In brief: A Philadelphia news anchor has sued Facebook, Giphy, Imgur, Reddit, and porn outlet XNXX after a convenience store photo of her started appearing in dating and erectile dysfunction ads. The question of whether websites should be held liable for the content they host has once again reared its head. In this instance, Fox 29 News’ Karen Hepp has filed a suit claiming the platforms violated her rights of publicity and damaged her reputation by showing the picture. Hepp says she discovered the photo had surfaced online two years ago. It was used in “a Facebook ad promising meetups with ‘single women,’ an unspecified ad for erectile dysfunction [on XNXX], a Reddit forum for sexualized pictures of older women [r/OBSF], and the ‘MILF’ tag on Imgur,” writes The Verge. The suit claims that the version uploaded to Giphy had been modified, stating that “a video appears in the background of a man—who is hiding behind a glass … [Read more...] about News anchor hits Facebook, Reddit with $10 million lawsuit after sexualized image appears in ads
Facebook’s New Portal Device Lets You Place Video Calls on the TV
Facebook is moving deeper into the smart home space by refreshing its Portal products, and introducing a new device that can hook up to your TV. The social network is marketing Portal TV as a camera peripheral that can enable video phone calls via Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp on your television screen. But it's also a streaming device with access to Amazon Prime Video, CBS All Access, and Showtime, in addition to Facebook Watch, the company's YouTube-like service. Other unnamed partnerships are slated to follow. It arrives Nov. 5 for $149. Of course, existing smart TVs and streaming TV sticks already let you watch the top video-streaming services. But the Portal TV's camera and video-calling functions adds an online chat component. For now, this "Watch Together" feature will only be available on Facebook Watch when a call is made on Messenger. But it works like this: You and other friends with Portal TV devices can talk online, and then pick a video to view together. As you watch the … [Read more...] about Facebook’s New Portal Device Lets You Place Video Calls on the TV
EU agrees tough line on digital currencies like Facebook’s Libra
BRUSSELS: Private digital currencies like Facebook's Libra should not be allowed in the European Union until the risks they could pose are clearly addressed, EU finance ministers agreed on Thursday. The move confirms the bloc's tough line on Libra, which has attracted criticism from global regulators over its possible impact on the financial system since it was announced last June. "No global stablecoin arrangement should begin operation in the European Union until the legal, regulatory and oversight challenges and risks have been adequately identified and addressed," the ministers said in a joint statement. Stablecoins are digital currencies, like Libra, that are usually backed by traditional money and other securities, while crypto coins like bitcoin are not. Both are cryptocurrencies. Under sustained pressure from regulators, a quarter of Libra's original backers including payments giants Mastercard and Visa ditched the project in October. The exodus left Facebook and 20 … [Read more...] about EU agrees tough line on digital currencies like Facebook’s Libra
Facebook Pulls App That Streams SteamVR Games to Oculus Quest
An app that can stream your PC desktop into an Oculus Quest headset is facing resistance from Facebook over how the program also provides access to Valve's SteamVR platform. The app is called Virtual Desktop and until recently, it included an experimental feature to stream games from a SteamVR-enabled PC to an Oculus Quest. On Tuesday, however, app maker Guy Godin said Facebook forced him to pull the functionality. "I'm sorry to announce this but Oculus doesn't want the SteamVR streaming feature in their store," he wrote in a Reddit post. Godin said he worked on the feature for months, believing it to be a "very cool idea, [but] according to Oculus, I am hurting Quest," he added. Godin said he was forced to pull the experimental feature from both his Virtual Desktop app in the Oculus Quest store and in the Oculus Go and Gear VR stores, which are controlled by Facebook. "As a dev (developer) who likes to experiment and try new things, I find these practices damaging for the industry. … [Read more...] about Facebook Pulls App That Streams SteamVR Games to Oculus Quest
How To Drive All Your Facebook Friends & Twitter Followers Crazy
Advertisement Have you ever wanted to drive everyone crazy on your social networks? For a long time this has been a goal of mine that I have aspired for. It takes a lot of hard work, persistence and dedication, but the result is very worth it. That result is causing resentment among all your online contacts on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Hopefully through this process you can actually achieve the ultimate prize and that is that they would completely unfriend and unfollow you all together! Great huh?!Note that most of these can also be applied in real life, every day circumstances – which is highly effective if you desire to live a lonely and uneventful life!Talk About Yourself ConstantlyThis is an important one. Everyone always wants to hear what you have to say. No matter what it is, as long as it interests you, you know all others can’t wait to hear about it. Bragging is exceptionally nice to hear too, and can be a great way to build new connections and … [Read more...] about How To Drive All Your Facebook Friends & Twitter Followers Crazy