Ever gone onto Twitter and seen the trending topics occupied by ridiculous statements from the fans of Justin Bieber and the like? Things like these seem all too common.
Happy browsing!
Comedian and talk-show host Conan O’Brien has replaced Pete Cashmore as CEO of Mashable, having bought the site for $3500. O’Brien went on to steal a prototype of the Apple iTV and propose a paper-based Twitter. Watch the videos below.
Tweetdeck, my favourite Twitter client for iOS and PC, has been rather stagnant since its acquisition by Twitter last year, but news from TechCrunch of a major update to the fantastic mobile apps goes down very well in my eyes.
This week’s app of the week for Windows Phone is Rowi, a Twitter app by Hidden Pineapple.
Many people would just say that you don’t need a Twitter app on a Windows Phone as it is already built into the OS. I personally love the Twitter integration that was added with Windows Phone 7.5 but, for some things such as actually reading my feed, it is not that great. So, after a while of struggling to keep up to date with all of the people that I legally stalk, I decided to download an app to use instead.
I started off with the official Twitter app for Windows Phone, which was horrendously bad, before going on to Birdsong which was better but still not that great. Eventually I came across Rowi, and everything changed. This little app is great, being incredibly simple to use and designed with a perfect Metro theme. When you open the app, your feed is the first thing you see and, with one swipe of the screen, you can see both your mentions and direct messages. You can even set it so that your notifications such as mentions and messages appear on a live tile. I think that the single most annoying thing about the Twitter website is that you have to manually update tweets, but Rowi auto-updates and, although new posts will appear while you are reading, the app leaves you where you are and just stacks the tweet on top of all the previously read ones. Now when you are reading what @JustinBieber was doing a week ago and a new tweet comes through, you don’t have to scroll all the way back down to where you were before.
Rowi, Windows Phone 7, £2.29
Download from the Marketplace or visit the website
Follow me on Twitter @huntho21 for random babble and cool stuff!
You’ve probably heard of the @Horse_ebooks Twitter account. If you haven’t, why not? Unlike other bots on Twitter, @Horse_ebooks sends out cryptic messages that have oddly mesmerised the internet. @Fart says it best:
@Horse_ebooks is a Twitter bot designed and automated by apparently some Russian guy to sell worthless, horrible ebooks about horses. In order to avoid being detected as a spam bot, it occasionally posts a text snippet or two from one of its ebooks, chosen at random. I will never buy an ebook from it, but I will follow this Twitter account until I die or horses become extinct, whichever comes first.
Now, Ben Nyberg has developed a bookmarklet to spread the @Horse_ebooks hilarity all over the internet. When the Javascript is run, every image on a page becomes the trademark horse and all the text becomes delightful gibberish. Nyberg himself expected this to amuse people for about 20 minutes, but all I know is that I am doing it to every site I see. Here are some examples.
So, what are you waiting for? Install the bookmarklet and try it yourself.
Many websites are blacked out today to protest proposed US legislation that threatens internet freedom: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). From personal blogs to giants like WordPress and Wikipedia, sites all over the web — including Digixav — are asking you to help stop this dangerous legislation from being passed. From 1pm GMT today, Wednesday 18th January 2012, we will black out for 12 hours as part of the largest protest in internet history.
Action needs to be taken against SOPA and PIPA.
Please watch the video below to learn how this legislation will affect internet freedom, and sign up below to let the US know how you feel about the bills.
Thank you.
A representative from Three UK has confirmed to Digixav that the network are not planning to carry the Nokia Lumia 900, a rumoured device that is expected to be announced next week at CES in Las Vegas. When we asked on Twitter about the carrier’s upcoming release of the mid-range Lumia 710, no new details were available. When we enquired about the prospects of the leaked 900 however, the representative appeared to confirm that the device is real and that the network have passed on the opportunity to stock it. This news, along with a similar Twitter leak by Swisscom late last year seem to provide strong evidence that the 900 is right around the corner.
See Three’s leak below or on Twitter.
Technophobia is a column by James Hardy. Views expressed are not necessarily those of Digixav.
So now, apparently, we have to make a timeline of our lives on Facebook. Well no, Mark Zuckerberg, contrary to your belief, most people that use Facebook don’t spend their whole lives on it. Yes, there may be a select few that do in fact have Facebook as their home page, and spend ten hours each day constantly refreshing their news feed waiting for one of their nine hundred friends to write some bullshit about their ex.
Which brings me onto another point: Facebook statuses. Only post statuses which most of your friends will be able to understand. These are genuine examples from some of my Facebook friends.
OMG that was actually soo funny hahahahaha
Why waste your breath apologising? #Idiot.
You couldn’t trust him but you never said no.
Fucking twat. Why would u do that?
Ur 2 good 4 him hun. Dont take his shit.
Really? Maybe to two or three of your friends these will make perfect sense. Who knows, you could be a comical genius. But 95% of your friends will have no clue as to what is going on. Don’t bother. Save your breath.
Don’t get arthritis. Just text the friends that will understand!
This leads (sort of) on to my next point. Facebook ‘friends’. I think I have added perhaps a dozen people on Facebook. Everyone else has added me. Because to be honest, I can’t be arsed. I don’t use facebook all that much, at least not compared to some. I have 200 friends. This is a tiny amount compared to most of my friends. I kid you not, the person who wrote the first status above has over 1000 friends. One thousand friends! That is quite frankly, ridiculous. Nobody knows a thousand proper friends. It is just a lie. If I meet someone while on holiday in Mongolia for a few minutes, and add them on Facebook, they are not my friend. Life doesn’t work like that! Having thousands of Facebook friends doesn’t necessarily make you popular.
In that respect, I like Google+. They have circles set up for acquaintances, friends and family. And really, most of your facebook friends would should go in acquaintances. You could have 1000 acquaintances. You don’t have 1000 friends.
Note: That was sort of bullshit. I don’t even use Google+. I just know they have acquaintances.
Anyhoo, back to the main point. I have looked at someone’s profile with the timeline thing. It is confusing! As human beings, we do not like change. That is a fact. So if, Mark Zuckerberg, you change Facebook every month, people are going to be pissed off. Stop doing it!
And finally, to people who aren’t on Facebook. I don’t think that you are some strange, messed up people. I salute you. You are the black sheep. You have resisted Mark Zuckerberg’s attempts to get the whole world on Facebook.
Unlike the rest of us. The Zuckerzombies.
Technophobia is a column by James Hardy. Views expressed are not necessarily those of Digixav.
A couple of months ago I set up a Twitter account. I haven’t been on it since. I don’t have (much of) a problem with Twitterers. I just don’t really get Twitter. I don’t give a toss if you’ve just had a shit. End of.
To me, Twatter Twitter just seems to be away for random people to legally stalk you. In fact, it’s encouraged! Is that wear society is heading? Instead of actually having to follow them and duck behind a parked car every time they look round, you just have to use a computer. It takes all the fun out of it.
I could sort of understand if you’re a celebrity then in might be a good way to let your fans know what you’re doing. But for a normal person? Why would you want to post tweets? Are there seriously going to be that many people who want to follow you? Just use Facebook. It’s not that bad!
OK, I get hashtags. It could be kind of useful if people want to talk about the same thing on Twitter. Xavier tells me that he found out about Gadhafi’s death by monitoring Twitter trends but, as I write this, some of the UK’s trending topics include #askmamakelly and the rumoured name of Lady GaGa’s new tour. Granted, these make a welcome change from crazed teenage girls who shouldn’t even be on Twitter wishing their favourite auto-tuned wannabe popstars goodnight and threatening to kill someone for going out with Justin bloody Bieber, but still, who actually gives a crap?
Even worse than this is the type of Twitterer who is so obsessed with the microblogging service that they use them in normal written text. NOOO! It’s not right! We can still write like normal, sane human beings. We haven’t completely sold our souls to social networking. Or have we?
Example:
‘You think it’s OK to do that? #dickhead’
No! You’re the dickhead for using a hashtag in normal writing! You’re not on Twitter. Leave hashtags where they belong!
So please, if you’re ever writing on a blog/Facebook/whatever, never, ever use a hashtag.
It just pisses people off. Or is it just me?
#stopthehashtag
(Do, however, follow Digixav on Twitter. We welcome your hashtags there! – ed)
Image from DeviantArt
The world is changing. Brands need to have large social presences these days and Digixav should be no exception. As such, I am reluctantly announcing that Digixav is now on the Book of Zuckerberg. There you may ‘Like’ us and get our posts and other insightful ramblings delivered straight to your news feed or something. Following us on Twitter will produce similar events but with random tangents from the mind of Henry and, more often, myself. Subscribing to our YouTube channel will let you see our videos before we embed them into exciting new posts and if you use Google+ then you can find us here. We might be heading to LinkedIn soon but who actually uses that?
Enjoy the social networking stuff!
The DX Team
Digixav 
