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France fines Google $590 million in latest antitrust action
Regulators say the company offered publishers 'negligible' payments for using their news content.
Google agrees to pay French publishers for news previews
Google has signed a deal with publishers in France to pay for content used for preview snippets in its news section.
Facebook's Instant Articles are heading to its Messenger app
Facebook's fast-loading news stories have been around for a while now, but soon they'll make their way to the company's standalone chat app. Instant Articles will son be available inside Messenger. When someone shares a link with you, a lightning bolt icon will let you know that it's available as one of the quick-to-load stories. This means you won't have to wait for it to appear like a regular ol' web article. There are ads inside the Instant Articles and those will make the trip over to Messenger as well.
LinkedIn reportedly looking to rival Facebook's Instant Articles
LinkedIn is said to be considering an Instant Articles feature of its own, BuzzFeed News reports. According to the publication, which cites sources familiar with the matter, LinkedIn recently started floating this idea to "various" publishers, inspired by what Facebook is doing in the space. For the unaware, Instant Articles are links to stories that you can read within Facebook's app, elimitating the need to visit a third-party site -- such as The New York Times, BuzzFeed and other news outlets.
Snapchat could be the new home of non-destructive journalism
Back in August, Snapchat introduced the Story feature, allowing users to contribute snaps to a live feed for major events like the World Cup. That same month, details of the ephemeral sharing service's news and ad plans feeds also surfaced. Now, Digiday reports that not only will there be news, but the app is aiming to be a bit more ambitious. According to that site, when the newsy Discover feature goes live, it'll include original content from Snapchat on top of the posts from other media outlets (around a dozen, according to previous reports). In recent months, the company has nabbed writers and video producers formerly of MTV, News Corp and The Verge. The app is pushing animations for holiday to users' feed already, but the new project is said to bring videos that are several minutes in length. And what about those ads? The report claims they'll appear as both pre-roll content and Snapchat's usual disappearing messages. While there's not much info on what Discover will look like when it arrives, it seems all that new content will reportedly start to rollout this month.
Ask Massively: Why we write about only the games you hate
Welcome back to Ask Massively because why not? You're here; I'm here. We've previously discussed defining MMOs and how we select the games and the news Massively covers. This week, let's talk about column selection and perception of story frequency. tomrobbins asked, "Why do you guys cover [WildStar] so intensely yet other MMOs you barely mention? This game can't do a thing with out getting an article written about it here, yet it's not even out. Other MMOs barely get mentioned. This site seems only about WildStar, EverQuest II, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Star Trek Online lately." Does it sometimes feel as if we're reading different sites entirely?
Twitter's Discover tab now snags popular stories and commentary from those in your Twitterverse
If you fancy seeing what headlines those who you follow on Twitter are chatting about in one compact list, some new functionality in the Discover tab will offer their insight in a few clicks. Essentially, the new feature tracks stories that your pals in the Twitterverse post and allows you to see what the commotion is all about via the "View Tweets" option along the bottom of each article link. From there, you can tweet the link yourself and include your thoughts on the particular matter. While the outfit boasts ongoing improvements to the Discover tab, this particular feature will see daylight on the web while hitting both iPhone and Android apps in the next few weeks. Go on. Navigate to your Twitter home page to take it for a spin yourself.
Papers 2 and Papers for the iPad: the ultimate journal reading combination
It's that time of year again: time to head back to college, grab those books and kickstart the academic term. This year, why not cut out paper from your scientific journal research workflow with the ultimate in journal management and reading for the Mac and iPad? Management Papers 2 takes journal management to the max on your Mac. Across academia and industry, Endnote is pretty much the gold standard as far as referencing goes. Yes, there are apps like Bookends, Refworks and BibTex, as well as a plethora of others including the new cross-platform offering from Mendeley, but none of them, including Thomson Reuters' offering, come close to Papers 2 when it comes to actually managing those hundreds of PDF files, importing them, sorting them, reading them, and most importantly, searching them. Papers 2 creates a database of references, grabbing their metadata from Pubmed, Google Scholar and directly from science repositories like Science Direct, and attaching the PDF files. If you have a PDF, but no citation to import, you can just import the PDF into Papers 2 by simple drag and drop. From there Papers 2 can scan your file for a match, but if it can't find it automatically, it's just a case of manually editing the reference and hitting "Match." That'll kick you into a search form where you can just drag to select text and search for the reference with it, whether it's the title, author or journal, it'll scan the science directories for the matching reference and bind all the metadata accordingly.
Instapaper updated to 3.0, now includes social features
Instapaper, the iOS app that lets you save online articles for later offline reading, has just hit version 3.0. Already an app featured on many "must have" lists for both the iPhone and iPad, Instapaper has gained a mountain of new features in its latest update. The app and Instapaper website now have native sharing with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinboard and Evernote; according to developer Marco Arment, "You can post to any of these services from the app offline, and the app will queue up the post to be submitted next time it's online." That feature alone might make Instapaper worth its US$4.99 asking price, but new (completely optional) social features make it even more powerful. Via links to your Facebook/Twitter accounts or email addresses in your device's Contacts app, you can locate friends who use Instapaper and browse articles that they've "liked" via Instapaper's interface. Similarly, there's now an Editors browser that lets you find recommended articles. Instapaper's built-in browser also now allows you to navigate to any website and save articles from within the app itself. The full 3.0 feature list is on Instapaper's blog. Bear in mind that if you're upgrading Instapaper from an earlier version, all of your articles will re-download after the update -- so if you have hundreds of articles on your account, you might want to wait until you get home and use Wi-Fi instead of 3G. Instapaper is a universal app, available from the App Store for $4.99. If you're not already using it, I highly recommend you start.
How the iPad and iPhone shift reading habits
Read It Later is an Instapaper-style platform for saving and tracking various things to read online, and they recently released some interesting information about iPad and iPhone reading over on their blog. The line for when people save articles is pretty constant no matter what hour of the day you're talking about -- we're pretty often browsing for and discovering new things to read all of the time. But when you look at the graphs about when people retrieve those articles on their mobile devices, you see some interesting trends. The iPhone graph, seen above, has lots of little peaks in it, but those peaks come at "in-between" times -- when we're eating some breakfast, traveling via commute or about to go to bed. That's fascinating -- according to this data, the iPhone is really a whitespace device, providing productivity when we don't have access to anything else. And the iPad graph is interesting as well -- as you can see on RiL's page, it sees most of its activity later in the evening, when we're on the couch just relaxing. And there's one more little bit of interesting data -- users who own an iPad are apparently doing less reading on their computers during the day. In other words, they're saving articles specifically for iPad time, because apparently they prefer to do more reading on the iPad itself. Remember, these are brand new categories of devices, and it's really crazy to see how they're changing our habits so quickly. [via TechCrunch]
TUAW's Daily App: Articles
We've talked about Articles here on the site before. Out of all of the apps that won Apple Design Awards this year, I would say it's probably the most underrated and most useful. It's a Wikipedia reader, which doesn't sound like much since the mobile version of Wikipedia is pretty good already. Having a dedicated app for the open source encyclopedia makes a surprising difference, though, and it allows you to consume all of that content in a really focused way. There are integrated maps and photos and lots of different ways to browse information, including shaking the iPhone to see a random page. The new update doesn't hurt either; version 1.3 adds a language picker, a new Table of Contents sheet, and an orientation lock that even works on the iPhone (a previous update already made the app all ready for iOS 4.0 and the Retina Display). Articles is US$2.99, which might seem pricey to browse content that you can already read for free. However, if you've participated in a few marathon Wikipedia sessions just by following a few random reference links, it's well worth the purchase.
Call for submissions: Fill our cup with new Breakfast Topics
Calling all writers -- the Breakfast Topic coffee cup is back, ready to be filled up with your submissions. What's on your mind (and what do you think is on other players' minds) when it comes to WoW? Write it up as Breakfast Topic and submit your article for consideration through Seed, Aol's guest writer program. We're looking for Breakfast Topics in our usual conversational style, asking the community for their thoughts on your WoW-related topic. Submissions should be between 200 and 500 words. (Watch that top end!) We're looking for both strong writing and topics that will spark an interesting conversation. Only the best submissions will be accepted. Here's what to do: read up about the Seed program, sign up and then submit your article (you can't see the article page unless you have a Seed account). Unfortunately, we are currently only able to take submissions from individuals living in the United States; we hope to be able to accept international submissions in the future. We'll accept Breakfast Topic submissions for this call-out until 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, June 23. In the meantime, we'll be deciding what type of donuts we want to go along with that steaming cup of joe. Me, I'm taking hot green tea, with an English muffin and Nutella. What's your Breakfast Topic accompaniment of choice?
Call for submissions: Top tips for healers
Early this year, we ran a guest post on top tips for DPSers. Just last week, we asked for your articles on top tips for tanks. (We're evaluating those submissions as we speak; the article should be published this weekend.) This week, we're going to complete the triad with a call for articles on top tips for healers. We've all heard the basics a million times ... Tell us the secrets of the very best healers! Maybe you have a list of little-known tricks used by the most experienced healers, or you'd like to share some tips to calm the nervous first-time instance or raid healer. What about the savviest moves for healers in ICC hard modes? Whatever your angle is, it should stand out and provide a top 10 list worthy of bookmarking; we'll only be accepting the very best article. Submissions should be between 500 and 1,000 words. Artwork is not mandatory, but should you choose to include a screenshot, please make sure that it is your own work or from creative commons; images should be 580 pixels wide and between 175 and 350 pixels high. Update: We will not accept articles submitted under player names or pen names; please use your real name and email. Ready to submit? Read up about our guest post program, then sign up for Seed and submit your article here. (You can't see the article page unless you have a Seed account.) Unfortunately, we are currently only able to take submissions from individuals living in the United States; we hope to be able to accept international submissions in the future. We'll accept submissions for this assignment until 11:59 p.m. EST on Thurs., June 3. Good luck and good writing!
Call for submissions: Top tips for tanks
That's right, hopeful writers -- we're back again for what's becoming a weekly call for article submissions. We're enjoying your articles so much that we're opening up a slot each week for an outstanding submission via Seed, Aol's guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. This week, we're looking for your top 10 tips for tanks. What's your spin on this topic -- can you tell us the most important things to that tanks should know, or perhaps the handiest little-known tricks used by experienced tanks? Maybe you have tricks and tips to calm the nervous first-time tank, or perhaps you've collected some obscure strategies applicable only to the hardest of the hardcore. Whatever your angle is, it should provide a top 10 list worthy of bookmarking; we'll only be accepting the very best article. Submissions should be between 500 and 1,000 words. Art work is not mandatory, but should you choose to include a screenshot, please make sure that it is your own work or from creative commons; images should be 580 pixels wide and between 175 and 350 pixels high. Ready to submit? Read up about the Seed program, sign up and then submit your article here (you can't see the article page unless you have a Seed account). Unfortunately, we are currently only able to take submissions from individuals living in the United States; we hope to be able to accept international submissions in the future. We'll accept submissions for this assignment until 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, May 27.
Articles: Wikipedia with class
If you frequent Wikipedia -- and appreciate an interface that's both beautiful and highly functional -- Articles is an iPhone (and iPad) app you should try. Going beyond just being a wrapper for the less-than-beautiful compendium of user-generated knowledge, it offers a very pleasing way to navigate the tomes. In addition to normal browsing, Articles offers integrated maps and uses geolocation to offer items of interest around you, or around any location you specify. It also has support for multiple pages, a la Mobile Safari, so you can follow multiple lines of research without losing your place. Automatic spelling suggestions help you locate your information, and an integrated chapter browser helps you navigate. You can bookmark pages, and organize bookmarks in folders, as well as search your history by day. Recently-viewed articles are even available offline. I haven't played with every Wikipedia app out there, and I've heard some great things about others like Wikipanion. Within my experience, though, Articles is a very complete solution and definitely worth a look. Articles is available for both iPhone ($2.99US) and iPad ($4.99US). I've only had the opportunity to play with the iPhone version, which is beautiful, but I'm really looking forward to trying it on the iPad, where its gorgeous interface and fluid usability will really have a chance to shine.
The Mog Log: A spotlight on our webwide community
We're generally a fairly verbose and chatty bunch on Final Fantasy XI, with a strong sense of community. Whether this has been helped or harmed by the difficulty of getting any official word from Square-Enix is a debate topic for another time -- what's indisputable is the sense that the game's players are one big family, if not always a happy one. (It's hard to be happy when cousin Ike has had a few Yagudo Drinks too many and starts talking about how much he hates Scholars.) On the other hand, Final Fantasy XIV isn't even yet in beta, but there's already a community forming around it, as is frequently the case for new games in the series. It's attracting several people who have either been burned by Final Fantasy XI or are still fans but look forward to some new gameplay, not to mention MMO gamers hoping for something new and exciting. So let's take a look at some of the more interesting, provocative, or just plain noteworthy community threads and discussions that have been happening recently.
CrazyKinux answers EVE Online questions for WoW players
If you're a World of Warcraft player looking for something completely different, head over to CrazyKinux's blog and read what he has to say to WoW players looking to make the move to the alien beast that is EVE Online. It reads a bit like one of those articles designed to ease PC users into a transition to Apple's Mac computers.EVE blogger, Drone Bay podcast co-host, and former Massively contributor CrazyKinux covers many of the bases, noting many of the strongest differences (skill-based instead of level-based character advancement, everyone is on one server instead of scattered between hundreds of small servers, etcetera). He also links to several articles written by him and others that are helpful to newbies.It's a fantastic post -- a perfect starting point for anyone considering the switch, or even for folks just curious about what EVE is all about. CrazyKinux ends on a pretty funny quote, too: "EVE is like a sandbox with land mines. Deal with it." But don't let that scare you. Really. We named it our #1 Sci-Fi MMO a while back; admittedly that's not saying much, but it ought to count for something, right?
WoWWiki reaches 45,000 articles
Kirkburn from the great WoWWiki (I like their one line description of us, and yes we do link to them all the time) writes to tell us that they have cracked 45,000 articles on their site as of last night. From Arathi Basin to Zul'jin, they now have over 45,000 articles on everything having to do with World of Warcraft. Congrats to them!I've only ever created one over there (and it was for a joke), but all of us here at WoW Insider have nothing but respect for all the diligent archivists over at the Wiki. They have a terrific resource over there, and it is as clear an authority as they come, especially on a lot of the lore and background information on the game. Great job, all, on 45,000 articles, and keep up the good work.Kirkburn also tells there are updates due over there as well-- sometime before the end of the year, they're planning an update to MediaWiki 1.11. And they're also going to incorporate more with the Wikia network, which runs all kinds of niche wikis like this one, by creating a single logon across all the sites. Sounds like things are jumping over at WoWWiki, and we're glad to hear it.
LeopardTracker.com
Tired of sifting through newsfeeds and googling for tidbits on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard? Maybe LeopardTracker can help put an end to your obsessively sleepless nights - it's a new site that does all that searching for you and catalogs Leopard-related articles for anxious Mac users everywhere. Of course, no one but The Steve and Apple's engineers really know much about this next version, but the site documents the rumors and table-scraps from Apple's own announcements, as well as articles and blog posts that criticize the areas where Apple's OS fails and could still use some polish. Links are also organized into categories, such as Finder, Hardware, Virtualization, etc., to help you get your Leopard on a little easier. Check it out.
Carnival of Gamers #15: roll up, roll up!
We've followed the Carnival of Gamers for several months now, and its latest stop chez Kim Pallister is, once again, a treat. With articles on topics ranging from "why E3 sucked" to the next-gen console battle, via an assault on "girl gamer" articles, the subjects are as varied as ever. If you have the time, it's worth checking Carnival #15 out for a cross-section of some of the past month's best games writing.See also:Carnival of Gamers celebrates first anniversaryCarnival of Gamers gets n3rfedCarnival of Gamers rolls on to Virgin WorldsCarnival of Gamers gathers under Slashdot's tent[Thanks, Tony]
