texting

WhatsApp Messenger dominated both major app stores in the number of downloads in April, according to data from Distimo.

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Steven Spriggs was pulled over and ticketed in January 2012 for using a map application on his smartphone while driving.

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Have you ever heard your phone go off eight times in a row and just known, without even having to look, that a certain friend is sending you a text the size of a Harry Potter novel? If you are starting to dread the sound of your smartphone beeping in your pocket, you are not alone. Check out the five types of people whose text messages you dread in this chart from Mobistealth.

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Groupon to Replace CEO Andrew Mason (SocialTimes)
Andrew Mason will no longer be the chief executive of Groupon, the company announced on Thursday. Stock in the daily deals business had fallen more than 20 percent after the company’s fourth-quarter earnings failed to meet analysts’ expectations, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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Obama Hosts ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Chat on Twitter (USA Today)
President Obama urged Twitter followers on Monday to lobby Congress for a debt reduction deal that includes higher taxes on the wealthy. “Keep pressure on Congress,” Obama tweeted during a chat that was part of the White House “My2K” Twitter campaign to drum up support for its position in the “fiscal cliff” debate.

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Privacy Groups Ask Facebook to Abort Proposed Changes to Privacy Policy (SocialTimes)
Online privacy groups Electronic Privacy Information Center and Center for Digital Democracy have written a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking him to abandon proposed changes to the social network’s privacy policies. Users would no longer have the opportunity to vote on proposed changes and privacy practices for Facebook and Instagram would be combined.

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Texting. We all do it and we all have ridiculous stories about it, whether it’s a text to the wrong person or an embarrassing autocorrect snafu. Today a hilarious video that turns autocorrection into a love song (or should we say…lobe song?) is going viral and it inspired us to put together a list of some of the funniest texting-related videos on YouTube. Enjoy!

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This week’s Friday Morning Laughs includes a hilarious animated short about rude texters, Will Ferrell’s take on the Twilight couple’s breakup, some amazing dog tricks, Batman and (yes, again) a Call Me Maybe parody. So grab your cup o’ joe, sit back and get ready to laugh.

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Mitt Romney’s Amercia: No Laughing Matter (U.S. News & World Report)
Mitt Romney should have been doing a victory lap the day after clinching the Republican presidential nomination. But when Americans woke up Wednesday morning to a new Romney mobile app that misspelled “America” as “Amercia,” memes proliferated. The Hill With the hashtag #Amercia still trending late on Wednesday morning, users searching for the word on Twitter were also seeing a promoted tweet from the GOP nominee’s official Twitter account. Twitter’s promoted-tweets tool allows users to pay to promote individual tweets, anchoring them at the top of search results for specific keywords. MSNBC.com It didn’t take the Romney campaign staff long to send “Version 1.0.1″ of the app — which is described as having some “bug fixes” — to Apple, but the damage was already done. Twitter users went nuts, a new Tumblr blog was created, and plenty of media ridicule followed. The Daily Beast The Telegraph may have drily won the Internet with its memorable dek: “White House hopeful Mitt Romney has meticulously spelt out his vision for a better America while on the campaign trail this year. But his new mobile app did not feature the same levels of preparation.” Here are five other cringe-inducing political typos and misnomers of the recent past. USA Today As the Scripps National Spelling Bee wraps up today near Washington, we’re once again confronted with the annual question: In a world of spell check and r u there texting, does spelling even matter anymore? Read more

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Zuckerberg Weds Longtime Girlfriend, No Word on Prenup (Reuters)
Details of Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg’s surprise wedding trickled out on Sunday, but mysteries remained, not least whether there was a prenuptial agreement in place that could affect Zuckerberg’s large stake in the company. Zuckerberg wed his longtime girlfriend, Priscilla Chan, on Saturday in the backyard of their modest home in Palo Alto, Calif., with fewer than 100 people in attendance, a Facebook spokesman authorized to speak on behalf of the couple said. CNET However, a woman in India is reportedly divorcing her husband because he committed the cardinal 21st century crime: he didn’t change his Facebook status when they got married. How can a woman trust a man who doesn’t whip out his cell phone the minute the marriage ceremony is over and declare himself to the world? VentureBeat NASDAQ chief executive Robert Greifeld admitted Sunday that the exchange was at fault for some glitches in early trading of Facebook’s IPO but said it had nothing to do with the stock’s uninspired performance. Facebook expected trading to begin at 11 a.m. on Friday, but it did not begin until about 11:30. GigaOM Catching the last five minutes of the Boston University commencement speech by Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt on WBUR, I was struck by the veiled swipes (pokes?) he took at Facebook. You know, the company that last week launched the most anticipated IPO in years, and that despite NASDAQ glitches and a disappointing finish, wiped Google out of the record books? Yes, that Facebook. CNET A mother wanted to share a picture of her son on Facebook. He lived only eight hours. Facebook removed the image, deeming it “too graphic.” Much later, the company offered an apology and admitted it erred. Read more