Timeline
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Twitter: Yes, you're all going to see tweets from people you don't follow
Remember when tweets started appearing in your Twitter feed from people you weren't even following? Well, it's no longer an experiment. In a post outlining Twitter's "spirit of experimentation", the social network says it's happening across all accounts now, in the interest of surfacing tweets it "think(s) you'd enjoy." While many of Twitter's power-users might sigh collectively, Twitter is likely hoping it'll offer up faster follows, a richer experience and (possibly) boost activity, especially for those users that aren't already following hundreds of accounts. Alas, it's not an optional thing, and is now an integral part of everyone's Twitter timeline -- alongside those occasional promoted tweets and retweets.
Twitter's Audio Cards bring more music to your social feed
By now, you've likely noticed that Twitter slapping new Cards in your timeline on a regular basis. Well, now you're about to get more sound. The company announced today that the Audio Card is on its way to iOS and Android devices, and it'll allow you to listen right from the social feed. Not wanting to hold up your browsing, the content will continue to play while you scroll through the rest of that collection of tweets. What's more, the offering is getting a hand from streaming services, but for now, the first one to opt in is SoundCloud. While that may see like an odd match, rumors circulated a few months back that Twitter was looking to snatch up that audio service, and SoundCloud continues to add new features that make it much more of a listening option than one for producers. You can expect podcasts and more to get cozy in your timeline from the likes of NASA, NPR, Pitchfork and many more. Audio Cards are still in the testing phase, but they're said to be rolling out for more "partners and creators" to use soon.
Twitter helps you keep track of NFL action with curated timelines
While you're sitting on the sofa watching your NFL team of choice take the field, you're likely peeking at a mobile device for updates, too. If that's the case, Twitter is looking to lend a hand this season with curated timelines for action around the league and game-specific options. In the #NFL timeline, you can see what the folks you follow are saying with "relevant tweets" from teams, players, coaches, media and celebrities peppered in to keep you in the know. For the game-focused feed (#SeahawksvsPackers or #SEAvsGB for example), everything is distilled down to what you need to watch that particular matchup. If that sounds a bit familiar it's because the social network did the same thing during the World Cup, and now it's looking to keep American football fans well-informed. For now, the timelines are only available on iOS and the web, so Android users will have to sit tight for the time being.
Twitter says just when you'll get others' favorites in your timeline
It's no secret that Twitter is now putting others' favorites into your timeline, but the actual trigger for those appearances has remained a mystery. Is it purely random? Keyword-based? As it turns out, it's more like a slot machine. The company's Dick Costolo has revealed that those favorites appear when you pull to refresh twice, and there aren't any new tweets to show. Twitter is simply trying to respond to your insatiable demand for updates, Costolo says. In other words, the social network would rather give you some recycled tweets than leave you hanging.
Bing search results now show key events in famous people's lives
Whether you use Bing or Google, you're surely used to that box on the right side of the screen -- you know, the one that gives you quick facts about whatever it is you're searching for, whether it be a celebrity, animal or your next vacation spot. In the case of Bing, that box is about to get a little more informative: Microsoft just launched a new feature called Timeline, which shows a list of major events in a famous person's life. So, if you search for Steve Ballmer, you'll see that he graduated college in 1977 and was named CEO of Microsoft in 2000. (You'll need to click "see more" to get to the part where he stepped down -- guy had a long career.) So far, Microsoft says it's generated timelines for about half a million famous people, and that more are being added all the time. Hopefully that includes new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella -- Bing gave us so little information we had to go all the way to Wikipedia for the full rundown.
Twitter's custom timelines let you dump your obsessions into one organized stream
Where does Carson Daily obsess over news articles about The Voice? Prior to Twitter's new custom timelines feature, he likely had some kind of scrapbook at home. Now, thankfully, he can put them all in one handy stream, delivered directly over Twitter's platform. The feature lets you handpick the tweets by way of TweetDeck, and the microblogging service is also opening up a beta version of an API that will let developers automate the process. TweetDeck users should be seeing the manual version over the next several days.
Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: Twists in time
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Two weeks ago, we looked briefly at the Timewalkers and the strange goings-on on the Timeless Isle. Since then, players that have been dutifully completing Kairoz's weekly quests have reached the end of the mysterious visions Kairoz has been trying to pinpoint -- with some disturbing results and implications. In fact, the whole mad journey has been a steady trickle of unanswered questions and dizzying scenarios that might or might not be true. Or perhaps they're all true, just in different versions of reality. And that's the bronze dragonflight in a nutshell. It's a headache-inducing puzzle of events that might have been, have been, never been, and may have meant to be but hadn't, that can't quite be untangled. Led by Nozdormu, the bronze dragonflight's missive has always been to protect and observe the pathways of time. The Titans gifted Nozdormu with the knowledge of when and how he would die as a warning, a lesson -- that no matter how powerful Nozdormu might think he was, he, just like any mortal, would have to answer to time eventually. This was meant to keep the Timeless One in check, an effective plan. But did it really work? Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a look into what has gone before with pure speculation on how it happened. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore. Please note: This post contains spoilers for events on the Timeless Isle.
Twitter experiments with trending TV box on some users' timelines
Twitter has already signaled its love of TV by negotiating deals for branded video, but it's not satisfied yet: the company has started limited testing of a timeline box for trending TV shows. The feature provides both the details of a given show as well as a list of associated Twitter accounts. Thankfully, the box isn't a permanent fixture; while it will appear on its own, users can close and scroll past the box to return to their personal feeds. The company isn't commenting on the test or the likelihood of a wider rollout, but the popularity of Twitter as a live TV companion suggests that the trending TV box could be here to stay.
This is Your Life: Facebook and the business of identity
"The story of your life." With that phrase, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced the company's new Timeline profile in the fall of 2011. The social network's original profile page, he explained, was the first place where most people "felt safe expressing their real self" on the internet, but it was only the "first five minutes of your conversation." A major redesign in 2008 extended that to "the next 15 minutes." Timeline, though, was the "next few hours." Your true self, in full. To illustrate the point, Zuckerberg went on to show a promotional video that put This Is Your Life to shame by recapping one man's life from his own birth to the birth of his child (and then some) in just over a minute. Facebook has always wanted to be your online identity -- your internet, in many ways -- but it was now also bringing something else to the fore that once had a tendency to fade into the background; your memories.
The Road to Mordor: Time travel is possible in LotRO
Some days I get a headache trying to wrap my head around the way that time works in Lord of the Rings Online. I mean, most MMOs are pretty straightforward when it comes to the time frame; pretty much everyone, everywhere in the game is in the same point in history, give or take a phase or two. Your journey through the game gives the illusion of time passing because your story develops and you go through a series of challenges, but really everyone, NPC and player alike, is living in the same day. If the game advances the timeline, everyone moves forward with it. LotRO is not like that. LotRO is not like any other MMO I've found, mostly thanks to the fact that it's tethered to an IP that has very time-specific events. A year or so ago, I was talking to Turbine on the phone and asked if I could look at the timeline document that the team uses to keep all of the events straight in the devs' heads. I didn't get to see this document, but ever since I've been keeping a close eye on how the game treats time. The truth is -- and this is very weird to consider -- that we as players are adventurers not just through Middle-earth but through time as well. We slip forwards and backwards in the timeline, often without even realizing it. You didn't think time travel had a place in fantasy MMOs? Well it does here!
The Daily Grind: What was the best year for MMOs?
Some time ago I became frustrated that I couldn't find a comprehensive timeline of when MMO launches and expansions happened, so I decided to make one myself. I've always been fascinated with the overall unfolding of history across this genre, and I've also wondered one important question that comes from such examination: What was the best year for MMOs? There are definitely some years that have seen more releases than others, but maybe the answer to that question doesn't lie in sheer numbers. Perhaps it's in quality or significance. Was the best year 1997, when Ultima Online came out and really put MMOs on the map? Or was it perhaps 2004 with its incredible trio of City of Heroes, World of Warcraft, and EverQuest II? Would you say that 2009 was significant, as DDO ushered in a wave of sub-to-F2P conversions? I think there's even a good case to be made for 2012, what with its large amount of high-quality releases. But this isn't about what I think; The Daily Grind is about your opinion. If you had to pick the absolute best year for MMOs, what year would that be? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Pandora gets cozier with Facebook, makes it easier to share listening activities to Timeline
Looks like Pandora isn't quite done making announcements this week. Hot on the heels of the introduction of its Premieres music strategy, the streaming service is now releasing a feature perfectly fitted for Facebook users. Starting today, folks will be able to easily share more of their Pandora activities (what you're listening to, the artists you like, etc.) directly to the Timeline and newly minted music section. However, given the auto-share nature of the feature, Pandora is allowing you to tweak the privacy options -- you know, in case you're not interested in letting friends know you're jamming out quietly listening to Justin Bieber's Baby. Pandora's one-click-share-to-Facebook is now available via the web and Android / iOS apps -- and, because we know you're going to inquire, there's no word on when we can expect it to hit Windows Phone 8.
Facebook finishes rolling out 'Sections' to people's profiles, brings ratings, activities and apps to your timeline
In mid-March Facebook announced that it would be updating its Timeline design with a focus on users' interests and app activities. Now the the new "Sections" are finished rolling out and you should be able to find them in the left-side of your profile. Now users can rate books, shows and movies in addition to curate personal content from other apps. As a bonus to developers that are integrating their services (such as Goodreads, Spotify and Endomodo), Facebook is offering a new App Insights tool to track user engagement through the Sections section of people's profiles. So head on over to your profile right now to get a tweaking -- you probably don't want people to see how much you love that Bruno Mars album.
EVE highlights history in interactive timeline
As EVE Online approaches the big 1-0, many can't help but think about how all the events and happenings over the last 10 years had shaped life in this massive space sandbox. But trying to explain a full decade of New Eden's extensive history was no easy task -- until now. CCP has just introduced the EVE timeline, an interactive exploration of the setting and lore of both EVE and its new companion, DUST 514. In its inaugural form, this timeline sticks with core concepts, discussing how the universe was discovered and colonized. As time progresses, the functionality of the timeline will expand, including the addition of excerpts from the True Stories initiative as well as accounts from other major player events. Check it out on the new EVE.com website, then let CCP know what moments you think warrant mentioning in this easy-to-navigate history via the blog's comment section.
Facebook redesigns Timeline with an emphasis on apps and users' interests
Facebook just announced a rehaul of its Timeline design rolling out to select users today, and you can expect a much bigger emphasis on apps. The new Timeline will let users add apps as standalone sections of their profiles, and activity such as posted photos and recent music tracks will show up in a dedicated left column. Apart from the reorganized layout, the biggest change is increased app integration on the About page. Your favorite movies, music, books -- along with other interests -- will now appear as separate sections, and you'll have the option to pull in your activity from third-party apps like Goodreads. Users will be able to control which apps appear on their Timelines by clicking an "Add to Profile" button, and each will appear as a standalone section on the page. This means you can show off your Instagram photo feed or share recently watched titles on Netflix -- a brand-new amenity for US users -- while hiding your latest tracks on Spotify, if you're so inclined. The new design will make its way to all users "in the coming weeks." For now, click through to the Facebook blog for a sneak peek.
The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's five-year gap
Right now, the world of Final Fantasy XIV players is made up of two separate but equally important groups: the Legacy players who are doing secret things in a beta that they cannot talk about, and everyone else sitting on the sidelines and desperately hoping for an NDA breach that unveils huge amounts of information. (The second group also spends some time hating the Legacy players. It's a delicate balance.) As a result, it's even harder than usual to write something interesting about the game. So, as prompted by some discussions over on the RPC, let's talk a little bit about what we do know regarding the state of the world. It isn't great, but at the same time, it's better than it could be. There are three main time period to be concerned with, and when they're taken as a whole, there's a lot of opportunity for interesting conflict and storytelling as well as roleplaying if that's your cup of tea.
RIM: A brief history from Budgie to BlackBerry 10
Listen to much of the chatter about Research in Motion today and you'll hear the launch of BlackBerry 10 described in almost apocalyptic terms. All-or-nothing. Live-or-die. Make-or-break. There's some truth to the extreme language, but BlackBerry 10 is really just the latest in a series of transformational moments for a company that has frequently had to adapt to survive. In that sense, the appreciation for crises and opportunities is almost as natural as breathing for RIM. What's less certain is whether or not the company in 2013 is as capable of wholesale shifts in strategy as it was for much of its not quite 30-year history. Read on to see why reform is possible, but won't be quite so easy.
2012 Year in tech: A timeline
By Billy Steele, Sarah Silbert and Christopher Trout Illustration By ILoveDust While planet Earth has yet to meet its demise, the end of 2012 is nigh. It was a year of lengthy legal battles and shifting power dynamics in the tech industry. It brought with it great advancements and great failures -- and, for some, the promise of the end of days. We've combed our archives to bring you just a few of the stories that made the biggest impact on our reporting this year. Herewith, an abridged look back at the year that was.
Facebook adds drag-and-drop photos, trials simplified Timeline and delivers new privacy controls
Anyone who's returned from an event with a virtual armful of photos may have been frustrated with Facebook's upload interface, which until now has involved a less-than-intuitive file browser. The company is quietly solving that problem: an update pushing out to individual users lets them drag-and-drop photos into a new post, like we've seen on other social networks, and to a newly streamlined Messages format that's rolling out at the same time. A much smaller circle is seeing a second update. Facebook has confirmed to ABC News that it's conducting limited trials of an updated Timeline that moves the news feed to a single column, replaces the thumbnail navigation with simpler-looking tabs and makes all profile page information available through scrolling. A spokesperson wouldn't say if or when the new Timeline would reach the wider public, but history points to "when" being more likely. They did however mention that the new privacy shortcuts, activity log and untagging tool would be going live for all users starting tonight, and we've already seen them pop up on some of our accounts.
Facebook for Android 2.0 arrives with much faster load times, in-feed photo browsing
Facebook users running Android have been clamoring for speed updates, and it looks like they'll at least get some of what they desire today. A version 2.0 revamp moves partly to native code and is purportedly twice as fast at loading the Timeline and photos, on top of simply being faster to start. The upgrade also lets us quickly flip through photos without having to shift attention away from the news feed. Google Play isn't yet carrying Facebook 2.0 as of this writing, but it's promised within hours -- check the source link at the right time and you may get a speed kick that many have been craving for months.
