Author: Josh Wolford

It looks like that full NCAA Bracket isn’t the only sports-related information that Google is adding to search results.

They have just announced an update that will display interactive info cards for various sports-related queries. This includes schedules, stats, and standings for the NBA, NFL MLB, and more.

“League schedules are now grouped by day/week, so you can easily see who’s playing and when. Clicking on a game gives you detailed information with links to more content on official sites. You can find complete league standings just by doing a quick search for [NBA standings], and you can even see the latest stats from your favorite players,” says Google.

If you want to see this in action, just search “NBA.” You’ll see a “scores and schedule” card above all results that is viewable by date. When you click on an individual game, you’ll see the teams’ records, the time and location of the game. You’ll also see a couple of links to outside sites – “preview” and “tickets” links to NBA.com.

Here’s what searching “NBA standings” looks like, once you’ve expanded the info card:

Sure takes up a lot of the results page, huh?

Of course, when Google puts information like this inside search results, it makes it less likely that you’ll need to visit an another site to obtain what you’re looking for. These info cards, along with Knowledge Graph, have and will continue to impact traffic to other sites. But for users, it’s a great feature that gives them the info they desire, faster.

Today is the first day of spring. It’s still cold here. Stupid spring.

It’s also the birthday of television legend Fred McFeely Rogers.

Mr. Rogers was a wonderful and fascinating human being. And as Mental Floss shows, there are plenty of things that you probably didn’t know about him. Did you know his middle name was McFeely? I sure didn’t.

As you all know, Google is killing Google Reader on July 1st. I’m sure plenty of you have shed some tears in the past week. For Google Reader power users, this sucks – plain and simple. And despite the loud cries of its supporters, don’t expect Google to cave. Reader is going bye-bye.

But if you thought that it was going to be a clean death, like a guillotine on July 1st – think again. Google Reader is probably going to be slowly poisoned with arsenic.

Gmail users are noticing (and complaining on Twitter) that their link to Reader in Google’s omnipresent black bar has gone missing. If you’re in Gmail, and you click on the “more” tab up top, “Reader” is nowhere to be found.

Google Reader no longer shows up in my “More” tab on Gmail homepage. #bastards

— Jennifer Bostic (@prplst) March 20, 2013

I can’t get to Reader from Gmail anymore, guys. I’m scared. Someone hold me.

— Sarah Kogod (@SarahKogod) March 20, 2013

It’s also gone from the black bar inside Google+.

“Reader” still exists as a link when you’re on the Google homepage, or within maps, play, youtube, news, drive, calendar, and so on. But it’s clear that Google is slowly but surely wiping the web of Google Reader. And if getting to your Reader feed by Gmail was you’re preferred route, you’re going to have to find a detour.

President Obama, self-proclaimed avid college basketball fan, has just made his predictions for how March Madness will play out. ESPN calls it “Barack-etology. Cute.

This year, the President selects Louisville, Ohio St., Florida, and Indiana to advance to the Final Four. In the final game, he has Louisville facing Indiana. In the end, he thinks Indiana will be the champions of college basketball for 2013.

Last year, the President successfully picked only one of the Final Four teams. Do you think his picks are better this year?

Facebook has quietly updated its terms for Pages to allow page owners to display previously banned text and visuals on their cover photos.

Although the terms page says that the last revision occurred on December 17th, there has definitely been some changes to to the “cover” section.

Before the change, Facebook was pretty strict when it came to what can go in a page’s cover photo. Here’s what the guidelines used to prohibit:

• Price or purchase information, such as “40 percent off,” or, “Download it on socialmusic.com.”
• Contact information such as a website address, email, mailing address, or information that should go in your page’s “about” section.
• References to Facebook features or actions, such as like or share, or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features.
• Calls to action, such as “get it now” or “tell your friends.”

These restrictions have been removed.

Now, Facebook only enforces the “no images with more than 20% text” rule, among other, more general rules that are enforced on all products across the site:

All covers are public. This means that anyone who visits your Page will be able to see your cover. Covers can’t be deceptive, misleading, or infringe on anyone else’s copyright. You may not encourage people to upload your cover to their personal timelines. Covers may not include images with more than 20% text.

So, if you’ve been dying to throw some text about a deal you’re offering into your cover photo, I guess you can feel free to do so. I’ve reached out to Facebook for confirmation.

[Mari Smith via AllFacebook]

To snooze or not to snooze?

The answer, while simple, is a hard one to actually implement. Many of us are addicted to the snooze button. You may think that extra few minutes of fragmented sleep is helping you take on the day, but in reality it’s only screwing up your sleep cycles and making you more tired.

[AsapSCIENCE]

One of the world’s most famous confidence men has his reservations about Facebook.

Speaking at the Advertising Week Europe conference, Frank Abagnale says that he completely understands why people like Facebook. But he warns that the network is full of people who don’t really understand just how far they’re putting themselves out there. And that Facebook is basically a godsend for potential identity thieves.

Abagnale would know a thing or two about identity theft. He’s known as one of the most successful impostors of all time, assuming the identities of pilots, doctors, lawyers, and even a U.S. prison agent. You may know him as the subject of the 2002 Steven Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can. He’s the guy played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Abagnale suggests that users never include their date and place of birth together. He also warned against using “passport style” photos as profile pictures. To be safe, you should opt for group photos.

“If you tell me your date of birth and where you’re born [on Facebook] I’m 98% [of the way] to stealing your identity,” he said. “Never state your date of birth and where you were born [on personal profiles], otherwise you are saying ‘come and steal my identity’”.

He even discussed the concept of Facebook likes giving away tons of information about you. People (some with malicious intent) can use your history of likes (and even what you choose not to like) to discern your personal info, lifestyle choices, and personality traits. We recently ran a piece on this very same thing.

But he doesn’t put all the blame on Facebook and other social media and tech services. “Don’t blame all the other companies…you control it,” he said.

“What I did 40 years ago as a teenage boy is 4,000 times easier now,” he said. “Technology breeds crime.”

Chilling words from a guy who knows what he’s talking about.

[via The Guardian]

Google is making it easier for you to capture all of your Hangout shenanigans with the launch of a new app inside the popular Google+ feature.

It’s called Hangouts Capture.

“Google+ Hangouts bring people together, and when they do, all sorts of awesome can unfold,” says Google’s Jeremy Ng. “The challenge, oftentimes, is capturing your favorite moments as they happen, so today we’re introducing the new Hangouts Capture app. With it you can take pictures of your Hangouts-in-progress, including a number of features not available in the usual screenshot workarounds.”

What the Capture app does is add a camera button to the bottom of your Google+ Hangout screen. When the app is open, you can snap unlimited screenshots with a single click. Of course, you could just snap screenshots the old fashioned way, but this really is much more efficient.

Mainly because every “capture” you make is saved to a shared album which is only visible to the other people in the Hangout.

Afterward, the photos will be accessible in your own photo albums, or by finding the original Hangout post. Google says that Hangout participants will always know that the Capture app is in use, and whenever someone actually snaps a photo.

You should see the Capture option pop up soon, says Google.

According to a study from the University of Portsmouth, using Facebook as a gateway for a trip down memory lane may be the most positive thing you can do with the service.

For starters, the study’s makeup looks like this: 54% male, 80% of which own a smartphone and 94% who always carry that phone on them. 86% of the participants said they check Facebook more than once a day.

Researchers found that the Facebook activity that generated improved mood in the most people was looking back on old wall posts, followed closely by looking back at photos posted users’ walls (76% and 73%, respectively). 71% had improved mood from looking back at old photos they posted.

Compare this with the only 32% who said they had improved mood from playing games and the 58% who did from simply updating their status.

“[T]he results of the study do indicate that activities involving reminiscing have a positive impact upon wellbeing. Moreover, looking back on photos and wall posts was seen to provide a greater self soothing effect, when participants were feeling low in mood, than other Facebook activities. This is further supported in that a significant number of participants were not able to easily access “favorite‟ wall posts and photos, and yet would like to be able to do so. In addition, the activity of looking back on photos and wall posts was carried out more frequently by participants than other activities, such as playing games, updating status and using messenger. This suggests that the activity of looking back upon photos and wall posts is a popular activity, as well as having a positive impact upon emotional wellbeing,” said the researchers.

The study also looked at what users want from Facebook in terms of mechanisms for accessing their old photos and posts. 88% said that they would like to be able to access old photos, but 84% said it is not easy to do so. Graph Search should help with that, once Facebook completes its slow rollout.

[Looking back at Facebook content and the positive impact upon wellbeing via AllFacebook]

Twitter – the actual concept of Twitter – is now patented.

U.S. Patent 8,401,009 just went through, with Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone listed as inventors. It’s a vague and overarching concept of a “device independent message distribution platform,” first filed in 2007.

Here’s the abstract (aptly titled, in the situation):

A system (and method) for device-independent point to multipoint communication is disclosed. The system is configured to receive a message addressed to one or more destination users, the message type being, for example, Short Message Service (SMS), Instant Messaging (IM), E-mail, web form input, or Application Program Interface (API) function call. The system also is configured to determine information about the destination users, the information comprising preferred devices and interfaces for receiving messages, the information further comprising message receiving preferences.

The system applies rules to the message based on destination user information to determine the message endpoints, the message endpoints being, for example, Short Message Service (SMS), Instant Messaging (IM), E-mail, web page output, or Application Program Interface (API) function call. The system translates the message based on the destination user information and message endpoints and transmits the message to each endpoint of the message.

The patent makes it clear that the service is for messages that don’t have specific recipients themselves – messages that are maintained by a system and broadcast to all users, or “followers.”

“Like many companies, we apply for patents on a bunch of our inventions. We also think a lot about how those patents may be used in the future, which is why we introduced the Innovator’s Patent Agreement to keep control of those patents in the hands of engineers and designers,” said Twitter in a statement, confirming the patent.

“Look Ma, I’m officially an inventor (my dream as a kid)!” said Biz Stone in a tweet.

[USPTO via The Verge]

Facebook has just pushed an update for their Android app that mirrors changes pushed to their iOS app earlier this week.

First off, the new version of Facebook for Android allows users to change their profile picture. This follows last month’s update, which gave users the ability to change their cover photos directly from the app. Earlier this week, Facebook finally gave iOS users the ability to change their cover photos.

Facebook says that there are now fewer taps involved when users want to start a group message. Facebook also updated iOS to improve messaging, tweaking this same thing as well as making it easier to name and find group conversations.

Lastly, Facebook now lets Android users hide stories and report spam from the news feed.

Like with its iOS app, Facebook is keeping to the regular update schedule with its Android app. Ever since announcing that they would push app updates every 4 to 8 weeks, Facebook has, for the most part, made good on their word.

You can grab the update right now over on Google Play.

Another piece of the Redbox Instant puzzle has just fallen into place, as the Redbox Instant app for Xbox 360 is now available to download. Microsoft first announced the app back in February, saying that it would be coming in the “very near future.” It looks like they were waiting for Redbox Instant to come out of its beta period.

Which is what happened last week. After a three-month beta, Redbox Instant finally launched to the public.

Redbox Instant costs $8 a month, and that includes unlimited streaming of all 4,600 movies (no TV shows yet) in the Redbox Instant catalog, as well as a bonus 4 free DVD rentals from Redbox kiosks (which pays for over half the price itself, when you think about it). For $9 a month, you can upgrade your subscription to include Blu-Ray discs in the total package.

As of now, this is an exclusive deal – the Xbox 360 is the only console to feature a Redbox Instant app.

“Attention Redbox fans: the Redbox Instant by Verizon app is available on Xbox 360 now. Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers in the U.S. can sign up for Redbox Instant by Verizon and start enjoying Hollywood’s newest releases, in addition to a movie-lovers collection of popular classics available for unlimited streaming. Redbox Instant by Verizon also offers the ability to purchase and rent new releases and stream them directly into your living room through Xbox 360 without needing a subscription.” says the Major Nelson blog.

The Redbox Instant app also supports voice and gesture control via Kinect.

Yes, as with most streaming apps on the Xbox 360, a Xbox Live Gold membership is required. If you’re not a Gold member and you still want to check out Redbox Instant app – you’re in luck. The app will be unlocked for all Xbox LIVE members for a limited time.

With the NCAA Tournament fast approaching, people are beginning to fill out their brackets with the hopes of stunning their office buddies with the perfect pick of all 63 games.

Too bad it’s simply not going to happen for you. Sorry, man.

DePaul professor Jeff Bergen is here to give to a clear, concise explanation on why you’ll never fill out a perfect bracket. And not just you – nobody is likely to fill out a perfect bracket. There are simply too many possible outcomes. And you’re probably basing your decisions on which mascot would win in a fight anyway. Or team colors. Don’t lie, we know how you pick brackets.

[DePaul Newsroom]

Hulu has just announced a significant redesign of its Apple TV app – one that they say make finding and viewing things much easier.

“Right away, you’ll notice we’ve added content categories across the top navigation bar to make it easy to for you to jump to your chosen section – whether it is TV, Kids, Latino, Search, or something else. Inside each category, you’ll discover what’s new in our content library so it’s easy to discover new shows and keep up with the shows you already love. You can also jump into your favorite shows right away with the “Shows You Watch” tray. We built this to make sure you never miss a new episode or lose your place in a series,” says Hulu’s Dave Herman.

The UI update also makes playback and viewing simpler. When you find the show you want to watch, all you have to do is press the play button and it will start playing instantly.

Hulu has also added support for a quick on/off trigger for audio/subtitle options. When you’re watching something, all you have to do is press and hold the select button.

To experience the new UI, you have to be up to date on your firmware. Make sure to update your software in your settings if you don’t see the changes.

In other, probably more significant Hulu news, the company just named former SVP of Content Andy Forssell as the acting CEO, replacing Jason Kilar as he departs at the end of Q1.

LinkedIn thinks that they know who will will this year’s NCAA Tournament, and they don’t even need to consider basketball. Well, they need to consider the word “basketball,” but that’s about it.

In alternative method to fill out a bracket news, LinkedIn has calculated a “dedication score” for all of the teams participating in March Madness. That “dedication score” is simply the number of current students and alumni with the word “basketball” in their profile divided by the total number of current students and alumni at each school.

Use each school’s score to determine the winners and there you have it. Gonzaga (15,700 students and alumni, 2.5% referencing basketball) wins with a score of 2.46.

#1 seed Kansas does well in this bracket, making it to the Final Four before being upended by Butler. The cinderella of LinkedIn’s bracket is 14th seeded Valparaiso, which makes it all the way to the Final Four, beating top-seeded Louisville in the process.

Check out the bracket below (click to enlarge).

“Now, I know some of you may be thinking ‘What does this have to do with the basketball team’s performance on the court?’ Team Spirit! We believe in the power of willing your team to win. Your chances of picking a bracket 100% correctly are infinitesimally small, regardless of method, so we think the power of willing your team to win is what it will take. So, you could fill out your bracket based on favorite school colors OR you could use our ‘dedication score,’” says LinkedIn’s Sohan Murthy.

I can’t really argue with that, considering all of the ridiculous ways I’ve seen people construct a bracket.

This week is the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom, which led to the nearly 9-year Iraq War.

Beginning on March 20th, 2003 and lasting until December 18th, 2011 (when Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta officially declared the war over), the Iraq War is one of the most contentious periods in American history.

That is clearly evidenced in the response that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is receiving over on Twitter right now.

Earlier this afternoon, Rumsfeld tweeted this:

10 yrs ago began the long, difficult work of liberating 25 mil Iraqis. All who played a role in history deserve our respect & appreciation.

— Donald Rumsfeld (@RumsfeldOffice) March 19, 2013

It has sparked a monsoon of replies, and to be perfectly blunt, it’s an all out sh*tstorm for the former Secretary. And thanks to Twitter’s recent update that expanded tweet pages to include more replies, we can see even more of what the Twitterverse is saying about the tweet:

And that’s not even half of it. In my years of following Twitter, this is one of the most universally ill-received tweets I’ve ever seen. Ouch.

This is a weird one.

As you may remember, Jackass star Ryan Dunn drunkenly crashed his Porsche in West Goshen, Pennsylvania back in the summer of 2011, killing himself and his passenger.

And apparently, someone recovered some small parts from the crash and is attempting to sell them on Craigslist.

Joe.ie tipped me to the posting, which comes from Philadelphia. It offers up the parts (small enough to fit inside a shoebox) for $300.

Apparently, the original collector doesn’t want them anymore – because they may be haunted.

“A week after the accident I went to the accident and scooped up minor parts I saw lying on the ground. The parts are all remotely tiny, and all fit in a shoebox. I don’t want them anymore because weird shit has happened since I put it under my bed. I guess it’s because it’s a weird thing to have, but I was a huge Jackass fan and thought it would be a cool something to have. If you want proof they are his parts, I have pictures of the crash site I took myself,” reads the ad.

We’ve tried to contact the poster and will let you know if we find anything else out. I guess you really can find anything on Craigslist.

ABC is reportedly working on a live streaming app that will be the first of its kind from any of the major U.S. broadcasters.

According to the New York Times, the new app is currently in development. It would allow users to live stream ABC programming – daytime, primetime, and more – to their mobile devices and tablets. All users would have to do is log in through their cable provider.

The app could launch as early as later this year.

Considering that Disney already has other streaming apps called Watch ESPN and Watch Disney, is wouldn’t be a shock if this new app launches as Watch ABC or something similar.

With this move, ABC would be on the cutting edge of content distribution. Of course, one of the main reasons for any network to develop streaming apps is to attempt to create a space where they can broadcast more ads.

ABC isn’t the only major network that’s looking to expand their reach to more mobile users. Last week, CBS launched a new app that features full-episode streaming of much of their daytime, primetime, and late night content. But that app only streams shows on a delay – a far cry from what ABC is reportedly trying to do with a truly live app experience.

Speaking of Disney-owned properties, Hulu just tapped a new acting CEO. SVP of Content Any Forssell will fill the vacant seat, left by Jason Kilar when he steps down later this month.

Shortly after Google announced that they would be killing off Google Reader, angering a significant amount of users, they dealt another blow to RSS by yanking the Google RSS Subscription Chrome extension. More anger ensued. Why must you destroy everything that we love, Google?

Well, here’s a bit of good news: The extension is back.

Finnur Thorarinsson, the author of the extension, announced its return on a Chromium issues thread. According to him, it was removed by mistake.

The extension has been updated to remove Google Reader and iGoogle from the lists of supported feed readers, “to prevent [new users] from getting hooked on Reader and then be disappointed in a few months time,” according to the extension’s author.

Here’s what he had to say:

I’m the author of the RSS Subscription Extension (from Google) and I wanted to provide a quick update on what Peter said.

My RSS extension was removed by mistake but it is now up again on the webstore:

It was not _tied_ to Google Reader, per se, since you choose which feed reader to use — but I’ve now removed the Google Reader option for new users to prevent them from getting hooked on Reader and then be disappointed in a few months time.

Also, please note that even though clones of my extension exist in the webstore, some of them were copied a long time ago and have not been updated since. They might therefore be vulnerable to security issues and can not really be recommended without making sure they’ve kept up with the times.

The RSS Subscription extension allows users to quickly add RSS and Atom feeds to a variety of feed readers. That functionality still remains, minus the ability to subscribe via Google Reader.

So, Google, burned down the house and spared one small possession from the fire. For what it’s worth, Thorarinsson himself is just as upset about the whole Google Reader shutdown as the rest of us.

“I’m an avid user of Google Reader and am pretty unhappy about the Reader situation as well,” he says.

[h/t CNET]

One North Carolina church is taking a stand for marriage equality by refusing to marry anyone until the right is granted to all people.

Green Street United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, NC, has asked that its pastors refrain from signing any marriage licenses issued by the state of North Carolina (or any other same-sex marriage-restricting state) until “full privilege is offered to same sex couples.” Pastors are being directed to conduct “relationship blessings” instead.

Here’s how the church explains their position:

As an Anti-Racist, Reconciling Congregation, Green Street United Methodist Church seeks to be in faithful ministry with all people in the brokenness of our world. This statement is being adopted as a sign of our commitment to love and justice for all people.

The Marriage Covenant between two people is a ministry of the church. Couples making a commitment to one another need a supportive community of faith to sustain and uphold them so as to grow in faith and love. Weddings are the occasion for covenant making, a time to seek God’s blessing on their commitment to one another. When a couple chooses to be married in the church, they should also be conscious that they are making a declaration of their relationship as a new ministry for the congregation and the world. At Green Street Church, we claim the committed same-sex relationships as no less sacred in their ministry to us and the community.

But sadly, at this time in the United Methodist Church, marriages, weddings and holy unions are limited to heterosexual couples. As our nation struggles to provide legal recognition to people in same-sex relationships and provide them the privileges allotted to opposite-sex married couples, our denomination struggles to overcome the sin of reserving these sacramental privileges for straight people only. We, the leaders of Green Street Church, see people in same-sex relationships as completely worthy of the Sacrament of Marriage. We reject any notion that they are second class citizens in the Kingdom of God.

The move looks to pressure the Methodist denomination, who currently bans the performance of same-sex marriages, into allowing such ceremonies.

The church is receiving both positive and negative feedback over the decision on their Facebook page, as would be expected. This post announcing the move has become a verbal battleground:

“This so called church…must not read the book they preach…What a mess…” says one commenter.

“How sad. The last days…right is wrong, and wrong is right. Just throw your bibles away,” says another.

“So you must believe that all things are moral. Adultery, beastiality, and the like. Is this what being a Christian means?”

The back-and-forth is fairly equal:

“You folks are awesome! Thank you very much for your support and compassion,” says one supporter.

“Thank you, Green Street. I hope your courage will inspire other churches to follow suit,” says another.

Angry Facebook users are also taking to the page’s recommendations, using the Timeline widget to sound off at the church.

“Some people see this as unfair to straight couples, but the Leadership Council of GSUMC sees this as an invitation to stand in solidarity with LGBTQ people. Straight couples have many more options to get married than same-sex couples,” says the church.

“The scattered verses of Scripture that refer to homosexual behavior and desire have sparked many debates in the faith community. It is clear from a reading of all such passages that long-term, committed, monogamous relationships between people of the same gender was not a concept at the time of the writing of Scripture.”