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Photos of your life

Instagram introduced Photos of You to bring to users a new way to share and discover stories.

“So take the photographs and still frames in your mind / Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time”

Instagram for iOS version 3.5 is available for download in Apple’s App Store, and Instagram for Android version 3.5 is available on Google Play.

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Audentes fortuna iuvat

In 1903 the president of the Michigan Savings Bank advised Horace Rackham, Henry Ford’s lawyer, not to invest in the Ford Motor Co. by saying “The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is a novelty – a fad.”

This quote features as #8 of the top 10 Failed Technology Predictions according to Guy McCardle on Skeptoid.

The connection among all these seems to be that fortune favors the bold, and this is why in same cases big revolutions, such as the car, have been called “fad”.

What do you think is going to be a fad? Whatever you answer, don’t forget that you may be quoted as the author of a failed technology predictions in a few years.

It’s not easy to tell. I’m looking forward to seeing the next one.

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Welcome Home!

Today Facebook introduced “Facebook Home”.

“Facebook Home” is an enhanced experience for Android that puts your friends at the heart of your phone.

From the moment you turn it on, you’ll see a steady stream of friends’ posts and photos. Upfront notifications and quick access to your essentials mean you’ll never miss a moment.
And you can keep chatting with friends, even when you’re using other apps.

 

See www.facebook.com/home for more info.

Welcome Home!

Sugar Addiction

When I was a child playing a game meant infinite rounds of Monopoly. Super Mario and Nintendo followed few years later. Bubbles burst all over during my teenagers years. But it’s only few months ago that the real gamer in me showed her true face. The day I was introduce to Candy Crush Saga.

For the few people who might not have tried it yet, Candy Crush Saga is a multiplatform puzzle game developed by King.com.

The aim of the game is to match candies by creating rows or columns with three candies of the same color to remove them, and mix candies by making combinations with four or five candies to create special sweets, since combining these special sweets creates spectacular effects that crush more candies.

In less than a year over 10 million people played the game connecting with Facebook. Sugar Crush!

There are few specific reasons that make the game so addictive:

  • every level is different, even if they’re grouped by theme/episode
  • some levels are really easy to pass giving immediate reward, some others are really challenging
  • you get only five lives at time, then you have to wait to get more, ask friends, or purchase them, having to wait avoids playing for too long and getting bored
  • most levels do not have a time constraint
  • the game is social, you compete against your friends and need their help to unlock new episodes

Candy Crush Saga provides the ability to purchase specific helps and special candies to improve the performance. The payments strategy is brilliant. It’s extremely easy to buy, a prompt to acquire additional moves to complete a level is at the end of every level when failed, additional lives are really cheap.

Playing this game also became a great conversation starter since Candy Crush seems to have fans in any demographic. Way to crush two candies with one stone.

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

About three years ago I wrote my latest post, until now. My digital project, zoobrilliance, was only 6 months old, still an embryo, and I was afraid.

Back then I had just gotten a new job in one of those big tech American companies that are constantly in the news, and I was afraid. Even if I state really clearly that the content of this blog does reflect only my own opinion, speaking freely felt scary.

Yesterday I started reading Sheryl Sandberg book “Lean In” and the first chapter’s title is “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”. This is one of those phrases at the very core of the Facebook’s culture, and Sheryl encourages everyone to make it their own.

Fear is cause number one of failure.

Now, I am not advocating that we all should be fearless, and neither does Sheryl, but I would say that being afraid is no longer an excuse for leaving my little garden – figuratively speaking about this blog – unattended.

This is why today, in this bloody cold day of Spring, I am going back to the roots and I start seeding new blossoms.

Stay tuned. Summer may come sooner than you think.