social media news: juin 2014

lundi 30 juin 2014

Everything Wrong With Viral Videos on YouTube

Frozen covers. Parodies of Lorde's "Royals." Sheepish British vloggers. "Let's play" gaming videos.

If any of these YouTube tropes irk you, you may find a certain camaraderie in watching this video from YouTube channel Barely Political .

The bit features a parade of fed up YouTube users who visit "YouTube HQ" to air their grievances and seek professional advice. Not getting traction on your earnest a cappella tunes? Sing worse and call it a parody! In your forties? Give up!

The plus side? When it comes to YouTube, there is definitely no shortage in the complaints department Read more...

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World Cup Day 19: Guts But no Glory for the Underdogs

Spare a thought for Algeria. On Monday, after playing Germany, the country became the latest and perhaps the greatest team to go through the agonizing throes of "if only" and "we were so close."

If only their super keeper Raïs M’Bolhi had saved one more German strike to add to his total of nine stunning saves, the team might have gone through on penalties. Algeria was so close to its first quarter-final place, and so close to one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history

Even so, for the African underdog, which barely distinguished itself in the group stage, it was a stunning and brave performance — made all the more stunning by the fact that most of the team were fasting for Ramadan. Read more...

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Say 'Meow' to the Next Crop of Viral Animal Superstars

In the past, the only real way to spot the next big Internet-celebrity animal was to wait patiently for it to appear on your Facebook feed. That all changes now.

If Grumpy Cat is the cream of the viral crop, these are the young upstarts, waiting in the wings for their shot at meme glory.

Using a select group of lesser-trafficked subreddits (/r/animalsbeingderps and /r/sittinglikehumans to name a few) and various algorithms you wouldn't understand, we've thrown out the old system and tracked down the next crop of famous Internet animals before they broke the threshold into what will surely be eternal celebrity status. You're welcome. Read more...

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Latest iPhone 6 Mockups Could Offer Preview of the Real Thing

We've seen many, many mockups of the purported iPhone 6 over the past half year — tons — and even though all of these mockups are just that, as time progresses, they may actually be getting closer to what the final end product could be.

As we get closer to the manufacturing start date of Apple's next smartphone, supply-chain leaks tend to become more accurate. We saw it with the iPhone 5, iPhone 5S and the iPad Air

That's why it's worth looking at the latest round of iPhone 6 mockups, this time from Japanese newspaper Nikkei . As pointed out by 9to5Mac and translated by GforGames, these mockups offer a "rough idea" of the final product. Read more...

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FDA Approves First Robotic Exoskeleton for Paralyzed Users

For years, we've been shown research projects teasing next-generation exoskeletons designed to empower those without the use of their legs. But those desiring the devices have been forced to wait for a viable commercial solution — until now

That wait finally ended last week when the United States Food and Drug Administration approved ReWalk Robotics' personal exoskeleton for marketing in the U.S.

"Innovative devices such as ReWalk go a long way towards helping individuals with spinal cord injuries gain some mobility," Christy Foreman, director of the Office of Device Evaluation at the FDA;s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement. Read more...

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Consumers Are Willing to Pay More for Sustainability

If you knew purchasing certain products and services helped save the planet, would you pay more for them?

According to a recent report from Nielsen, most of the world's consumers would. A global average of 55% of respondents in Nielsen's corporate social responsibility survey said they were willing to pay extra when companies are committed to positive social and environmental impact.

Respondents in the Asian-Pacific region were most willing to pay more for products with social-good benefits, surpassing the global average at 64% (up from 55% in 2011). European respondents seemed the least willing, at 40% (though, that figure still indicates an 8% increase from 2011). Read more...

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News Bloopers Prove Live TV Is Delightfully Painful

Live television is dangerous, and here are the cringe-worthy bloopers to prove it

From the meteorologist who can't stop hiccuping to the poor news correspondent getting a cooler of water dumped on her, these are the hardest working people in the news business. You'll laugh, cry and feel just a little bit sad for nothing going according to plan when they introduce the ever unpredictable human element.

Make sure to stick around until the end for Erykah Badu's creepy attempt to steal a kiss from an unsuspecting newscaster.

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

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11% of the #NoFilter Pics on Instagram Are Posers

Your Instagram friends may not be the photographers they're making themselves out to be.

Turns out that 11% of photos using the #nofilter hashtag on Instagram actually have a filter, a percentage that adds up to roughly 8.6 million photos

The data was pulled by Spredfast, a social-media marketing company and Facebook ad partner that gathered the information from the social network's public API. This API information includes filter data, and Spredfast tested the last 100,000 images that included the #nofliter hashtag to get a sample from the platform. Read more...

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Bing Just Became an Excellent Way to Search Twitter

Twitter 'Buy Now' Button Appears for First Time

Everybody Calm Down. ‘Bubbling’ Is Not a Thing in Australia

There is a so-called trend that involves doing something pretty horrific to yourself that some say is a big thing in Australia.

(Warning: Here's your chance to stop reading. It's pretty gross. You've been warned.)

The trend, which involves urinating into one's own mouth, has gotten waves of media coverage and ended the career of at least one prominent soccer player.

Called "huge" by Vice News, "viral" by The Australian and "a craze that is reportedly prevalent within the skating community" by The Daily Telegraph, this "popular" Australian past time known as "bubbling," is, in fact, not all that popular. Read more...

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25 Empowering Songs to Celebrate Pride 2014

Monday concludes LGBT Pride Month during which celebrations are held across the United States.

While events may vary, their theme remains constant: pride in one's self and acceptance of others. That's why we assembled this Music Monday playlist of songs about being proud to be yourself. So throw on these empowering tunes, and keep doing you

Have something to add to our playlist? Share with us in the comments, below, or on Spotify, and we'll add it.

How to Share Your Song With Us

1. To follow Mashable on Spotify, click here. If a popup window asks you to launch an external application, accept. This just means the browser will open up Spotify. Read more...

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Ukrainian President Poroshenko Declares Ceasefire Over: 'We Will Attack'

DONETSK, Ukraine – Ukraine waited late into the night for word from its president as to whether a fragile ceasefire with pro-Russian separatists in the country’s restive east would continue, or the active phase of the government’s counterinsurgency operation would restart.

It came 43 minutes after midnight on Tuesday, when Petro Poroshenko said he had decided to suspend the ceasefire first announced on June 20, after consultations with Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Monday evening.

“We will attack and we will liberate our land. Non-renewal of the ceasefire is our response to terrorists, rebels, looters, all those who are tormenting civilians, who are paralyzing the regions’ economy … who are depriving people of a normal, peaceful life,” the president said in an address to the nation. Read more...

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America, Meet Your New Enemy: Belgium

Yes, they may have delicious gourmet chocolate and a rather daring attitude to eating fries laden with mayonnaise. Sure, they have great comic books and 1,100 varieties of beer, and tasty mussels, and waffles, and the European parliament and one of literature's greatest detectives. And alright, we may currently be commemorating the hundredth anniversary of a horrific war that was largely fought on their territory and evoked the sympathies of the world.

But put all that aside right now. Concentrate on the fact that they are Team USA's opponents in the World Cup knockout game at 4pm ET Tuesday. For the next 24 hours, America, it's okay to hate Belgium. Read more...

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Dangerous 'Derecho' Thunderstorms Plow Toward Chicago, Milwaukee

A nasty line of storms has barreled across Iowa today, taking aim at Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin, as well as Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, during the next few hours. The storm complex is technically known as a mesoscale convective system, basically a large group of organized thunderstorms. These storms are feeding off a warm, moist air mass, and strong winds in the low and mid-levels of the atmosphere are being pulled down to the surface, making them especially dangerous.

Bow echo winds blowing through Lamont, IA via Ariel Marie Oakes sharedon KCRG-TV9 FB pagehttps://t.co/NeGQq73621 http://t.co/bxxiT2TTfg

— Tim Ballisty (@IrishEagle) June 30, 2014 Read more...

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Surprise! 'Community' Saved, Returning for a Sixth Season ... on Yahoo

#Sixseasonsandamovie

In a save that's even more shocking than every World Cup match we've seen so far, cult-favorite comedy Community will return for a 13-episode sixth season — by Yahoo on its nascent video platform Yahoo Screen.

The entire cast is set to return.

The series had been cancelled by NBC in May

More to come.... Read more...

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Yo, Hodor: An App for Saying 'Hodor!' to Your Friends

Many popular apps inspire a variety of spinoffs and copycats — most of which tend to be lame at best or blatant knockoffs at worstYo, the app that allows you to send "Yo" push notifications to friends, is no exception, with a series of wannabe copies already filling the App Store and Google Play

But one spinoff is doing it right— possibly even better than the original. Yo, Hodor is like Yo, only more awesome because Game of Thrones.

Hodor is, of course, a reference to the Game of Thrones character, who only says his own name.

The iOS app functions much like Yo. Create an account and add your friends' usernames — unlike Yo, there is no way to find your friends who also have also downloaded the app. So you must already know their usernames. Tapping someone's username sends them a "Hodor," which developer Tyler Hederick says was lifted from a clip of the show. Read more...

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USA vs. Belgium: Your Mega Preview for Tuesday's World Cup Showdown

Last week, they stared down death. Death—in the form of Portugal and Ghana, at least—blinked first. Now the USMNT faces a different sort of challenge: a golden generation of soccer talent hailing from the land of primo beers, rich chocolates and fluffy waffles

Jurgen Klinsmann, Clint Dempsey and company don't want to wake from this World Cup dream run after escaping the tournament's Group of Death against all odds. Their next test comes Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET (on ESPN) against tiny Belgium, which can now add world-class football to the above list of pleasing national exports

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15 Classic Images to Celebrate 150 Years of Yosemite

On June 30, 1864, Abraham Lincoln — in the midst of the Civil War — signed the Yosemite Land Grant in an effort to protect and preserve one of the nation's most majestic places for future generations

150 later, U.S. national parks are myriad, but the Yosemite grant marked the first time the nation's government had preserved such a space for public use.

Lincoln's land grant placed both the Mariposa Grove and the Yosemite Valley in the hands of the state of California, providing precedent for the extensive national park system that would later follow. On October 1, 1890, the tracts of land around the two areas became official known as Yosemite National Park. It was combined with the regions Lincoln's grant preserved in 1906. Read more...

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