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This is the Modem World: Social networking makes us feel alone
Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology. I was listening to someone, somewhere, on something -- not really sure where, and it doesn't matter -- but someone said that they'd rather be alone than have friends who make them feel alone. It's probably been said by many people in many different ways, but for some reason, that saying has attached itself to me as I engage in my twice-daily social networking while comparing it to what I'm actually doing in my downtime that doesn't qualify as "work." Social networks make us feel alone. I'm not claiming to be the first to notice this, but now that there's a social network for pictures, for videos, for 140-character updates, for business networking, for food, for our pets...
Tweetdeck updated with themes and new fonts
Twitter clients are like political candidates these days -- everyone's got one they like, and no one really wants to hear about the ones they don't. For me, TweetDeck is still my client of choice. Even though I've heard good things about TweetBot for Mac and a few other options out there, nothing newer has caught my eye. That's why I'm glad to hear that TweetDeck just got updated, and my client of choice has a few new tricks to it. The biggest change is that the client now supports themes, so if you don't like that dark default look, you can easily switch it over to a much lighter theme with dark text on a white background. You can also now customize the font that displays your tweets, and there are a few other new options and features to play around with. Yes, you might have moved on to a different Twitter client, for whatever reasons you've chosen to do so. But for those of us using TweetDeck, an update like this is very welcome indeed. [via Engadget]
Data-hungry crowds spoil Olympic TV coverage, archers alerted
With an opening ceremony celebrating social media and a guest appearance by the father of the world wide web, you would think the games are pretty Twitter-friendly. Well, not so much, as the hordes of London have been told to keep non-urgent texts and tweets to themselves to avoid disrupting TV coverage for those who weren't lucky enough to score beach volleyball tickets. The recommendation comes after broadcasters bumbled through the men's cycling road race due to a lack of available data from the cyclists' GPS. The information bottleneck appears to be related to one specific network and sharing the data burden has been discussed, although probably not via Twitter. The IOC knows that telling the masses not to log on likely won't have any impact -- so, what's next for the data haters.
TweetDeck version 1.5 arrives with columns, lots of columns (video)
Version 1.5 of TweetDeck has arrived, with a heavy emphasis on ensuring you can navigate those columns easily. The update adds arrow buttons, a horizontal scroll bar and gesture support if your trackpad is similarly enabled. There's also a new action button appended to each tweet, which will give you all the powers of the web version in a single click, ensuring you can follow (or otherwise) anyone who catches your eye in an instant. It's available right now for Windows, OS X, online and as a Chrome app -- there's even an informative video available after the break.
Twitter gets a new look: faster, simpler, cleaner
Are you someone who has yet to jump on the Twitter bandwagon because it's just too darn complicated to use? Well, the time to spread your tweeting wings has come, because the service has just done a redesign of its web portal and mobile apps around four new tabs -- "Home", "Connect", "Discover" and "Me" -- that make for a less complicated and more streamlined experience (sound familiar?). Twitter's new threads will be rolling out universally over the next few weeks, though the Android and iPhone apps have already been refreshed. All you 140-character mavens can head on past the break for a video of the new look or hit the source links to learn more. For those of you in need of an even simpler Twitter interface, well, we hear there's a guy with a rotary phone who can deliver just what you're looking for.
First fine for libel via Twitter issued against politician by British court
British politician and former Mayor of Caerphilly, Wales, Colin Elsbury, has been ordered to pay a fine for the charge of libel against an opponent. The lawsuit was filed by Eddie Talbot, an independent challenging Elsbury, after Talbot claimed that Elsbury had Tweeted that Talbot had been forcibly removed from a polling place by police. Well, Elsbury definitely Tweeted that, but, unfortunately for him, the person was not Eddie Talbot. Although Elsbury quickly and publicly corrected himself, Talbot took him to court, and in Cardiff on Friday that Elsbury will have to pay a £3,000 fine plus costs of around £50,000. A cursory glance over Elsbury's recent Tweets indicates that he still may not have the hand of the medium, but we'll keep our eyes on his stream for any new instances of #twibel.
