The Black Rider

Friday, August 12, 2011

Reuter site - Google and Facebook face-off in social games

This article was sent to you from bombastic4000@yahoo.com, who uses Reuters Mobile Site to get news and information on the go. To access Reuters on your mobile phone, go to:
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE77A66H20110812

Google and Facebook face-off in social games

Thu, Aug 11 20:36 PM EDT

By Alexei Oreskovic

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook is not the only game in town anymore.

The world's largest Internet social network moved on Thursday to shore up support with game developers such as Zynga, who provide one of Facebook's biggest draws, on the same day that Google Inc introduced games on its recently-launched social network.

With the two Web giants competing to attract users to their respective online services, the dueling social gaming announcements underscored what could emerge as a key battleground between the two companies.

"It turns out that people like to play games, and it's core to the social networking use case," said Jeremy Liew, a partner at venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners. Liew, who has invested in social game companies including Playdom, which was acquired by the Walt Disney Co last year, was commenting on Google's games announcement.

On Thursday, Google said it would offer 16 games from third party developers on Google+, including Zynga Poker and the popular Angry Birds game. Google, which previously made an unspecified investment in Zynga, said it will roll out games gradually on Google+, and will make the game feature available to everyone "soon."

Facebook, which is hosting 100 game developers at an event at its Palo Alto. California headquarters on Thursday evening, announced a handful of new features to improve the gaming experience on its website, as well as a new policy loosening restrictions on how developers can market their games on the social network.

The changes will expand the types of notifications that Facebook users see when their friends are playing games on the website, rolling back restrictions made last year that provoked grumbles among some game developers.

Social games, such as Zynga's Farmville, are some of the most popular activities on Facebook. More than 200 million users play games on Facebook every month, and the company takes a 30 percent cut of the sale of virtual goods that are bought by users as part of the game experience.

"Our games ecosystem has continued to grow. But there's no question that we want to grow it faster in a more high quality way for our users and developers," Facebook head of games Sean Ryan told Reuters in an interview.

Google launched its social networking site in June, signing up more than 10 million users in the first two weeks.

Google's move to offer games on its social network provides game developers with a compelling alternative to Facebook, said Lightspeed's Liew.

But he said the most important consideration for game makers is which social network has the most users.

"Right now no one is going to be willing to give up Facebook because it's where the users are Today. Google+ got a terrific start but it's got a ways to go," he said.

Among the new gaming features introduced by Facebook on Thursday are the ability to expand the size of the window in which games are played on Facebook's site, new ways for users to create bookmarks for their favorite games and a scrolling "ticker" that highlights the games a person's friends are playing, their recent scores and achievements.

In loosening restrictions on game updates within Facebook's general newsfeed, the company must walk a fine line between helping developers promote their games on the network and irking users that are not avid gamers.

Facebook's newsfeed - which displays a rolling stream of messages, photos and updates from friends - is a vital distribution channel for gamemakers, allowing companies like Zynga, Electronic Arts Inc's Playfish and Playdom to reach vast numbers of users. But is has caused some backlash among Facebook's non-gaming users, who found the constant notifications about their friends progress within various games to be irrelevant and annoying.

Last year, Facebook clamped down on the practice, so that Facebook users would receive notifications only about games which they had also installed. Under the new policy, Facebook users will see notifications about any game their friends are playing.

But Ryan said the company had developed special algorithms that will only display updates if Facebook has a reason to believe they are relevant to the person. If the person shows no interest in certain types of games, Facebook won't serve them updates in the newsfeed.

"No one wants to go back to the bad old days of people being very unhappy about gaming because they feel like they're being spammed all the time," said Ryan.

"That's the key which we really spent months and months working on, is that tricky balance of trying to expose a lot more games to people, but only to the people who we think want to play those games."

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic. Editing by Andre Grenon, Robert MacMillan and Carol Bishopric)

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Reuter site - Verizon gets picket injunctions in 3 states, seeks more

Verizon gets picket injunctions in 3 states, seeks more

Thu, Aug 11 21:17 PM EDT

* Obtains New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania injunctions

* Seeks New Jersey, Mass. injunctions

* Legal moves may foretell long strike-lawyer

NEW YORK, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Verizon Communications <VZ.N>
won court injunctions in three states to prevent strikers from
blocking facilities and it was seeking similar legal protection
in two more states on the fifth day of a strike involving
almost half the workers in its wireline business.

Two unions representing 45,000 workers had called a strike
Sunday after a labor contract expired and several weeks of
talks for a new contract failed.

By Thursday afternoon Verizon said it had been granted
injunctions in New York and Delaware as well as Pennsylvania
after it accused picketers of illegally blocking garages and
work entrances. It also went to court on Thursday to seek
injunctions for Massachusetts and New Jersey.

The injunctions limit the number of people who can picket
at each location and how close they can stand to building
entrances to reduce the chances of them blocking managers from
going into the buildings to cover for the strikers.

While both sides continue to hold talks, the strike turned
into a nasty public fight almost immediately after it started.

Verizon complained about network sabotage and strikers
blocking workers while the unions accused Verizon managers of
injuring picketers with their work vehicles on day two.

But the company's move to secure injunctions so soon into
the strike could mean it is expecting the strike to drag on for
some time, according to one lawyer who has helped companies
with labor negotiations in the past.

"If they thought it was going to be over soon (or) if it
wasn't putting economic pressure on them, why go for the
injunction?" said John Hancock a Detroit-based lawyer for
Butzel Long. "I think they're preparing for the long term and
it may be having some impact on them."

The Communications Workers of America, which represents
about 35,000 of the strikers, said the injunctions would not
make much difference to their ability to picket effectively.

"We will continue to be able to conduct a militant strike,"
said CWA spokesman Robert Master.

Meanwhile, at least one rival Towerstream Corp <TWER.O>, a
small wireless broadband provider, is hoping to take advantage
of Verizon's woes. It put out a statement on Thursday offering
to waive certain fees for Verizon business customers looking to
switch to its service to avoid installation delays.
(Reporting by Sinead Carew; editing by Bernard Orr)

Reuter site - Plan laid out for texting 9-1-1 messages

Plan laid out for texting 9-1-1 messages

Thu, Aug 11 15:27 PM EDT

By Jasmin Melvin

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumers will be able to text and send multimedia messages to 9-1-1 emergency call centers under a new plan from the top communications regulator.

The Federal Communications Commission said next-generation 9-1-1 services will allow first responders to better assess emergencies with the ability to see photos and videos of an accident while still enroute. The IP-based infrastructure will also bring more reliability to the 9-1-1 network compared with the current circuit-switched system.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski unveiled a plan Wednesday to help emergency response communications catch up to the technically advanced mobile devices people use every day.

The FCC is expected to propose rules in September that will address the technical issues behind enabling text, photo and video transmissions to 9-1-1.

Of particular concern to the agency will be ensuring that the country's broadband infrastructure can handle the bandwidth that new public safety answering points will need.

An FCC official said widespread next-generation 9-1-1 services could be available in the next five to 10 years if the FCC acts and adequate funding is made available for equipment upgrades.

The FCC is also looking at ways to more quickly get the texting component operational.

"It's hard to imagine that airlines can send text messages if your flight is delayed, but you can't send a text message to 9-1-1 in an emergency," Genachowski said.

Reuter site - Verizon sees FiOS less profitable than copper

Verizon sees FiOS less profitable than copper

Wed, Aug 10 16:33 PM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Communications' new high-speed fiber optic network will never make as much money as its old copper network, an executive said on Wednesday.

The company has spent roughly $23 billion on building FiOS, a high-speed Internet and television service that runs on this new network. But Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said that returns from the new service will be limited.

"Let's face it, the FiOS cost structure will never be as profitable as the legacy wireline structure," Shammo said during the Webcast of an analyst meeting on Wednesday.

Shammo cited fierce competition in the TV market as well as high-fees for digital content as reasons why FiOS will not be as profitable as its legacy service.

Last summer, the company shut off its copper-based service for about 300 customers in Texas and replaced it with FiOS, a company spokesman said.

Shammo said the company will continue to cut off its copper-based service in smaller markets that have high rates of FiOS subscribers.

Verizon is looking into doing this in Wesley Chapel, Florida, a rural town outside Tampa Bay, a spokesman said.

Shammo said the dynamics of the TV market means its wireline business needs a "fundamental cost change."

The company's attempts to lower costs have crystallized as a strike by almost half of its wireline workforce.

On Sunday, 45,000 workers from the U.S. Northeast went on strike, saying that Verizon's proposed contract asked for too many concessions in healthcare contributions, pensions, sick days and other work rules.

Shammo said the cable market that Verizon is now competing in doesn't give its employees similar benefits, putting Verizon at a disadvantage.

MOVING FORWARD WITH PREPAID

Shammo also said that Verizon might be moving its trial of a prepaid unlimited data plan for $50 per month from its two trial markets.

"The trial has gone very, very well for us," he said. "You may see us take that in a few other markets."

Shammo said the prepaid plan had not taken service from its customers under contract. The company did not want its prepaid plans competing with its "crown jewel" contract plans, Shammo said.

Michael Nelson, an analyst at Mizuho Securities, said the prepaid plan, which typically sells to a lower-income market, should not impact Verizon's contract business.

"Verizon Wireless really does have premium pricing for their post-paid service," Nelson said. "Arguably, prepaid is a segment outside of their existing subscriber base."

Shares of Verizon closed down 1.8 percent at $33.66.

(Reporting by Roy Strom; Editing by Richard Chang and Gunna Dickson)

Come get some.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Reuter site - UK may disrupt social networks during unrest

UK may disrupt social networks during unrest

Thu, Aug 11 09:57 AM EDT

By Mohammed Abbas

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is considering disrupting online social networking such as Blackberry Messenger and Twitter during civil unrest, Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday, a move widely condemned as repressive when used by other countries.

Egyptian authorities shut down mobile and Internet services in January during mass protests against then-President Hosni Mubarak, while China is quick to shut down online communication it sees as subversive.

Police and politicians have said online social networks, in particular Research in Motion's popular Blackberry Messager (BBM), were used by rioters and looters to coordinate during four days of disorder across England this week.

"We are working with police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality," Cameron told parliament during an emergency session prompted by the riots.

Many of the rioters favored Canadian firm RIM's BBM over Twitter and other social media because its messages are encrypted and private.

The company said Monday that it cooperates with all telecommunications, law enforcement and regulatory authorities, but it declined to say whether it would hand over chat logs or user details to police.

RIM's encrypted services have been blamed for aiding militant attacks in India and for allowing unrelated men and women to communicate in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In August last year, a source close to talks between RIM and Saudi authorities said the company had agreed to hand over information that would allow monitoring of BBM.

Online social media was also widely used by members of the British public in recent days to help others avoid troublespots and to coordinate a clean up after the rioting had ended.

BBM has more than 45 million active users worldwide, 70 percent of whom use it daily, sending billions of messages, pictures and other files in total every month.

Authorities grappling with violent unrest should avoid heavy-handed clampdowns on social media and instead try to enlist the help of the public against the rioters, said John Bassett, a former senior official at British signals intelligence agency GCHQ and now a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

"The use of social media in the unrest looks like a game-changer. But any attempt to exert state control over social media looks likely to fail," he told Reuters.

"A much better approach would be to encourage and support individuals and community groups in identifying alarming developments on social media and even speaking out on the internet against extremists and criminals, and ensuring that the police have the skills and technical support to get pre-emptive and operational intelligence from social media when necessary."

(Additional reporting by Peter Apps; editing by Matt Falloon and Gareth Jones)

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Reuter site - Asia stocks bounce after Fed move stems rout

Asia stocks bounce after Fed move stems rout

Tue, Aug 09 20:48 PM EDT

By Alex Richardson

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian stocks rebounded on Wednesday, following a jump in U.S. shares, after the Federal Reserve made an unprecedented pledge to keep interest rates near zero for at least two years, stemming a global equity rout for the time being.

But investors remained wary about implication of the central bank's move -- that it expects the U.S. economy to remain weak far longer than previously forecast -- supporting demand for safe havens such as gold and the Swiss franc.

"Volatility is calming down from an extreme level. Clearly there's going to be considerable concerns still, but the market had got seriously carried away and gone to an extreme of fear," said Greg Gibbs, strategist at RBS in Sydney.

World stock markets had been tumbling since the start of August on fears of a slide back into recession for the United States, reinforced by a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating on Friday, and the ever-expanding euro zone debt crisis.

MSCI's all-country world stock index <.MIWD00000PUS> remained about 17 percent below its May peak on Wednesday, after slipping as far as 20 percent, the generally accepted definition of a bear market, on Tuesday.

Tokyo's Nikkei <.N225> rose 1.6 percent and MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose about 1.7 percent <.MIAPJ0000PUS>, led by the materials sector, which jumped more than 3 percent <.MIAPJMT00PUS>. <.T>

Wall Street shares posted their biggest one-day gain in more than two years on Tuesday, when the S&P 500 index <.SPX> leapt 4.7 percent. <.N>

Against the Swiss franc, the dollar bought around 0.7220 francs, having plunged 6 percent at one stage on Tuesday to a record low around 0.7067.

The dollar dipped to around 77.00 yen, not far from the all-time trough of 76.15 reached in mid-March.

The euro also touched a record low against the Swiss franc at around 1.0075, before recovering some ground to 1.0384 francs. But the single currency jumped on the dollar to $1.4350, putting more distance from last week's trough around $1.4054.

Continued strength in the Swiss franc and yen keeps alive the prospect of further intervention by the Swiss and Japanese authorities, after both took steps to weaken their currencies last week.

Gold firmed from late New York levels to around $1,755 an ounce, after striking the latest in a string of records around $1,778 on Tuesday.

U.S. crude oil climbed back above $80 a barrel, rising more than 2 percent to trade around $81.05.

(Additional reporting by Ian Chua in Sydney; Editing by Ramya Venugopal)

ReTweet!

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Reuter site - Wall Street roars back in wild trade after Fed meet

Wall Street roars back in wild trade after Fed meet

Tue, Aug 09 19:04 PM EDT

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rallied on Tuesday in a volatile session as investors struggled to decipher the Fed's signals on the economy after a dizzying two-week slide.

Buying accelerated into the close and the S&P 500 posted its best day in more than two years, following a drop of nearly 17 percent over the past weeks.

The market reversed direction six times after a Fed statement that pledged two more years of near-zero interest rates.

Bank shares roared back from recent losses with the KBW capital markets index up 6.7 percent.

"The last three or four weeks, the stock market has really discounted a mild recession," said Mohannad Aama, managing director at Beam Capital Management LLC in New York.

"Now after the Fed announcement, the market has to start factoring in what the response from the Fed and the government will be. There is still a small chance for a fiscal stimulus aimed at job creation. The FOMC statement today was positive for equities."

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 429.92 points, or 3.98 percent, to end at 11,239.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 53.07 points, or 4.74 percent, to 1,172.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 124.83 points, or 5.29 percent, to 2,482.52.

About 16.4 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq -- more than twice the daily average so far this year of 7.75 billion.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of almost 12 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, almost five stocks rose for every one that fell.

The three major U.S. stock indexes, though, are still in negative territory for the year, in spite of Tuesday's strong rally.

At its session low after the Fed statement, the S&P 500 came within a few points of entering a bear market -- or a 20 percent decline from its recent closing high set on April 29.

According to a Reuters poll, the United States faces one-in-four odds of slipping back into recession, though the economic outlook was seen as raising the likelihood of new Fed action.

Even some investors hoping for action from the Fed acknowledged the central bank's options appear to be limited because the current crisis is not liquidity-driven, as it was in 2008.

Equities suffered a massive drop on Monday, the first session since the United States lost its top-tier triple-A credit rating from Standard & Poor's. As a result of Monday's huge sell-off, the S&P 500 posted its worst one-day percentage loss since December 2008.

(Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Monday, August 8, 2011

Think it's a game? (Kevin Hart voice)

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Facebook Badge

The Black Rider

smiley status'

smiley status'

The Black Rider

Friday, August 12, 2011

Reuter site - Google and Facebook face-off in social games

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Reuter site - Verizon gets picket injunctions in 3 states, seeks more

Reuter site - Plan laid out for texting 9-1-1 messages

Reuter site - Verizon sees FiOS less profitable than copper

Come get some.

Reuter site - UK may disrupt social networks during unrest

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Reuter site - Asia stocks bounce after Fed move stems rout

ReTweet!

Reuter site - Wall Street roars back in wild trade after Fed meet

Monday, August 8, 2011

Think it's a game? (Kevin Hart voice)

About Me

The Remnants