social media news: avril 2014

mercredi 30 avril 2014

Floyd Mayweather on Buying the Clippers: 'The Timing Is Right'

Who will buy the Los Angeles Clippers if racist owner Donald Sterling is pushed out, as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver intends to do? Oprah Winfrey and Larry Ellison are among the many well-monied names being bandied about.

But of all the people who might-could-maybe become Clippers owners, one is more fun to consider than all the rest: Bombastic boxing megastar Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who on Wednesday told Mashable more about his interest in the team.

The Mayweather-as-owner conversation started when he spoke to reporters in Las Vegas on Tuesday as part of a promotional appearance ahead of his title fight against Marcos Maidana on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Mayweather has long been a regular at Clippers and Lakers home games at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Read more...

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Cannabis-Friendly Concerts Put Colorado Symphony on a High Note

Smoking marijuana just got a little classier in Colorado.

The Colorado Symphony Orchestra is holding a concert series consisting of four shows where patrons can toke up to their hearts' content, called "Classically Cannabis: The High Note Series."

The cannabis-friendly concert series aims to boost attendance in the wake of dwindling ticket sales, according to the Associated Press. "The cannabis industry obviously opens the door even further to a younger, more diverse audience," Colorado Symphony Orchestra CEO Jerome Kern told the AP. Read more...

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Beyond Breaking Things: All the News From Facebook's F8

Facebook unveiled a slew of new products and initiatives at the company's F8 developer conference keynote on Wednesday, nearly all of them developer-related

Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the event with a few remarks but left most of the talking to other Facebook execs who focused on topics like building apps, growing a mobile audience, and then monetizing that audience. There was an emphasis on helping app developers get off the ground and work alongside Facebook in the process

Facebook has made great strides in mobile over the past 24 months, and the recent acquisition of Parse — along with its simple tools for helping new apps get off the ground fast — only deepened the company's commitment to growing with mobile Read more...

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No, Twitter Is Not Doomed

Who would have thought a social network announcing that it had topped 250 million active users would be seen as such bad news?

On Tuesday afternoon, Twitter revealed that it had 255 million monthly active users in the first three months of this year, an increase of 14 million users from the previous quarter and a gain of more than 50 million users from the same quarter a year earlier. While that might sound like a lot in the aggregate, user growth measured on a year-over-year basis continues to slow.

Wall Street responded to what was otherwise a pretty positive earnings report by sending the stock down more than 10% overnight to its lowest trading price since going public in November. The media responded with more than a few headlines that might keep some Twitter executives up at night: Read more...

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Soccer Stars' Anti-Racism Statement Was Actually Not That Spontaneous

A viral campaign soccer stars sparked against racism this week wasn't as spontaneous as it looked

Instead, it was carefully orchestrated — and even cooler than it initially appeared

Brazil and FC Barcelona star Dani Alves drew worldwide acclaim on Sunday when he took a bite out of a banana that a fan threw on the field during an away match against Spanish team Villarreal. Racist taunts, including bananas and other references to monkeys, are an all-too-common way some European soccer fans harass opposing players, so Alves' banana bite was seen as a cheeky and powerful response Read more...

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Train Derails, Bursts Into Flames in Virginia

A train carrying crude oil derailed in Lynchburg, Va., on Wednesday afternoon, causing a huge fireball that local residents were quick to capture and share on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube while authorities evacuated the area.

"Wow guys. The train derailed right outside my building. Pray that no one is hurt," Instagram user sherifelipe said in a video of the scene posted shortly after 2 p.m. ET

Twitter users, capturing the scene from afar, documented the fire and giant plume of acrid, blake smoke that followed.

Lynchburg James River http://ift.tt/SbAVTv

— James Riverkeeper (@UpperJamesRK) April 30, 2014 Read more...

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Dancing Mom's 'Booty Bump' Gives New Meaning to Headbutt

Hey, moms need to cut loose sometimes too.

Fortunately for us, Summer Knowlden was brave enough to share how she lets off some steam. The mom uploaded a video of her dropping some serious moves in what she describes was an entry for "an online dance-off for moms."

But we all know that sometimes the blooper reel is better than the real thing. In this outtake, Knowlden was too busy breaking a sweat to T.I.'s "Bring Em Out" to notice her toddler getting a closer look at her mom's moves. With one swift booty bump, her toddler topples to the floor. Read more...

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10 Office Food Hacks for Supreme Workplace Snacking

Snacks are essential to maintaining a civil office environment

These small moments of sustenance can be a much needed distraction — err, "break" — from your work, and can reduce the risk of hanger-induced violence against annoying coworkers

Thankfully, Food Beast just made workplace snack-time even better with 10 office food hacks that every 9-to-5er should practice.

Happy snacking!

BONUS: 25 Simple Ways to Vastly Improve Your Life

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. Read more...

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Enter the ClickHole — The Onion's New Viral Media Parody Site

Digital media organizations have changed the face of modern news and helped shape the Internet. It's time they (and, O.K., we) were brought down a peg.

Enter The ClickHole , the new site from the minds behind The Onion.

"Coming this summer: an all-new internet experience filled with content so shareable, snackable, and clickable, it will rob you of all logic and reason. Until then, use the guide below to learn the proper method of clicking," the site's placeholder boasts.

Announced at The Onion's NewFronts presentation on Tuesday, The ClickHole will feature Internet media favorites like quizzes, inspiring first-person stories, cuteness and slideshows. Read more...

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Goodbye, Hoodie: Facebook Grows Up

Standing in front of thousands of Facebook developers at the company’s third F8 conference, a reflective Mark Zuckerberg, sans hoodie, spoke from the heart. He noted the social media giant’s 10th birthday in February and his impeding 30th, on May 14

Zuckerberg had taken stock of his life and loves (his wife, Facebook and philanthropy), and realized he wanted Facebook to be different. “My goal for the culture of Facebook is to build a culture of loving the people we serve that is as strong if not stronger than hacking at Facebook," he said.

Remember those words, because on Wednesday, this speech and this F8 will likely be remembered as a turning point for Zuckerberg and Facebook. It’s the day they grew up. Read more...

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Run for Cover: 'Sharknado 3' Is Happening

Dreams, or nightmares, do come true — a third installment of the Sharknado series is coming soon to an ocean near you

Syfy confirmed to Mashable Wednesday that there will be a Sharknado 3, but have yet to release any further details on the film, including what city the sharks would be terrorizing. It's slated to release in summer 2015

The news comes as a surprise, considering the second Sharknado film, aptly titled "The Second One", won't even air until July 30. (The title was chosen by a Twitter contest.)

While the first film took place in Los Angeles, Sharknado 2 will be set in New York City and brings back original cast members Ian Ziering and Tara Reid, along with newbies Vivica A. Fox, Mark McGrath and Judah Friedlander. The films are produced by Asylum Entertainment Read more...

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Watch the World Greet Sunrise in Real-Time on Twitter

Twitter released its latest user numbers on Tuesday, revealing that it finally crossed the 250 million global user mark

But pictures can often be more effective when trying to transmit the reach and power of a service like Twitter, which is why the company's recently-released global activity animation offers a better sense of just how widespread the service has become

Posted by Twitter Data, the animation correlates Twitter mentions (in many different languages) of the word "sunrise" around the planet with the time of sunrise and sunset at that location Read more...

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25 Children Die After Syrian Forces 'Barrel Bomb' Art Show, Activists Say

At least 25 children are dead after a government plane bombed an elementary school in Aleppo, Syria on Wednesday.

The children died when Syrian forces dropped a "barrel bomb" on a school in the rebel-held city, CNN reported, citing the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria, on the day an exhibit of their art depicting the Syrian war was set to open.

Barrel bombs are essentially oil drums packed to the brim with shrapnel, nails and explosives; they have been systematically deployed against Syria's civilian population, and "tend to create larger zones of building destruction," according to Human Rights Watch. Read more...

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'Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes' Lets You Fly, Thunder, Smash — and Build

Disney unveiled its second-generation interactive video game Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes on Wednesday, an all-new toy-gaming hybrid platform that features six Avengers game pieces, with many more to come. It features a sprawling version of Manhattan and enhanced building tools that allow players to create bigger, more detailed environments.

“This is one of those moments, because right here, right now, all of you are at the precipices of one of those evolutionary leaps for Marvel,” Joe Quesada, Marvel’s chief creative officer, said at a presentation on Wednesday.

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Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler Come Together for Greatest Rom-Com Ever

It's basically everything you've ever wanted in a rom-com

Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler star in the upcoming parody film They Came Together, directed by Wet Hot American Summer's David Wain. The movie's trailer, which dropped on Wednesday, proves that romance is best served with lots of irony

Goofy and lovable Rudd and Poehler (Joel and Molly, respectively) meet and fall in love, but average rom-com tropes quickly turn into outrageousness. Girl who gets hurt a lot? Check. Feeding each other pasta sauce? Check. Frolicking in the leaves? Check

The film hits theaters on June 27 in select theaters and VOD Read more...

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Yelp Now Identifies Bitcoin-Friendly Businesses

Yelp is going after the cryptocurrency-users-who-lunch demographic.

The online reviewing service works as a guide for users looking for local restaurants, bars, services, and attractions. Users submit reviews and information and read what other people post, and businesses supply information to help people find them more easily. People use Yelp as a shortcut to find out a restaurant’s hours, or how expensive a nail salon is, as well as whether the establishment takes cards or works on a cash-only basis.

And now Yelp users will know which businesses accept Bitcoin, the company announced Monday. The new info appears in the same section that tells users whether a company accepts other payments, such as credit cards. Read more...

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'Mario Kart 8' Purchase Will Come With a Free Wii U Game

Anyone who purchases a copy of Mario Kart 8 up to two months after its May 30 release will be able to download one of four Wii U games for free, Nintendo announced Wednesday.

Players can choose from Pikmin 3, New Super Mario Bros. U, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and Wii U Party, which are redeemed through Nintendo's rewards program Club Nintendo.

The announcement came during a 30-minute online Mario Kart 8 presentation that surprised fans Wednesday morning. Along with the game deals, Nintendo is also releasing a Mario Kart Wii U game bundle to entice gamers to pick up the console. It includes the game, the deluxe 32 GB Wii U, a Wii U steering wheel and a Mario-themed Wii Remote Plus for $329.99. Read more...

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