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17 Jan 2012 23:05

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Tech: Russian “Koobface” cyber-hackers gave themselves away

  • “Koobface” sounds like the cyberbully cousin of Scooby Doo. You might have been a victim of the Koobface gang. This Russian cybergang is responsible for viruses that spread through Facebook and other social network sites. Technically, none of the members are under investigation by law enforcement; it’s hard to prosecture people that you can’t find. Recently, the group has been “checking in” on Foursquare, completing their location with coordinates and pictures. With more and more information being leaked about the group, perhaps citizens, companies and governments will band together to help shut this group down — but even if they finally do, don’t click on anything you don’t trust. source

05 Dec 2011 21:44

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Tech: Facebook’s Gowalla buyout was for the talent, not the company

  • While Facebook isn’t acquiring the Gowalla service or technology, we’re sure that the inspiration behind Gowalla will make its way into Facebook over time.
  • A statement from Facebook • Basically emphasizing that they bought out Gowalla’s staff, not its service. It apparently was a marriage of mutual ambition: “It became clear that the way for our team to have the biggest impact was to work together,” said Gowalla CEO Josh Williams. The statements effectively play into what many have figured about the Gowalla team — they’re a very good company at design, but ultimately, their product was an also-ran in the market, one increasingly surpassed by Foursquare. They shouldn’t feel bad, though — Facebook was an also-ran at location-sharing, too. source

02 Dec 2011 20:22

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Tech: Gonewalla? Facebook buys location-sharing service Gowalla

  • The sum? Undisclosed. In what’s probably Facebook’s highest-profile acquisition since it scooped up FriendFeed in 2009, the social network bought Gowalla, a popular location check-in service that’s probably the most notable competitor to market leader Foursquare. Facebook had a location check-in service of its own called Facebook Places, which it discontinued back in August after it flopped in the market. So, two questions: With Facebook’s backing, can Gowalla get a kick in the pants? Or is it dead entirely? (For what it’s worth: FriendFeed is still online, though it hasn’t been actively developed in years.) Either way, if you don’t want Facebook to have your Gowalla data, location check-in fans, check out TheNextWeb’s guidesource

22 Oct 2010 11:52

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Tech: Astronaut outdoes pretty much every Foursquare user ever

I just unlocked the “NASA Explorer” badge on @foursquare! http://4sq.com/dseNyIFri Oct 22 15:10:39 via foursquare

  • That’s right, he checked in to Foursquare while he was in space. IN SPACEEEEE. While we’re total trend-followers, we’re probably not going to do this today. source

20 Aug 2010 11:39

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Tech: Foursquare isn’t doing too bad considering, y’know, Facebook Places

  • cause Facebook launched its Foursquare-aping “Facebook Places” feature, leading many to claim that the service was going to die soon. Because that’s what Facebook does. They rip off other services.
  • effect Instead, Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley tweeted this: “Just heard from The @HarryH that today was @foursquare’s biggest day ever in terms of new user signups.” Hmm. Interesting. source

08 Apr 2010 21:43

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Tech: FourSquare’s North Pole badge: Nobody cares if you get it

  • We’ve been drifting backwards at a ridiculous pace. At this stage we don’t know if we’re going to be able to get there.
  • 15-year-old son of a rich guy Parker Liautaud • On his attempt to reach the North Pole and check off the FourSquare North Pole badge. Which might be a cool feat, if you actually care about marking something off on a virtual game a bunch of hipsters play. Liautaud is competing against a middle-aged motorcycle company CEO for the kind of vacation only a rich person would think of. source

18 Feb 2010 10:28

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Tech: Dear staff of PleaseRobMe: You’re an accomplice in our robberies, OK?

  • Yeah, we get the point, guys. Geolocation is bad because it leaves your location open for people to take advantage of. But when Julius goes out tonight wearing a ski mask and preying on the poor residents of Dupont Circle who play FourSquare just a little too well, we’re going to want someone to hold the bag. We’re not going down for our crimes without taking someone else down with us! And, well, you’re it! source
 

02 Feb 2010 20:53

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Tech: Douchebags who use Foursquare upset about Foursquare’s accuracy

  • Total FAIL, guys. Who are you to judge what your customers like and don’t like?
  • Get Satisfaction commenter “valerie” • After earning the “douchebag” badge using the Foursquare service. She wasn’t very happy about the moniker, and many other users complained too. Then TechCrunch noticed. While the quickly-growing service isn’t budging now, they’re likely to feel pressure to change it as a result of their growing popularity. They also made a deal with Bravo recently. That said, if we earn the badge, we’d wear it like a badge of honor. We think more companies need to call their users douchebags. source