Ohio man not jailed for stopping Facebook apology
A man who made comments about his estranged wife on his Facebook page and was threatened with jail unless he posted daily apologies for a month won't be locked up even though he stopped making amends early.
Mark Byron agreed to begin posting the apology last month to avoid jail but later said the ruling violated his freedom of speech. He stopped posting the apology after 26 days, but Judge Jon Sieve, of Hamilton County Domestic Relations Court, determined Monday that he had posted it long enough, and Byron wasn't jailed. Read more...
BBC’s iPlayer The Latest To Join Microsoft’s Xbox Platform, Free And UK-Only For Now
Another big content partner for Microsoft and its Xbox Live Platform, and another win for those in favor of all TV eventually going over-the-top rather than through a pay-TV provider: the BBC has now made its popular catch-up/on-demand TV and radio service, iPlayer, accessible via the Xbox console, free of charge.
Although we’ve seen the BBC make some moves to offer iPlayer in international markets as a paid service, for now it is only available in the UK. The BBC says it is the first broadcaster to join up with Xbox 360 to make its content free: other content providers have become part of the “Gold” service that requires an extra fee. Read more...
Microsoft pitches IE9 as the browser for reaching ‘a few sites’
Microsoft has kicked off a new marketing campaign for Internet Explorer 9 that urges users of rival browsers to run it, even if only sparingly for "a few sites that you go to every day."
The unusual approach, which Microsoft launched last week on BrowserYouLovedToHate.com, a domain it registered last month, is part of Microsoft's continued campaign to convince Windows users to stick with IE9, or if they've switched browsers, to give it another try.
"One of the more interesting trends these days is the number of Chrome and Firefox enthusiasts who have 'added' Internet Explorer 9 into their browsing mix," said Roger Capriotti, the director of IE marketing, in a blog post last week. "You don't need to ditch your current browser, but there are probably a few sites you go to each day like Facebook that you can pin with IE9." Read more...
Google will now tell you why messages wound up in your Gmail spam folder
Overall, Google does a great job at separating the email wheat from the email chaff.
In fact, one of the reasons I’m a rabid Gmail fan is its ability to kick junk email straight to the spam folder where it belongs so I don’t have to waste time doing that. I still check the folder regularly, just to make sure I don’t miss any important messages, but it’s rare for me to find any emails from real people in there. Read more...
New Wi-Fi roaming initiative could soon allow your smart device to connect to hotspots automatically
A new initiative between the GSMA and Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) announced today could see billions of smartphone and tablet owners effortlessly switch between mobile and Wi-Fi networks, without the hassle of locating hotspot hosts and keying in passwords.
Today’s announcement sees both parties commit to developing a technical and commercial framework for Wi-Fi roaming, which will use a device’s SIM card to authenticate a device on a Wi-Fi hotspot without any input from the user. Read more...