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Budweiser's Buddy Cup makes Facebook friending a toast away
Making new friends over cold brew isn't particularly difficult, but making those friendships Facebook-official requires a bit more effort -- unless you have Buddy Cup, that is. Developed by ad outfit Agencia Africa and creative studio Bolha for Budweiser Brazil, the drinking vessel makes folks who toast with each other friends on Zuckerberg and Co.'s social network as soon as their beverages collide, with an LED lighting up to confirm the new acquaintance. Partygoers link their Facebook profile with the LilyPad-based grail by scanning a QR code underneath the glass with an app from the brewer, and they'll be on their way to making new pals. The Drum reports that the Buddy Cup will be used at concerts, festivals and parties sponsored by The King of Beers, but we're sure intrepid imbibers can hack some together for use at their own soirees. Hit the jump to for a video of the contraption.
Cambridge researchers tout new location-based method to predict friends on social networks
Friend suggestions on social networks may already be a little too eerily accurate for some, but a team of researchers from Cambridge University now say they can do one better. They've devised a method that doesn't simply rely the usual friends-of-friends approach, but on where those people tend to hang out. According to researcher Salvatore Scellato, "it turns out that the properties of the places we interact can determine how likely we are to develop social ties," and that places like offices and gyms are better indications of potential friends than football stadiums or airports. That notion was borne out in their research (conducted over a period of four months using Gowalla), which found that "about 30 percent of all new social links appear among users that check-in to the same places." With the two prediction methods combined, the researchers say they're able to account for 66 percent of all new social ties. No word if they've moved onto predicting crimes next. [Image credit: Gowalla]
