Facebook reverses stance after blocking Microsoft and WhitePages from sponsoring Startup Weekend

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Teams of developers, designers and entrepreneurs are heads-down at Facebook’s Seattle engineering outpost on this rainy Sunday for Startup Weekend — a 54-hour marathon that brings people together from across the industry to turn ideas into prototypes and potentially even new companies. These events are organized around the world, spearheaded by the Seattle-based nonprofit Startup Weekend… Read More…

Microsoft pokes at Facebook, says new ‘Home’ is like Windows Phone in 2011

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Microsoft is a longtime Facebook partner and investor, but that isn’t stopping the Redmond company from making some jabs over Facebook’s choice of Android for its new “Home” user interface — a replacement home screen centered around the user’s social network and friends. In a post this morning, Microsoft communications chief Frank Shaw says he… Read More…

Facebook Home: A replacement for Android homescreens designed around people

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Facebook today announced a new Android software integration called Facebook Home that will put Facebook services at the forefront of smartphone homescreens. “With Home you see your world around people, not apps,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today. Facebook Home essentially turns your phone into a Facebook smartphone. It’s a family of apps that includes… Read More…

An app for your apps: WideAngle puts your photos in one place

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Say you’ve just returned from a weekend trip in Vegas. You and all your raging friends took many, many pictures — some of them are already Facebook, others on Instagram and the rest that no one else should see are saved in separate phone galleries. Seattle startup WideAngle is bringing all those images in one… Read More…

Plants vs. Zombies coming to Facebook with Plants vs. Zombies Adventures

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No, the sequel to Plants vs. Zombies hasn’t arrived yet (it’s coming this summer). But in the meantime, PopCap is introducing an adaptation of the original game called Plants vs. Zombies Adventures and bringing it to Facebook. The Electronic Arts-owned studio today announced the new game, which the company is calling “a highly accessible, zombie-zapping… Read More…

Chirpify for Facebook: The first way to make purchases from your news feed

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Chirpify already lets you make purchases via your Twitter and Instagram feeds. It was only natural for them to expand to Facebook. And that’s exactly what they’ve done, as the Portland-based startup today expanded their platform to allow payments through the Facebook news feed. Chirpify now lets anyone sell, fundraise and pay directly within the Facebook… Read More…

Tech Moves: Opscode hires former Likewise CEO Barry Crist; Hulu changes; etc.

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Barry Crist, the former CEO of Likewise, has joined Opscode as vice president of enterprise. He will report to CEO Mitch Hill, and assist in the adoption of the company’s Chef, Hosted Chef and Private Chef products. He most recently served as an executive-in-residence at Ignition Partners, the Bellevue venture capital firm that is an… Read More…

Facebook establishing temporary engineering center in B.C.

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Facebook already has a growing engineering operation in Seattle. Now, the social networking powerhouse is heading north of the border — but not in the traditional sense. The Vancouver Sun reports that Facebook is looking to establish a temporary facility in BC with room for up to 150 staffers. The office is set to open… Read More…

Nerd Notes: A free Smart Car, Subway sandwich thieves and the pope resigning, again

New Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer

Editor’s Note: Nerd Notes is GeekWire’s roundup of random geekiness from around the globe. Want a free Smart Car? If you refer a developer or designer to Seattle startup EnergySavvy and he or she gets hired, you’ll receive a Smart Car or a $14,000 cash prize. But hurry, there’s only a week and a half left. To… Read More…

Zuckerberg leads list of most-liked CEOs; Bezos’ approval rating soars and Ballmer is a no-show in top 50

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Do you like the job your boss is doing? If you work at Facebook, Amazon.com, Salesforce.com, EMC, SAP, Apple or Google, the answer to that question is a resounding yes. The CEOs of those tech titans each scored approval ratings above 90 percent in Glassdoor’s annual ranking of the top highest-rated CEOs. (Glassdoor bases its… Read More…

Netflix & Facebook, together at last — for better or worse

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Netflix this morning launched its long-awaited “Netflix Social” feature, letting its customers connect their Netflix accounts to Facebook to share what they’ve been watching, and to see what their friends have been watching. The Video Privacy Protection Act, dating back to the days of VHS, had prevented the company from enabling this feature, but new amendments… Read More…

Nerd Notes: An elevator murder prank and Steve Ballmer starring in a Taylor Swift song

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Editor’s Note: Nerd Notes is GeekWire’s roundup of random geekiness from around the globe. Not-so-funny elevator prank: The marketing team for the new film Dead Man Down, which was released in theaters Friday, thought it’d be funny to trick innocent New Yorkers into thinking they were witnessing a real elevator murder. Did they cross the line?… Read More…

Baby pictures on Facebook: Audience, nuance and joy

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I didn’t believe it at first. One second my husband was filming our son with my phone, the next second he stopped. Our baby was just getting started, pushing himself against the sofa like he was standing his own. I was smiling so much it made my face hurt. I thought it could happen, but… Read More…

A LinkedIn rival: InternMatch expands to entry-level jobs

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Things are moving fast for the folks over at InternMatch. They raised $1.2 million in January, are averaging five million page views a month, and now they’re expanding in a big way. Originally designed to help college students find high-quality internships, InternMatch announced Tuesday that it is now offering entry-level positions with hopes of becoming the… Read More…

Nerd Notes: Gay marriage and sushi, printable guns, and a 5-year-old’s $2,500 iPad spending spree

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Editor’s Note: Nerd Notes is GeekWire’s roundup of random geekiness from around the globe. National Day of Unplugging (NDU): Beginning tonight at sunset, and ending 24 hours later, citizens across the nation are encouraged to unplug from all media. Even GeekWire’s John Cook is giving it a shot. Participants are asked to share their reasons for… Read More…

It’s official: Facebook buying Atlas ad system from Microsoft

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Microsoft is selling its Atlas Advertising Suite to Facebook, the companies confirmed this afternoon. Financial terms of the purchase weren’t disclosed. The deal makes Facebook a bigger player in online advertising, while salvaging a small portion of Microsoft’s ill-fated acquisition of Seattle-based digital advertising company aQuantive, which included the Atlas tools. Facebook’s Brian Boland says in a blog… Read More…

GameHouse launches new Facebook casino, expands slots to iPhone and iPad

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GameHouse is placing a bigger bet on casino-style social gaming starting today— moving beyond its existing Facebook slots game to launch a larger casino on the social network, with more than a dozen games. GameHouse also is expanding its original slots game to iPhone and iPad with the release of a new iOS app. It’s… Read More…

Instagram hits 100M user mark 28 months after launch

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Instagram, welcome to the 100 million club. The Facebook-owned photo sharing social network announced today that two-and-a-half years after launch, Instagram has surpassed the 100 million user mark. Co-founder Kevin Systrom penned a blog post on the milestone, thanking users and writing about Instagram’s early days inside a frigid San Francisco office when he and… Read More…

Youngsters think Microsoft is getting cooler as it ages

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Looks like those hip new Microsoft commercials are paying off.  A Reuters poll found that just under 50 percent of 853 people aged 18 to 29 think Microsoft is “cooler” than it was in years past. The Redmond software giant actually did better than Twitter and Facebook in the coolness department. Only 42 percent thought… Read More…

Report: Microsoft close to deal to sell Atlas ad platform to Facebook

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Microsoft could reach a deal to sell its Atlas ad-serving platform to Facebook as early as next week, helping the social network build out its online advertising presence, according to Advertising Age, citing a potential purchase price between $30 million and $50 million. Facebook is expected to use the technology as part of its effort… Read More…