo! Gives ‘Em Something to Tweet About, Partnering with Twitter to Integrate Content and Social Experiences from Across the Web

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb 24, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — As part of its ongoing commitment to be the center of people’s online lives, Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) today announced a global partnership with Twitter to integrate Twitter’s real-time social experiences with more than 600 million people in Yahoo!’s global network. The integration is part of Yahoo!’s commitment to provide personally relevant information to people, from sources across the Web.

A little bird told me: @yahoo is the place to tweet and be tweeted
This partnership includes three primary elements:

1) People will be able to access their personal Twitter feeds across Yahoo!’s many products and properties, including the homepage, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Sports, and others, letting them check in more easily on what’s happening with the people and things they care about while on Yahoo!.

2) People will be able to update their Twitter status and share content from Yahoo! in their Twitter stream, so they can easily share their Yahoo! experiences with their friends and followers on Twitter.

3) Yahoo! Search and Yahoo! media properties like News, Finance, Entertainment, and Sports will include real-time public Twitter updates across a variety of topics. Yahoo! Search users will immediately see real-time Twitter results today; go to Yahoo! and try it out.

Tweet and shout: @yahoo pumps up the social volume
Today’s Twitter partnership, along with Yahoo!’s recently announced Facebook relationship, will transform Yahoo! into a highly customizable social experience that lets people bring together and unify their activity from their many social experiences across the Web. Because of these connections, anyone with a Yahoo! ID can update multiple social networks simultaneously and stay in touch with the people and information that matter most at every moment of the day.

“Let me try to capture the enormity of this integration in 140 characters or less: We’re turning the key to the online social universe — you will find the most personally relevant experiences through Yahoo!,” said Bryan Lamkin, senior vice president, consumer products group, Yahoo!. “We’re also simplifying people’s lives by bringing their social worlds — and the world — together for easy access.”

Add an exclamation point to your tweets
The Twitter integration also provides full access to the complete Twitter public data stream, which Yahoo! will use to improve the relevance and freshness of content across Yahoo! properties. This will drive deeper user engagement, and create new and compelling opportunities for developers, advertisers, and publishers.

“The information in one single tweet can travel light-years farther with this Yahoo! integration,” said Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone. “Tweets in more places brings relevance where and when you need it most.”

The real-time Search integration is available immediately. Other parts of the integration are expected to launch later this year.

About Yahoo!
Yahoo! attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most trafficked Internet destinations and a world-class online media company. Yahoo!’s vision is to be the center of people’s online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com or the company’s blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com).

Yahoo! is the trademark and/or registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc.

All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6190826&lang=en

Source: yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=446691

Microsoft has launched the latest version of its mobile phone operating system, called Windows Phone 7 series.

The software has a redesigned user interface and incorporates many Microsoft services such as Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music service.

The software was introduced at an event at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

According to research firm Canalys, Microsoft’s software currently has around 9% of the smartphone market.

That puts it fourth in the global market behind Symbian, Rim (makers of the Blackberry) and Apple’s iPhone OS.

The new system follows the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 in October 2009.

“This is obviously a huge step forward,” analyst Pete Cunningham of Canalys told BBC News.

“Microsoft have really struggled with windows mobile 6 and 6.5 and have been losing market share off the back of it.”

However, he said, the firm could not “rest on its laurels”.

“Although it looks good today and competitive today, the other other firms haven’t revealed their hand.

“It doesn’t launch for another eight or nine months and that’s a long time in the mobile world.”

For example, in a little over 30 months Apple has claimed 15% of the smartphone market, according to Canalys figures, whilst Google‘s Android operating system has claimed 5% of the market in around two years.

Games machine:
Microsoft’s new operating system is built around a series of so-called ‘live tiles’, which pull in real time content from a users web sites and social networks.

ser can create their own tiles, for example, to keep tabs on the latest posts and pictures from friends or relatives on social networks.

“We wanted the software experience to fundamentally focus on what is most important to each individual user,” said Joe Belfiore of the firm at the launch.

The new interface also has a series of “hubs”, which bring together related content from the web, applications and services into a single view.

The six hubs are people, pictures, games, marketplace, music and office.

The games hub, for example, incorporates elements of the firm’s online gaming network Xbox live, including games and the ability for gamers to access their online profiles.

The music hub brings together music and video content from a user’s PC, online music services and an in-built FM radio.

The first phones using the new operating system will be available later this year from manufacturers including Samsung, LG, HTC and Sony Ericsson.

“We have a chance to make an impact on the market,” said Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer.

Although Microsoft will only provide the software for the phones, it will specify certain hardware requirements to manufacturers.

For example, all handsets will be multi-touch and will come with a dedicated hardware button for Microsoft’s search engine Bing.

Manufacturers will also be restricted to the smart tile user interface, according to Mr Cunningham. Other operating systems – such as Android – allow manufacturers to customise the look and feel of the interface.

“That may make [Windows Phone 7] less attractive in the long term,” he said.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8515915.stm