“I justify this as being my only source of entertainment, and I’m forgoing movies and dinners out, so it’s OK,” one Farmville addict told Cnet. Frugality, or self-deluded rationalization? [More]
Chef Fined For Licking Toads In The Kitchen
The chef at a Japanese restaurant in Iowa was fined $335 after health department officials watched a video of him licking and kissing toads, then putting them in his mouth and then back on the prep table, in the restaurant’s kitchen. His brother taped the stunt and posted it on Facebook. [More]
Don't Fall For The Facebook 'Dislike' Button Scam
Ever since Facebook introduced the “like” button for comments, photos, status updates, etc., many users have expressed the need for a “dislike” button to level things out. Now unscrupulous marketers are using peoples’ desire for a dislike button to their own advantage. [More]
Personal Info For 100 Million Facebook Users Harvested Into One File
Do you share your personal info with everyone on Facebook? If so, there’s a decent chance that data is now part of a file — containing information for around 100 million users of the social networking site — that’s now making its way around the Web. [More]
College Student Goes To Cancun For A Week, Comes Back To $11,667 Sprint Bill
Stacey says while she was on vacation with her family in Cancun for a week recently, she checked her Facebook page from her Evo phone “maybe 5 minutes a day,” but never uploaded or sent any photos, “only a handful of texts.” Sprint says she managed to burn through either 600 MB or 4.7 GB of data during that period, and now owes them $11,667.73. (Note: Stacey doesn’ t specify whether the 4,918,228 kb of data is in kilobits or kilobytes, so I don’t know which number is accurate.) [More]
Social Media Bigwigs Reveal Advertising Tactics
Back in the day, advertising was supposed to be kinda sneaky — yeah, we knew companies were directing ads at us consumers in an effort to get us to buy stuff, but no one talked about it. Now, social media heavies like Twitter, Zynga (makers of Farmville, Mafia Wars and other time leechers) and LinkedIn are being totally open about their efforts. [More]
Burger King And Coca Cola Both Caught Badvertising In The UK
It hasn’t been a good week on the other side of the pond for Burger King or Coca Cola. The fast food company got a kick in the rear for misleading customers about the size of its chicken sandwich, while the cola giant is left having to tell little kids not to Google “2 girls 1 cup” after a failed Facebook campaign. [More]
Court Lifts Restraining Order On Facebook's Assets
Recently, a judge in New York slapped a restraining order on Facebook’s ability to transfer company assets after a web designer sued the site, claiming he is entitled to an 84% share of the company. But yesterday, the social networking giant got a bit of relief when a different judge reversed the earlier order. [More]
New Company Aims To Reward Consumers For Their Personal Info
Truth is, there are advertisers and marketers out there just slavering over our personal information on the Internet, trying to get their hands on as much as they can so they can better pitch their products to us. From our Facebook profiles to our Internet searches, that info is like gold. And now there’s a company attempting to give consumers some reward, instead of just advertisers. [More]
Beware Of Coca Cola Facebook Scam
Are any of your Facebook friends posting status updates about how they’ve been turned off from drinking Coca Cola after watching some video? Yes, there’s the rare chance your friend has gotten sick of the “Buy the World a Coke” jingle, but it’s more likely that their account has been hijacked (or rather, “clickjacked”) by nefarious, nerdy forces. [More]
Yet Another Person Says He Owns Facebook
The WSJ says they have seen a copy of a contract (signed in 2003) giving an investor an 84% stake in the website that was to eventually become Facebook. This contract is now the subject of a new lawsuit against the privately held company. [More]