Remember the
Facebook experiment that'd let you pay to send messages to strangers
inboxes? According to several reputable sources, not only will you be able to
inflict your opinions on members of the general public, but for a
premium you'll also be able to abuse celebrities. According to The Sunday
Times, figures such as Michael Rosen, Tom Daley and Salman Rushdie can all
be reached if you splash out around £10.68 ($16) -- with the fees on a sliding
scale based on how many followers they have. According to prolific twitterer
Rosen, he wasn't asked about being charged for access, and won't receive a
penny of the paid fan mail. In an effort to test it out, we sent a cheery Monday
morning message to Snoop Dogg Snoop Lion, who is meant to be
on the price list, but strangely we weren't charged a penny -- so we're not
sure how far this has been rolled out. Either way, that's a tenner saved right
there. [Source]
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Facebook is notorious for testing all sorts of wild and crazy ideas before implementing them site
wide—assuming they ever even make it that far. So for the sake of everyone's
sanity, we hope that this newest venture will soon make its way to The
Graveyard of Horrible Facebook Features Past and join the others. Because an
iOS notification begging you to post an update (any update!) is perhaps one of
the most annoying things Facebook has tried to subject us to yet.
Aside from the
fact that no one—no one—can possibly be in need of any more phone
notifications beeping, buzzing, and inducing anxiety in their pocket every five
seconds, this feature offers essentially zero benefit to its users. Your
friends won't notice or care that you haven't shared a cat photo in a few days,
and a lack of posting on your part means that you're probably out living and
enjoying your life. But Facebook can't stand for any of that nonsense. So let
us pray that this falls to the wayside, and for the unlucky pool of users
forced to suffer under its terror, may God help you all. [Source]
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happening in the ever changing world of technology
Remember
in kindergarten when your teacher shunned construction paper and scissors and
set you loose on a computer armed with a dog-eared guide to Ruby on Rails? No?
Neither do I.
But
some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names are teaming up to encourage schools to
add computer programming to their curriculum. Code.org, a new non-profit, rolled out a short film on Tuesday that features Bill Gates, Mark
Zuckerberg, will.i.am, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and other high-profile
entrepreneurs talking about the importance of coding.
According
to the nonprofit’s stats, 1.4 million computer science jobs will be open over
the next 10 years and only 400,000 American graduates are expected to be
qualified enough to fill them. Free educational tools are available, but Code.org is
advocating for a systemic change that puts coding in the classroom.
The inspiration
Code.org’s
mission isn’t just to train kids to become tech workers, says Ali Partovi, the
nonprofit’s director, though the video showcases some of the perks that come
with working for a tech giant (copious amounts of free food, a fun atmosphere,
and video games).
Partovi
says he and his brother Hadi, who founded Code.org, feel fortunate to have been
exposed to computers when they were 9-year-olds. That experience led them to
work in tech—Hadi as an angel investor and founder of Tellme and iLike, and
Partovi as a co-founder of LinkExchange. It also gave them confidence, Partovi
says.
“Any
child, in their early, formative stages, if they’re exposed to computer
programming, they become more creative, more confident,” he says. “If there’s
something they wish they had, they can create it. That feeling of empowerment
is really valuable to people, no matter what they do with their lives.”
Hadi
Partovi had batted around the idea of a foundation for years, but the death of Steve Jobs in October 2011 spurred him to action.
“Suddenly
there was this terrible realization that one of the most visionary figures of
Silicon Valley had just passed away,” Ali Partovi says. “That moment made it clear
we can’t just wait around; we should just do this.”
The next step
The
video that splashed across the Internet on Tuesday was just the first step for
Code.org, Partovi says. The nonprofit screened it for high school classes to
test its success, and more than 50 percent of students surveyed after watching
the video said they wanted to take a coding class.
One
common misconception about coding, Partovi says, is that it’s only for geeks.
NBA star Chris Bosh and Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am appear in the film
to emphasize that not every coder is a tech entrepreneur.
It will
take years to change school curriculum and make computer programming classes
taught by knowledgeable teachers a nationwide standard. While Code.org works on
changing policies, Partovi says the organization is enlisting the help of
expert engineers and programmers to offer advice and answer questions at
after-school coding classes. To volunteer, visit Code.org.
“To be
able to actually come up with an idea and then see it in your hands and press a
button and have it be in millions of people’s hands, I think we’re the first
generation in the world that’s really had that kind of experience,” Dropbox
founder Drew Houston says in the video. “It’s the closest thing we have to a
superpower.” [PCWorld]
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circles on Google+ or Subscribe to
me on facebook or YouTube. You can also
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updated with what is happening in the ever changing world of technology
