Tag: Recently Read

Twitter has changed how you can receive direct messages so that users don’t have to be "following" each other to exchange the private communications. The new system is opt–in only, which allows users to preserve the privacy and quiet state of their direct messages feed if they prefer.

DMs are more or less Twitter’s equivalent of private email conversations or perhaps IMs––traditionally they are only available for people who actually follow each other, and though they have the same format as a public tweet they have the same 140 character limitation. It’s a powerful system that many people use as alternative to snowed–in email inboxes. But the requirement for users to have the follower connection made things tricky for power tweeps with many thousands of followers. If you now opt–in through Twitter’s new settings, you can choose to receive DMs from any user that follows you without having to follow them back.

Twitter’s move may be a subtle one, but it does add some very important utility to the system, and positions it even more as a 21st Century alternative to email. The company has also recently adjusted how verified users interact, allowing these Twitter uber–users to filter out non–verified communication if they wish. As the company approaches IPO this sort of maneuver may be important to show Twitter has larger long term goals than merely growing its user base––it wants to be used in more creative ways too.

Read Full Story

via Fast Company http://www.fastcompany.com/3019982/twitter-makes-itself-more-powerful-by-making-private-messaging-simpler?partner=rss

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The changing of the guard is underway at the Vatican.

via Yahoo! News – Latest News & Headlines http://news.yahoo.com/pope-francis-bids-farewell-problematic-no-2-104117718.html

We’re barely into awards season, but there’s little doubt on most minds that “12 Years a Slave,” helmer Steve McQueen’s horrific depiction of one of the worst moments in U.S. history, will finds its place on nomination ballots — and that includes possible recognition for Michael Fassbender’s work as a sinister slave owner. To wit:… Read more »

via Variety http://variety.com/2013/film/news/12-years-a-slave-michael-fassbender-1200725227/

Why should men be the only ones who don’t have to “fix” their faces?

via NYT > Most Recent Headlines http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/booming/my-face-is-stuck-in-the-70s.html

The world’s anti-doping authority is launching an "extraordinary" audit of Jamaica’s drug-testing agency following allegations that its policing of the island’s sprinting superstars led by Usain Bolt all but collapsed in the months before they dazzled at the London Games, The Associated Press has learned.

via Yahoo! News – Latest News & Headlines http://news.yahoo.com/ap-newsbreak-world-doping-agency-probing-jamaica-095723725–spt.html

A California man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of securities fraud in connection with the Walt Disney Co.’s $4-billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment.

via L.A. Times – Entertainment News http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-ct-california-man-indicted-on-securities-fraud-related-to-disneys-marvel-acquisition-20131008,0,2333012.story?track=rss

At a Dick Cheney roast, you’d expect people to yuk it up about heart transplants, shooting friends in the face, and President Obama’s alleged incompetency. While those topics were certainly covered at the roast co-hosted by Rupert Murdoch and sponsored by the conservative magazine Commentary on Monday night, even some attending the festivities honoring the former vice president were taken aback by the rampant torture humor. "There were some waterboarding jokes that were really tasteless," a guest tells BuzzFeed. "I can see the case for enhanced interrogation techniques after Sept. 11 but I can’t really endorse sitting there drinking wine and fancy dinner at the Plaza laughing uproariously about it."

The culprits include former Sen. Joe Lieberman, who “said something to the effect that it’s nice that we’re all here at the Plaza instead of in cages after some war crimes trial," and the vice president himself – though his joke, which he attributed to Jay Leno, has so many layers of Cheney, we’re not entirely sure what’s going on. Per BuzzFeed:

It centered on a one-shot antelope hunting contest in Wyoming in which the loser had to dance with an Indian squaw. Cheney’s shot got caught in the barrel, producing a dispute over whether it counted as a hit or a miss — and Leno, according to Cheney, joked that Cheney wanted to go catch the animal with his bare hands and waterboard it.

The former VP does seem like a very roastable guy, but someone should have realized that Jon Stewart already used up most of the good Cheney jokes during the Bush years.

Read more posts by Margaret Hartmann

Filed Under: dick cheney
,politics
,waterboarding
,torture

via Daily Intelligencer http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/10/cheney-fans-too-soon-for-waterboarding-jokes.html

At this point, there’s no clear, obvious way for consumers to eliminate them.

via POLITICO – TOP Stories http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/obamacare-website-problems-98029.html

I’m writing this post at 10 p.m. on a Monday. But if I emailed a quick question to the post’s main subject––Vynamic CEO Dan Calista––he wouldn’t get back to me until tomorrow.

That’s because Vynamic, a Philadelphia–based health–care consulting company, officially requests that employees not send email between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. on weekdays, and all day Saturday and Sunday. The policy, which the company dubs "zmail," began after employees complained about stress in the annual engagement survey. Constant email contact played a role in that. Calista describes it this way: "You get an email. You’re trying to sleep. You happen to look at it right as you fall asleep, and next thing you know you’re up thinking about it. All it takes is that one." And so the policy began: "Let it wait until the morning."

The roll–out required some thought. Managers had to go first. After a month, they evaluated it, and "everyone became a believer in it," says Calista. So the email blackout zone went into the employee handbook. "We’re not going to fire somebody if they violate it," he says. But it’s pretty effectively self–policed.

Read Full Story

via Fast Company http://www.fastcompany.com/3019655/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/should-your-company-practice-zmail-the-case-for-inbox-curf?partner=rss

"So, where are we on getting Spader?"

Fred Graver, Twitter’s head of TV, is hunkered down in a cramped conference room in the company’s New York office with a tiny team of two. Outside, sales and marketing staffers gear up for a Summer Friday confab, but Graver isn’t thinking about margaritas. He’s thinking about how to nab James Spader. The actor is returning to television this fall as a creepy criminal mastermind in a highly anticipated show called The Blacklist. Graver wants Spader on Twitter posting behind–the–scenes photos from the set, live–tweeting episodes, conversing with fans––and hell, maybe even tweeting creepy criminal–mastermindy things. That would be just fine.

Graver’s goal is clear: Make sure that all the people who enjoy television take to Twitter to enjoy it even more. When viewers watch TV––their smartphone or tablet at their side––using Twitter to chat with their virtual friends about a program, it creates "the world’s biggest couch," he says. And who better to have gossiping on the sofa with you than the star of the show?

Read Full Story

via Fast Company http://www.fastcompany.com/3018620/twitter-woos-tv-networks-advertisers-ipo?partner=rss