Chris Brown Isn’t Dead, But His Twitter Handle Almost Is


Despite the fact that #RIPChrisBrown has become a Twitter trending topic, the hip-hop artist is alive and well Wednesday. His Twitter account seems to be wasting away, however, with all but four tweets deleted.

Brown caused controversy on Twitter since his performance at the Grammys. Although Brown was one of the most talked-about celebrities that evening, trending topics such as #wifebeater suggested the reasons were mostly negative.

Other celebrities, such as Miranda Lambert, Michelle Branch and Will Wheaton also raised their eyebrows at the Grammys’ choice of performer.

Brown responded to the hate with a strongly worded tweet.

Just minutes later, Brown attempted to delete all evidence of his tantrum on Twitter. We captured the offending tweet, however, while eagle-eyed reader Andy Smigelski captured the entire stream of tweets from Tuesday night, all of which have since been deleted. Check them out below.

Twitter users responded to Brown’s behavior by making “#RIPChrisBrown” a trending topic. Earlier this morning, the account retweeted talk show host Wendy Williams, who asked if this sort of behavior warranted a Grammy. The response to Williams’ question has been mixed, from “give it a rest already” to “based on talent YES.”


Hot Question: Do you think Chris Brown deserved to win a Grammy Award based on his past behavior?

— Wendy Williams (@WendyWilliams) February 15, 2012

Brown has since taken back his retweet of Williams, and there are now only four visible tweets attached to his account, including a link to his new music video.

This is not the first tantrum we’ve seen from the artist, who deleted his account in 2009 after accusing retailers of blackballing him and not giving his album proper space.

Brown’s newest tweet to his followers expresses a different tune: “Be Happy.”


Be HAPPY!

— Chris Brown(@chrisbrown) February 15, 2012

If you were Chris Brown’s publicist, how would you handle this situation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

More About: chris brown, Entertainment, grammys, trending, Twitter

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/02/15/rip-chris-brown/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_med...

How Whitney Houston News Broke — and Exploded — on Twitter


Following much speculation about which Twitter user first broke the news about the death of Whitney Houston, the site has unveiled new data that indicates one member alluded to the news only seven minutes after police pronounced the singer dead.

Twitter revealed the first message posted about Houston’s death was made at 4:02 p.m. by user @BarBeeBritt, AKA Brittany J. Pullard. Her message was sent 55 minutes before the Associated Press confirmed Houston’s death, citing her publicist. The Beverly Hills Police said on Saturday night that Houston was pronounced dead at approximately 3:55 p.m. PT.


Is Whitney Houston really dead?

— Brittany J pullard (@BarBeeBritt) February 12, 2012

Twitter also included a link to an image in its tweet that features a timeline chart of the first users to reference the news. The second Twitter user to mention her death was the niece of Houston’s hairstylist @AjaDiorNavy at 4:15 p.m. and @ChileMasGrande at 4:30 p.m. The Associated Press’s breaking news alert came in at 4:57 p.m.


omgg , my aunt tiffany who work for whitney houston just found whitney houston dead in the tub . such ashame & sad

— Aja Dior M. (@AjaDiorNavy) February 12, 2012

My sources say Whitney Houston found dead in Beverly hills hotel.. Not in the news yet!!

— Big Chorizo (@chilemasgrande) February 12, 2012

BREAKING: Publicist Kristen Foster says singer Whitney Houston has died at age 48

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 12, 2012

When Mashable reached out to @ChileMasGrande — who then had only 14 followers and now has more than 400 — to learn how he got the tip, he tweeted: ” #just a ordinary dude who got a text message from a family member of Whitney Houston and I tweeted it.. #enjoyingthefame no further comment.”

@BarBeeBritt couldn’t be reached for comment as of press time.

SEE ALSO: Twitter Breaks News of Whitney Houston Death 27 Minutes Before Press

The tragic news of Houston’s death spread fast on Twitter. In fact, about 2.5 million tweets and retweets occurred in the first hour, amounting to more than 1,000 tweets a second, according to Topsy Labs. Although this sent Twitter into a flurry of reactions, it still wasn’t enough to beat last Sunday’s Super Bowl record-breaking tweets.

The Associated Press’s message was retweeted more than 10,000 times, according to data from Topsy Labs. However, the first tweet from @BarBeeBritt was only retweeted three times, according to Media Bistro, and the message from @ChileMasGrande was only retweeted once.

This isn’t the first time news a large-scale death announcement was first reported on Twitter. A computer programmer in Pakistan inadvertently live-tweeted the military raid on the Osama bin Laden compound. “Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1 a.m. (is a rare event),” Athar wrote. His message later received global media attention following the news of bin Laden’s death.

However, death announcements on Twitter are not always accurate, as evidenced most recently by Bon Jovi death rumors and the too-early death claims of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.

More About: Social Media, trending, Twitter

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/02/15/whitney-houston-death-twitter/?utm_source=feed...

Pinterest, Meet Arab Spring: Clone Site Collects Videos of Protest

arab spring thumb


News website Middle East Voices has created a digital forum for footage from Arab Spring protests, focusing on Bahrain — and the result looks very much like hot startup Pinterest.

Lulu Live, launched on the one year anniversary of Feb. 14 protests in Bahrain, is a grassroots social journalism site, curated by Middle East Voices editors. Lulu is the square in Manama, Bahrain’s capital, where protesters have continuously assembled throughout the last year, functioning — much like Cairo’s Tahrir Square — as a meeting place for revolutionaries.

The site is both a space for Bahrainis to see and exchange media and a resource for the site’s English language audience to get a grasp on the situation. The site avoids featuring edited video clips in order to provide non-biased coverage and to allow viewers to make their own conclusions.

“This is a way to document the protests in a way they weren’t a year ago,” Devin Hutchins, managing editor of Middle East Voices, told Mashable. “We want to create a site through the hashtag #lulu to show what they’re witnessing throughout the country and turn this around very quickly.”

Middle East Voices started with Bahrain’s protests because, according to Hutchins, Bahrainis are the site’s largest audience and are incredibly social media savvy. One post over the weekend garnered more than 50,000 visits, mostly from Bahrain. A separate poll on divisions within the country received more than 15,000 online votes. Two-thirds of traffic from Bahrain comes from iPhones — according to Hutchins’s Google Analytics — which are the very devices many protesters are using to shoot and upload video.

LULU LIVE

The site, built on Tumblr, mimics Pinterest‘s popular layout — featuring small rectangular elements — which has been resurfacing widely across the web. Videos and photos are arranged chronologically.

SEE ALSO: 7 Pinterest Clones: Can You Tell the Difference?

Middle East Voices hosts other multimedia social journalism initiatives, such as an interactive map of deaths in Syria. Hutchins says there are more projects to come following Lulu Live’s launch. Middle East Voices itself is relatively new, launched Nov. 13 by Voices of America as a social journalism project.

Do you think Lulu Live is a good way to monitor the situation in Bahrain? What countries do you think future projects should spotlight? Let us know in the comments.

More About: Arab Spring, pinterest, web design

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/02/14/lulu-live-arab-spring/?utm_source=feedburner&u...

Tic Tac Launches Augmented Reality-Enabled Times Square Billboards


Tic Tac is the latest major brand to embrace augmented reality, and it is doing so in a big way: With three billboards in New York’s Times Square.

The billboards are the latest element of Tic Tac’s “Shake It Up” campaign, which centers around a mobile app (for iOS or Android) that offers extras beyond the outdoor and print ads. For instance, a print ad noting that “84% of People Always Sleep on the Same Side of the Bed,” leads to a mobile game where you roll a man from one side of the bed to the other and avoid falling objects. A bar coaster that talks about using the same pickup lines over and over can also be AR-enhanced to offer some new ones. (See video below.)

The billboards, meanwhile, appear as personalized ads with you at the center when AR-enhanced. The resulting images, which appear to be pictures of you in Times Square, can also be sent to friends via Facebook.

Tic Tac’s AR campaign comes after a raft of brands rolled out campaigns featuring the technology this year. Although some, including Starbucks and Guinness tried their hand at AR last year, so far in 2012, there have been a bunch more, including: Taco Bell, SKYN condoms, Mattel’s Barbie and Starbucks again.

Meanwhile, Times Square has proven to be irresistible to marketers seeking to try out new technologies. Domino’s Pizza, for instance, ran unedited comments from customers culled from its Tracker app last year in Times Square, while Facebook is running a campaign that offers the chance to appear on a Times Square billboard if you share your thoughts on the 2012 election. American Eagle also ran a location-based effort with SCVNGR in late 2010.

What do you think? Will the AR trend continue to grip Madison Avenue? Sound off in the comments.

More About: Augmented Reality, Tic Tac

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/02/14/tic-tac-augmented-reality-times-square-billboa...

Implementing a loose MVC structure within WordPress

If you’ve spent any time on the WordPress Codex, this kind of code is probably very familiar to you:

<!-- Start the Loop. -->
 <!--?php if ( have_posts() ) : while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?-->

 <!-- The following tests if the current post is in category 3. -->
 <!-- If it is, the div box is given the CSS class "post-cat-three". -->
 <!-- Otherwise, the div box will be given the CSS class "post". -->
 <!--?php if ( in_category('3') ) { ?-->
 <!--?php } else { ?-->
 <!--?php } ?-->

 <!-- Display the Title as a link to the Post's permalink. --></pre>
<h2></h2>
<pre>
 <!-- Display the date (November 16th, 2009 format) and a link to other posts by this posts author. --></pre>
<small><!--?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?--> by <!--?php the_author_posts_link() ?--></small>
<pre>

 <!-- Display the Post's Content in a div box. --></pre>
<div></div>
<pre>
 <!-- Display a comma separated list of the Post's Categories. -->

 Posted in <!--?php the_category(', '); ?-->
 <!-- closes the first div box -->

 <!-- Stop The Loop (but note the "else:" - see next line). -->
 <!--?php endwhile; else: ?-->

This style is so common in the WordPress community that it’s essentially standard practice. It’s also difficult to read, frightening to an HTML developer who isn’t familiar with PHP and WordPress coding standards, and very conducive to duplication.

At Streetwise Media we’re shipping alot of code every week, and doing things with our WordPress installation that are far from out-of-the-box. With a complex and rapidly growing codebase, we need to ensure our code is clean, DRY, and easily maintainable.

Enter MVC.

While there are a few existing frameworks that attempt to implement this in a familiar way via WP plugins, we chose to leave things a little bit looser with our codebase, to allow some flexibility, and avoid introducing unnecessary dependencies.

Essentially, our custom WordPress code tends to break down into the following elements:

Models: Whenever a feature or product will interact with a specific set of data, we build classes that provide all the necessary methods to store and retreive the data involved. This ensures we can work with the dataset from anywhere in our codebase, in a consistent manner. For example here’s how we might add data to a custom table that stores data responsible for tracking the “likes” you see on our comments:

<?php
$likeable = array( /* data properly formatted for model */ );
$like_model = new BInnoLike();
$like_model->add($likeable);
?>

This makes it very easy to store new data from anywhere in the codebase, and the model does the job of validating the data passed to it, so we always know that any data stored is stored consistently.

Views: We forego the WordPress custom of mashing together HTML and PHP in one big pile, in favor of a more readable and re-usable templating option. Our views consist of only valid HTML, thanks to Gabor De Mooijs Stamp. A typical view might look like a longer version of this:

<!-- item_region --></pre>
<h4><!-- title --><!-- /title --></h4>
<img src="<!-- src --><!-- /src -->" alt="" />
<!-- subtext --><!-- /subtext -->

<!-- /item_region -->

Typically longer views will be stored in their own files, with .tpl as an extension.

Helpers: These are classes which provide the methods necessary to populate our views using appropriate data retreived from our models. For smaller products, such as our channel directory, a custom page template may contain nothing more than a helper function, which retieves data from a model and populates a view. In larger projects, they will generally be stored alongside the model classes. A helper function to populate the above view example might look like this:

<!--?php $model = new dataModel(); $data = $model--->retrieve(); //populate an array of data to work with

$template = new Stamp(Stamp::load('full/path/to/tpl/file.tpl'));

$output = '';

foreach($data as $item)

{

$output .= $template->copy('item_region')->replace('title', $item['title'])->replace('src', $item['src'])->replace('subtext', $item['subtext']);

}

return $output;

?>

Controllers: In our bigger products, these classes are solely responsible for managing the current state of the application, specifically what the end user is requesting. For example, our channel partners all have access to a management interface that allows them to manage the members of their channel, appearance of their channel page, and content that gets published to their channel. For a product this size, a custom page template acts only as the controller, determining the what is being requested and the authorization level of the current user, then implementing the correct helper to render the appropriate view with the appropriate data. A short snippet of a controller might look like this:

if ($_GET['display'] == 'normal') and $user_is_cleared)

{

$helper = new HelperClass();

echo $helper->generate_normal_output();

}

WordPress is an awesome platform for rapid development of a wide variety of content management functionality, and it’s super friendly to beginners (it’s how I got into web development.) The ease with which it allows you to create is both a blessing and a curse, since as you build larger and larger scale projects, skipping over certain (seemingly unnecessary) best practices early on leads to unmaintainable code later. I’m grateful to Michael Weichert and Elia Sarti, the great developers I was fortunate to learn from during my days at Photocrati, and glad to have brought some of their knowledge to Streetwise. We’ve found this strategy thus far to be invaluable in allowing us to build complex features in such a way that enhancements and fixes are generally possible in less than 20 lines of code, which means we can get done with maintenance quickly and focus on the fun part, new stuff.

Got your own tricks for taming your WordPress code? Let us know in the comments.

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/all-series/implementing-a-loose-mvc-structure-within-word...

Mass Senate Race: Elizabeth Warren More Reliant on Out-of-State Donors, Scott Brown More Reliant on PACs

Via ThinkProgress

Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard Law Professor and consumer advocate running for U.S. Senate against Senator Scott Brown, raised a whopping $5.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. But a full 69% of it came from out-of-state supporters, according to her campaign.

By contrast, Senator Brown raised $3.2 million, with 66% of reported contributions from in state, according to The Boston Globe.*

But as the AP reports, Brown is more reliant on political action committees (PACs) than Warren, having collected ten times the amount from PACs that Warren has.

Moreover, the two candidates have received support from very different PACs:

The PACs backing Brown included financial institutions, defense contractors and corporations like Citigroup, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, McDonald’s, Microsoft and Google.

Many of the PACs supporting Warren represent labor unions, including the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, the Laborer’s International Union and the American Federation of Government Employees.

Brown and Warren have struck an agreement to curb the influence of so called “SuperPACs”, a new kind of fundraising organization made legal by a court case in 2010 and able to raise and spend unlimited amounts to influence campaigns.

The influx of outside dollars into the Mass. Senate race just goes to highlight its importance on the national scene. Polling is close between the two candidates (while Warren is the presumed Democratic nominee, she still has to win the primary). And Democrats see Brown as vulnerable in this election and hope to take back the seat that until 2010 belonged to the late Ted Kennedy.

*Contributions under $200 are not subject to the same reporting requirements, so the 66% applies to the $1.5 million of reported contributions only.

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/2012/02/14/mass-senate-race-elizabeth-warren-more-reliant...

Hashtag Marketing: 9 Ways to Avert Disaster


David Berkowitz is vice president of emerging media for digital marketing agency 360i, where he develops social media and mobile programs for marketers spanning the media & entertainment, retail, travel, and CPG industries.

Marketers creating campaigns centered on hashtags need to be cautious. Hashtags can easily turn into flashing targets that scream, “Hijack this brand!” In the past few weeks, McDonald’s launched a hashtag campaign that was promptly hamburgled, and then Research In Motion’s #BeBold campaign was similarly brandjacked.

Fortunately, there’s a way to avoid these types of situations. Hashtag campaigns happen all the time without any press coverage, usually because there’s no horror story. Here are nine ways to prevent your brand from winding up in a story about social media mishaps.


1. Figure Out Why You’re Using Hashtag


Brands tend to use hashtags, predominantly on Twitter and sometimes other services like Instagram, either to create a centralized discussion around their campaign or event, or to jump into conversations that are already happening. Assess what you want to get out of the hashtag before diving in.


2. Be Upfront About the Risk


No matter how good your intentions are and how well you execute the campaign, hashtags can get hijacked in unexpected ways. Make sure any relevant brand managers, agency account executives, and other relevant parties are aware of what can happen, and share some real examples like those noted above. Also be clear that brands use hashtags in campaigns every day, and there are very few that generate any negative publicity.


3. Determine What Kind of Hashtag Makes Sense for Your Goals


Branded hashtags like #McDstories are very transparent and often descriptive, but they might turn off people who don’t want to include that brand in their messages. They also can give brand haters more motivation to upend the hashtag’s meaning.

Generic hashtags like RIM’s #BeBold have more creative potential both for the brand and for consumers, but the hashtags can be brand-jacked just as easily, especially if the brand isn’t perceived as a match for the tag. Either way, the hashtag should be informative and concise rather than conceptual. You only have a few characters; make them count, and don’t make consumers think too hard.


4. Be True to Your Brand


Jeff Bezos once said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” What do people really say about your brand? If you’re a fast food burger chain, having salad on the menu wouldn’t justify a #BeHealthy campaign. Airlines shouldn’t try using #ComfortingThoughts unless their coach seats are really more comfortable than a typical passenger’s living room sofa.


5. Think of the Worst-Case Hijacking Scenario


Then share it with some of your snarky and cynical colleagues. Does it hold up? Would more conservative brand managers be comfortable with it? If it’s too easy to hijack and the brand bashing is too harsh, this is a good time to come up with other ideas.


6. Avoid Piggybacking on Humorous or Risqué Hashtags


Very few brands can credibly contribute to conversations around tags like “#ThingsWomenWant” or “#WorstMondayEver.”


7. Have Your Crisis Plan Ready, With Key Members on Speed Dial


No matter how cautious you think you are, people can be pleasantly unpredictable, even if that can create the occasional unpleasant experience for brands. Make sure it’s absolutely clear what everyone’s roles are should an unfortunate event happen.


8. Monitor the Campaign Religiously


It should also be clear upfront when determining everyone’s roles and responsibilities. When creating an original hashtag that hasn’t been used before, hashtags can simplify reporting on buzz generated, as community managers and analysts can view all relevant tweets in one shot.

9. Spring Into Action


If you wind up in a snafu, be ready to do whatever you can to stop the bleeding, such as ceasing any media support, engaging consumers to steer the conversation back to the original idea, or perhaps taking it on the chin and acknowledging when consumers are right. McDonald’s realized, for instance, that by pulling its Twitter ad, negative comments using the hashtag stopped almost immediately.

Brands shouldn’t overreact to the potential downfall of using hashtags, but marketers need to accept that there will always be a risk when using them. Many more marketers will choose to accept that risk. Twitter’s only growing, and hashtags are a fundamental element of Instagram, Tumblr, and other services. Brands can learn from their peers who tried to #BeBold before them, some more successfully than others.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tumpikuja

More About: Business, contributor, features, hashtags, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/02/14/hashtag-marketing-disaster-tips/?utm_source=fe...

Television Next In Line For Industry-Wide Shakeup?

New submitter pjlehtim writes "In a recent interview. Samsung's AV product manager, Chris Moseley, said, 'TVs are ultimately about picture quality. ... and there is no way that anyone, new or old, can come along this year or next year and beat us on picture quality.' Sounds familiar? There must be a change in the perceived role of television in the entertainment ecosystem before the general public starts to care about the smart TVs manufacturers are trying to push. That change is likely to come from outside the traditional home entertainment industry. It's not about technology; it is about user experience, again."

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from Slashdot http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/12/02/14/2144217/television-next-in-l...

Time Warner Cable's TWC TV launches for PC, brings live TV streaming to the desktop

After expanding its live TV streaming from iPads to iPhones, Time Warner Cable is going in the other direction and offering the service on PCs. The PC version of TWC TV launched today in beta -- still no word on streaming to Android devices or HDTVs yet -- but the Silverlight player will work on Windows and OS X, in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome. According to the official blog it has more than just streaming, with remote control over compatible set-top boxes and DVR scheduling also included. Of course, the same restrictions still apply here as they have on tablets and phones, with playback only while connected to your home network. If you're a Time Warner customer, hit the link below to sign in and try it out, or hit the blog for more details on what works where.

Time Warner Cable's TWC TV launches for PC, brings live TV streaming to the desktop originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceTW Cable Untangled, TWC TV (beta)  | Email this | Comments

from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/14/time-warner-cables-twc-tv-launches-for-pc-...

Tech’s Next Bubble: Where Will It Come From? [VIDEO]

John Frankel is the head of FF Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that includes some of the web’s hottest startups in its portfolio, including Hashable, Klout and IndieGoGo.

Check out our interview with Frankel to learn what motivates him as an investor, why he’s so attracted to early stage companies and his thoughts on where the next tech bubble will manifest.

This Venture Studio Classic was originally released on October 24, 2011.

Follow Venture Studio, in association with Mashable. The show is hosted by Dave Lerner, a 3x entrepreneur and angel investor. To join Venture Studio’s Facebook page, click here.


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More About: bubble, investing, mashable video, Startups, Venture, venture capital, venture studio, Video

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/02/14/frankel-video/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_mediu...