How to play Facebook's secret basketball game
Who doesn't love a good Easter egg? Apps, games and websites have all manner of hidden secrets, and Facebook is no different. It's not all that long ago that we showed you how to play the chess game secreted in Facebook Messenger and now another gem has been unearthed.
Also hidden away in Facebook Messenger you'll find a basketball game -- just in time for March Madness. Be warned, it's quite addictive but shooting some hoops is a great way to kill some time with a friend. All you need is an Android smartphone or an iPhone.
Google's Single Sign On adds support for Microsoft Office 365, Facebook at Work, Slack and more
Besides being the super poplar search engine, email provider, work and collaboration services provider, Google is also used, by a number of different services, as an identity provider.
It allows people to register and log into different online services using their Google account. Now, the company announced it’s expanding the feature to add a number of new services, some of which are direct competitors.
Encrypt all the things! Facebook, Google and WhatsApp to increase privacy and encryption
Privacy and security has always been a hot topic, but never more so than in recent months. The Apple/FBI case has really brought things to a head, enlivening the debate between privacy and security advocates, and those who side with the government. As Apple fights to prevent the FBI from accessing the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, Facebook, Google and others are looking to increase encryption and lockdown user data even further.
The Guardian has learned that a number of Silicon Valley companies are working on ultra-secure encrypted messaging systems. With President Obama having made a sideways reference to supporting the inclusion of backdoors for government, Facebook is planning to not only bring encryption to Whatsapp's voice messages, but also to bolster the security of Facebook Messenger.
Your office distractions are quite costly!
OfficeGenie.co.uk has conducted a research to see how much time people are wasting being distracted at the office, and it’s not good news. Those silly cat videos you watch on Facebook every day at work are costing the country billions of pounds. Yes, you read that correctly.
On average, British workers spend more than three quarters of an hour (more than 45 minutes every day) being distracted online. When you combine how much that costs, and how many workers there are in the UK, you come to a figure of £88 billion each year.
New WordPress plugin lets anyone create Facebook Instant Articles
Facebook's biggest news recently has been the global roll out of Reactions. But bubbling away in the background over recent weeks have been changes to the Instant Article program. Initially made available only to larger publishers, Facebook Instant Articles help to improve user-engagement by providing articles that load internally up to ten times faster than linking to external sites.
Facebook then announced that Instant Articles would be made available to publishers of all sizes, and today a WordPress plugin has been launched that means any blogger can take advantage of the feature. The partnership between Facebook and Automattic opens up Instant Articles to millions of users.
Swap Facebook's default Reactions for alternative emojis -- including Donald Trump and Pokémon
For years, the only choice Facebook gave us was to Like a post, or ignore it. Now, however, the social network has expanded its options, with a new set of reactions -- Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry.
While this is definitely a move in the right direction, for a lot of people these choices don’t really go far enough -- and where’s the dislike button we all wanted, eh? Still, you don’t need to stick with the official Reactions, you can swap them for ones of your choosing -- including replacing the default selection with amusing images of Donald Trump showing off a range of emotions.
Facebook set to pay millions in UK tax
Tax restructuring at Facebook means the company is due to pay millions of pounds in tax in 2017. The social network famously paid just £4,327 in corporation tax in 2014, but this bill is about to get much larger as advertising revenue is set to be routed through the UK rather than the tax haven of Ireland. A wide-scaled restructuring means advertising sales will now be booked in Britain and subject to UK tax.
Tech companies such as Amazon, eBay and Google have been criticized for their use of tax avoidance schemes, although Google recently agreed to pay back £130 million in tax. Not everyone was happy with Google's 'sweetheart' deal and there has been increased pressure on other companies to pay their fair share.
German startup has greener data center than Facebook and Google
You might think Apple or Google have the greenest datacenters, but it’s actually a German startup called Cloud&Heat that takes the crown.
The company said it managed to realize the lowest energy consumption and has "undercut Google’s optimum value by 40 percent".
Fake profiles on social media could become illegal
Facebook has faced a great deal of criticism over its real names policy, and a number of people have fallen foul of the rule that prevents users from assuming a pseudonym. UK law enforcement agencies are looking for ways to tackle the problem of online abuse perpetrated by trolls.
Among the suggestions put forward by the Crown Prosecution Service is that people who use fake social media accounts to harass and abuse others should be prosecuted. The proposals would normally only apply to adults, but children could be hit by the legislation in certain circumstances as well.
Twitter to help UK prosecutors fight revenge porn and online abuse
Twitter has long-battled trolls and after launching various tools to help combat abuse, the social network is lending its support to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in the UK. The social network is to work with prosecutors to provide training that will help the CPS to fight revenge porn, stalking and other forms of online abuse.
The move comes after a marked increase in the use of social media to perpetrate attacks on individuals, particularly women. But while levels of technical nous have generally increased, legal services have been slow to keep up with the latest changes. With new guidelines set to be published covering the persecution of women through social media, prosecutors are ready to call on Twitter's experience.
ISIS threatens Dorsey and Zuckerberg for closing terrorist Twitter and Facebook accounts
ISIS is many things including being a master manipulator of the media and an expert at utilizing social media. Facebook and Twitter have been key tools in the group's propaganda dissemination, and the social networks have reacted by closing down accounts whack-a-mole style.
Now Islamic State has released a video in response to the censorship. It depicts Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey riddled with bullets as "the sons of the Caliphate army" threaten to fight back against account closures.
Facebook has missed a trick or two with its limited Reactions
After years of pestering, yesterday Facebook finally supplemented the famous Like button with five additional Reactions. To the disappointment of many, the much-requested Dislike button is yet to make an appearance, but this is not the only way in which the social network has let people down.
Advertisers, page owners, and the general Facebook hoi polloi now have at their disposal six reactions that serve little useful purpose. Sure, it gives users the opportunity to express a slightly wider range of emotion, but the range is far too limited. Additionally, Facebook has let down its paying users more seriously -- it fails to register the meaning and intent behind the different reactions, rendering the six options almost pointless.
Like! Facebook Reactions launch around the world
Facebook is, at long, long last, rolling out Reactions globally. The limitations of the famous Like button which have been debated since its introduction are set to become a thing of the past at the social network. Like is now joined by Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry options.
As we reported earlier in the year, the 'yay' option that had been tested is not being released at this stage -- apparently users found it difficult to interpret what it means. Reactions do not work exactly as you might expect them to, and this means you might need to be careful about how you use them to start with.
Facebook launches Suicide Prevention tool in the UK
Facebook has teamed up with charity the Samaritans to bring its Suicide Prevention tool to the UK. It's the same tool that was launched in the US a little over a year ago, and it gives users the opportunity to report content they feel might be indicative of someone struggling with suicidal thoughts.
While Facebook itself is not involved in seeking out suicide-related posts, it has a team in place ready to handle any content that is reported. The team is able to analyze and prioritize cases, and reach out to individuals to see what sort of support can be offered -- this might be as simple as having a chat, or it could involve a referral to specialist organizations.
King Arthur is back on Facebook after falling foul of Real Name policy
For many, Arthurian legend is just that: legend. But for others, it is very real. One such person is King Arthur -- or Rev Arthur Uther Pendragon to give him his full title -- was recently kicked off Facebook as the social network did not believe he was using his real name.
But now the king is back. Having proved his identity, the once and future king (Rex Quondam Rexque Futuris) has had his account restored under his legal name of Arthur Uther Pendragon. King Arthur is not the first person to cross swords with Facebook's real name policy, and he certainly won't be the last.
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