14 new stories on The Next Web today |  |
- Just got an iPad? Download these apps first. [TNW Apple]
- Top 10 Websites in the Middle East During 2010 [TNW Middle East]
- The Best Way Ever to Wrap a Kindle [TNW Lifehacks]
- What Julian Assange Needs for Christmas [TNW Shareables]
- The Fantastic Four No More: Marvel says someone will die in the next issue. [TNW Shareables]
- At age 9, Samuel Sevian is the youngest National Chess Master in U.S. history [TNW Shareables]
- Fallen? Can’t get up? Press Don’t Panic to give spoken instructions to your rescuer. [TNW Gadgets]
- Move over Yahoo. Facebook is now the world’s 3rd largest website. [TNW Media]
- Zynga’s CityVille surpasses FarmVille as the world’s most popular game [TNW Facebook]
- 2010 Was An Extraordinary Year for Apple [Video] [TNW Shareables]
- Christmas miracle: Google engineer posts $50,000 to bail a student out of jail [TNW Google]
- Is Skype Video Chat coming to mobile in 2011? [TNW Apps]
- Wikileaks Translated to Arabic by Bloggers & Local Online Newspapers [TNW Middle East]
- Lord & Taylor brings Facebook stories to life this holiday season [TNW Social Media]
- The YouTube debate: why copyright shouldn’t kill the video star [TNW Social Media]
| Just got an iPad? Download these apps first. [TNW Apple] Posted: 25 Dec 2010 02:39 AM PST So you’ve just (carefully) torn open the wrapping of a brand new iPad. You’ve hooked it up to iTunes for its initial sync, but now what? Which apps should you download first? Here are some essentials to get you started. Social media
Media
Productivity
Games
Don’t forget these utilitiesHonorable mentions go to Calculator HD for iPad and Weather HD, both of which do a good job of filling in for the calculator and weather apps that Apple puzzlingly left off the iPad. Any more suggestions for essential first downloads? Leave a comment and let us know. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Top 10 Websites in the Middle East During 2010 [TNW Middle East] Posted: 25 Dec 2010 12:05 AM PST
So having no clear source on where Middle Eastern traffic pours throughout the year, we factored in as much data as we could. Contacted website owners, companies and people to bring you the Top 10 Websites in the Middle East for 2010. Coming up with a definition for a ‘Website in the Middle East’ was in itself a challenge. So we are defining it as: Any website that was founded by people from the Middle East, developing content for the Middle East (even if not exclusively so). Our findings were interesting as we noticed that the majority of them are either news websites or websites where the content is at the center. With 5 out of 10 of the websites mentioned primarily relying on traffic generated from forums, it appears forums continue to generate the most traffic in the region compared to other platforms. Here are region’s most visited websites:
Web sites such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo!, and MSN were not mentioned, although they get the biggest chunk of regional traffic every year surpassing that of all the above. We’d also like to point out that this list in no way provides insight into the most lucrative of the region’s online businesses. Companies such as Souq.com boast USD $40 million worth of transactions during 2010 alone, more than 60% increase on estimates for 2009. This year’s list makes it easy to predict the scene during 2011 with no major changes anticipated. No surprise websites emerged during 2010 either, with the youngest website of the region’s élite being 3 years old. This article was co-authored by Ahmad Al-Shagra.Image, Alexa, comScore, Google [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| The Best Way Ever to Wrap a Kindle [TNW Lifehacks] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 01:57 PM PST One guy figured out the most genius way to wrap a Kindle for his wife. Imagine her initial disappointment when she opens up a book on accounting, and then her gleeful surprise when she sees that you’ve bought her the best present ever.*
*I’m admittedly addicted to my KindleReddit [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| What Julian Assange Needs for Christmas [TNW Shareables] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 01:42 PM PST Besides bail money… our friends at Flavorpill suggested this great gift for Julian Assange. If you don’t feel like personally sending a gift to Assange, it could also work for the top secret sweetie in your life. Check out the Undercover Laptop Sleeve, (US $28) from Flight 001
See our Tech Savvy Traveler gift guide for other great gear from Flight001. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| The Fantastic Four No More: Marvel says someone will die in the next issue. [TNW Shareables] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 12:07 PM PST
The top secret issue, which will not be sold on newsstands, will be wrapped in black plastic preventing anyone from leaking the story without purchasing it. It will also not be sold on newsstands. The Fantastic Four, created in 1961, currently consists of the Human Torch, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman and the Thing. While Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic have died before, they’ve always come back. Executive editor Tom Brevoort says as of issue 588, "the Fantastic Four will cease to exist," leading us to believe that this time, they're will be no come back. According to David Gabriel, senior vice president for sales and circulation at Marvel, "The surprises in this issue – and what comes next – constitute one of the biggest events in Marvel history."AP, Geekosystem [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| At age 9, Samuel Sevian is the youngest National Chess Master in U.S. history [TNW Shareables] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 11:28 AM PST
In chess a rating of 2,900 is the absolute best, a rating of 2,200 is master and 2,000 is expert. Samuel’s father, Armen Sevian, 37, is a laser developing physicist and an avid chess player, who has only reached the “expert” level. Last year, when Samuel was 8, he was named the U.S.’s youngest chess expert, in February 2009. The Sevian family is from Armenia, where “Chess is very big,” Armen Sevian said. “It’s certainly not a geek sport. Chess players are compared to rock stars.” The Mercury News described Samuel, a fourth-grader at Don Callejon School, as a “child of few words.” His principal, Hans Barber says, ”He is obviously very gifted. On Thanksgiving break, we gave kids a math challenge, and he won. He has a problem-solving mind.” Barber also said that Samuel is “too intense” to participate in the school’s chess club, but Barber is sure that he inspired other students to take up the game. Every day, Samuel spends at least two hours studying chess moves in books, playing with his father and practicing on Skype with his coach, international master Andranik Matikozyan.
Samuel hopes to play in the 10-year-old category of the World Youth Championships next November in Turkey, according to Jack Peters, an International Chess Master. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Fallen? Can’t get up? Press Don’t Panic to give spoken instructions to your rescuer. [TNW Gadgets] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 11:26 AM PST
A new device, called Press Don’t Panic, is a wearable voice recorder that you can use to record specific instructions which can then be played back by a rescuer. The “real” story? Here’s a snipped from the website:
It’s a pretty simple thing, but there’s nothing bad that you can say about a £29.99 device that could save your life. Simply record your message, clip the device onto wherever is convenient and go about your day.Via Springwise [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Move over Yahoo. Facebook is now the world’s 3rd largest website. [TNW Media] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 11:05 AM PST It was only a matter of time, honestly. Facebook, according to recent numbers from Comscore, has now moved into the position as the 3rd largest website in the world. Who’s left holding 4th? Yahoo, of course. The top two spots, unsurprisingly, come from Google and Microsoft respectively, with Facebook gaining rapidly even on the aging giants.
While Facebook only just surpassed Yahoo, posting 648 million visitors in contrast to 630 million for Yahoo, what’s more surprising is the overall trend. If you look at the next graph, while Google and Microsoft sites are still climbing, Facebook is having a near-meteoric rise to its growth trend.
It’s interesting to note the flat spot in Facebook’s growth back in May, as well. As you might remember, there was a movement called Quit Facebook Day that was encouraging users to abandon their Facebook accounts in answer to privacy concerns that were raised shortly after the F8 conference and new social graph features were released. Though, as the time, it appeared that few actually carried through with the call, the flattened spot between May and June may present another story. With a slight downturn to Google’s growth, the exponential gain of Facebook and an uptick to Microsoft site traffic, it appears that the top three spots might prove to be an interesting race in the months ahead. Of course, you can rely on The Next Web to have the full story for you.Source: TechCrunch [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Zynga’s CityVille surpasses FarmVille as the world’s most popular game [TNW Facebook] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 10:15 AM PST
Combined with FarmVille, this means Zynga has a total of 261 million monthly active users of their Facebook apps, dominating social gaming in 2010. Zynga’s games, both CityVille and FarmVille are free to play, but users can spend real money on virtual goods, which have brought in between $500-$700 million in revenue this year, as reported by RWW. Also this year, it was announced that Zygna’s second market valuation is now bigger than industry giant EA's.AppData [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| 2010 Was An Extraordinary Year for Apple [Video] [TNW Shareables] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 10:04 AM PST Not to be outdone by the Google Zeitgeist 2010 Video, an Apple fan put together this brief – not quite as slick – video summarising Apple’s 2010 achievements. Still cool if you’re looking for a review of 2010 and can accept that Apple would have done a much slicker job with this. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Christmas miracle: Google engineer posts $50,000 to bail a student out of jail [TNW Google] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 09:52 AM PST
Marks and several bystanders started taping the officer, named Erin Robles, slamming the young student’s head into the bus and using pepper spray. After more cops arrived, the young student was released without charge. But the cops pick out Marks, accusing him of calling out, “Kick her ass” and arrested him at gunpoint, destroying the evidence on his phone in the process. Since photographing police is still legal in California, they charge him instead with “attempted lynching of a police officer.” In court, the prosecutor made an offer: plead guilty and he’ll only serve seven years. Marks declined and sits in jail for nearly 8 months awaiting trial. Last week, the LA Weekly reported that the 18-year-old is going home for Christmas, thanks to Neil Fraser, a Bay Area Google engineer whom Marks has never met, who paid Marks' $50,000 bond. Fraser heard about the case on Reddit and decided to provide the collateral to get Jeremy out of jail and back to his family for Christmas. Leaving a high school student in jail for nearly 8 months seems to not only be in violation of the right to a timely trial, but also reasonable bail. To this extent, Fraser writes on his blog:
Since posting bail, Fraser has been in constant communication with lawyers, bail bondsmen, Jeremy's mother, the press, banks and accountants. Fraser also sent the family $1,500 for Marks' defense attorney costs, which was matched by Google. Watch a video of the incident here: [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Is Skype Video Chat coming to mobile in 2011? [TNW Apps] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 09:03 AM PST According to Chris Ziegler from Engadget, Skype is finally bringing video calling to mobile. Apple’s Facetime was a hit on the iPhone 4 this year. And if Skype wants to stay in the game, or save face if you will, it makes sense that they’ll be rolling out a video on mobile feature in early 2011. Engadget reports that Skype has “been telling everyone that it’ll be making a series of video-related announcement at CES next month.” In fact they are even participating in a panel called “Video Calling Gets Ready for Primetime.” So, all signs seem to point to yes, that Skype is poised to enter the mobile video calling game in a big way. The first big blue clue made its rounds on the Internet this AM:
Engadget reports that they received a help document on Skype’s site detailing making video calls using Skype for iPhone. We don’t see it on the Skype Help site or the Skype blog yet…. but stay tuned. Perhaps we’ll be video calling you soon. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Wikileaks Translated to Arabic by Bloggers & Local Online Newspapers [TNW Middle East] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 08:26 AM PST
It appears a number of online Jordanian magazines have already started to systematically translate the Wikileaks cables relevant to the region to Arabic for those who aren’t proficient in English to consume as reported by TheNational earlier this week. “The idea is to provide a free service to Jordanians in an attempt to contribute to raising the ceiling of press freedoms,” Sawsan Zaidah, the projects manager at Ammannet, a local news website, said.
But it’s not only newspapers who are interested in putting 2010s juiciest secrets for the Arabic avid reader or journalist out there. A blog titled ‘Arabic Wikileaks‘ has been created to serve the leaks in Arabic since November 29th and already has more than 2,300 like on Facebook.
This will provide another source for interested parties, but will it stay unblocked in the rest of the region I wonder? Let us know if you can’t access them from where you are.Guardian [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Lord & Taylor brings Facebook stories to life this holiday season [TNW Social Media] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 07:16 AM PST New York City’s Fifth Avenue retail royalty traditionally try to one-up their neighbors with expensive and flashy holiday window displays. This year, Lord and Taylor’s mechanical Christmas windows are getting a digitally inspired upgrade, featuring 12 stories submitted by customers and friends through Lord and Taylor’s Facebook page. And this year the stories will be featured online for the very first time. Take a closer look at the windows, created by Axios Productions below.
Just Windows-Axios HD New from Axios Productions on Vimeo.
Window Timelapse from Axios Productions on Vimeo. via @AmaluckyBrandChannel [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| The YouTube debate: why copyright shouldn’t kill the video star [TNW Social Media] Posted: 24 Dec 2010 06:40 AM PST A staggering 35-hours of video is uploaded onto YouTube every minute. And if you are one of the many millions of people actively contributing to the upstream of digital video onto the Web's preeminent video-sharing portal, there's a good chance you've at least flirted with copyright infringement. But whether a copyright has been infringed or not isn't always black and white (no video-related pun intended). If you overdub a full audio track of the Beatles onto footage of you larking about with your friends, then you're almost certainly in violation of the Beatles' right to be paid for their work. That said, Macca and Ringo won't be going hungry any time soon. And whether or not anyone's actually bothered enough about your paltry 25 views to file a complaint is another matter altogether. But if you unintentionally create a monster YouTube hit that draws in the world's curious eyes and ears, then you may be asked to remove the video. You are then allowed a second misdemeanor without any serious repercussions but a third strike and your YouTube account will be closed down. That's where fair use comes into play. You're generally allowed to use segments, snippets or snapshots of copyrighted content if they are genuinely insubstantial or are otherwise incidental to the main subject of the video. A good example of this scenario is the classic Evolution of Dance video (160 million views and counting) that uses a medley of classic hits as a backdrop to demonstrate how dancing has changed over the past six decades. The music is in the actual room (rather than overdubbed onto the video) and no more than about ten seconds is used from each song. Of course, the 'real' infringements – the ones that the major copyright-owning media companies are bothered about – are the ones you really want to be careful about. So don't upload full episodes of the TV show Friends unless you want to invoke the wrath of YouTube's '3 strike' policy. Google vs. Viacom The ongoing and much-covered Viacom vs. Google case is a exemplary case-in-point of where we currently stand with copyright and where we're likely to go. Google fended off Viacom's attempt to sue the Internet giant over copyright infringement on YouTube in June. The main reason the judge sided with Google was that "mere knowledge" of such activity wasn't enough and that whenever YouTube was given a notice, it removed the offending material. This was a key provision in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that protects media aggregation services such as YouTube from being collared by the long digital-arm of the law. And it's one of the reasons why you and me can enjoy endless hours of entertainment online. The initial defeat hasn't stopped Viacom from going back for more, however, with the pending appeal likely to see the case dragging on much longer than the three years-plus it has so far. Goliath vs. Goliath However, this amounts to much more than a Goliath vs. Goliath court case. The future of the web as we know it hinges on this outcome, and the implications of victory for Viacom would be far-reaching. It will set a precedent upon which many similar cases in the future would be based upon. Most fair-minded people can understand Viacom wishing to protect its copyrighted material – and even many in favour of copyright reform would probably concede that Viacom's case isn't entirely without merit. After all, we all know that YouTube has hosted copyrighted material. But let's be clear about one thing: this case isn't about whether YouTube hosts copyright material or not. The case is about who's responsible for policing the uploaded material. Google is a massive corporation, but with over 50,000 hours of footage uploaded onto YouTube each day, it can't monitor everything. And if it tried to, it would destroy what makes YouTube – and any social media tool – so effective. Instant and immediate is key. The lag-time between action, interaction and reaction must be kept to a minimum. Google’s copyright management Whilst acknowledging that Google can be criticised on many fronts, the way it has handled the issue of copyright infringement on YouTube has actually been quite good overall – even if its actions have sometimes been a little belated. For example, the launch of AudioSwap back in 2007 allowed users to tap into an existing library of music to accompany their videos. You might not find The Beatles in there, but if all you're after are some beats to complement your clips, you've a rather large range of music across all genres to choose from. And for people looking to protect their copyright, there's Content ID, which enables copyright holders to identify any of their work that's being used on YouTube. This provides copyright holders with the option of blocking, tracking or even cashing in on their content. Google recently announced further changes to the way it handles piracy issues, such as a promise to act on "reliable copyright takedown requests within 24-hours.” And it will seek to "prevent terms that are closely associated with piracy from appearing in Autocomplete." Responsibility for policing copyright infringements on YouTube has to remain in the hands of the copyright holders. Facilitated, of course, by whatever tools Google can bring to the table. It's the most practical solution and will ensure that the web remains an open conduit of information. To see the list of the 10 Most Watched YouTubes of 2010, click here.The Guardian, Google Public Policy Blog [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
Yesterday, the 
Samuel Sevian has been playing chess since he was 5. He comes from a family of “chess-philes,” in Santa Clara, California. On December 11th, 2010, Samuel officially obtained the title of U.S. National Chess Master at age 9, becoming the youngest U.S. chess master in United States Chess Federation history.
Less than a month after its launch, 
8 months ago an 18-year old student named Jeremy Marks was sentenced to jail for felony crimes he allegedly committed while videotaping a Los Angeles Unified School District police officer beating up a 15-year old student for smoking (unconfirmed if it was marijuana or not) at a Metro bus stop near 
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