ABI.Local launch
The Anita Borg Institute introduces its ABI.Local program on the first day of its annual Grace Hopper Celebration, the world’s largest event for women in computing and technology. The goal of the program is to help women technologists all over the world connect with each other. With over 1,300 women already participating in New York and Delhi, the program is adding eight metro areas, including Boston, Washington D.C., and Silicon Valley, in part to donations from Google and an anonymous donor. CEO:
Establishing and growing a strong community of women who share our interests and career goals is imperative to keeping women in the field and broadening the appeal of a technical career to young women.
Moments
Twitter launches Moments (previously known as Project Lightning), a curated “best of Twitter” feeds. The content is accessed through a lightning icon, which leads to a menu of posts. The company says it will allow outside companies to create Moments, including partners such as Bleacher Report, BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, Fox News, Getty Images, Mashable, Major League Baseball, NASA, the New York Times,Vogue and the Washington Post. .
Upvoted
Reddit launches Upvoted (link), a standalone news site, to surface interesting news from Reddit itself. Unlike Reddit, the site will have no comments, and despite the name, no voting. A team of around ten will find stories on Reddit, verify the details, interview the original posters, and then write articles for Upvoted. At launch, the site will share around 10 to 20 stories a day, rising to 40.
Everything will have a direct tie back to Reddit. I want to find the tiny thread that connects it back to Reddit…The stuff our community creates on a daily basis blows our mind. Unfortunately, rather than telling that story, some news outlets take our users’ content and repackage it as their own. They don’t tell the backstory of our communities. We think our users’ stories need to be told, but with them at the center of it.
Bitcoin.com launch
Ver announces the launch of Bitcoin.com, a collaborative platform to increase digital currency awareness. Community members can add posts, and the most upvoted post will win $1000 worth of Bitcoin. The site has a system where companies make public bids to have their ads displayed. Ver:
There has been a lot of suppression of ideas happening on other Bitcoin forums, and clearly lots of people are upset by this. It seemed like the perfect time to launch forum.bitcoin.com to give people a place where dissenting ideas are not suppressed.
Model X launch
Musk launches the Model X SUV. The car can seat seven, has rear upward-opening “falcon” doors, and with the “ludicrous” option can reach 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds. The car also has a “bioweapon defense mode,” an advanced HEPA air filter that will clean any viruses out of the air. The car also has the best safety ratings of any SUV, a result of its low center of gravity and lack of a traditional engine. The Model X 90D costs $132,000, with a range of 257 miles and 0-60 of about 3.7 seconds; the P90D runs $142,000, 250 miles and 3.2-second acceleration.
If there’s ever a bioweapon attack, the safest place is your car. There’s actually a ‘bioweapon defense mode’ right there in the HVAC. We figure you shouldn’t have to think if you’re in an emergency.
Tests poll feature
The company gives Twitter staffers and certain verified accounts the ability to create two-option polls within its mobile app and desktop site. Polls have a lifespan of 24 hours.
Halloween costume released
Costumeish.com releases a Cecil the Lion themed Halloween costume (link), which comprises a bood-splttered dentist’s uniform and a severed lion head. The company says they created the costume because they were flooded with requests. The costume retails at $59.99 with 15% of all proceeds will go to the African Wildlife Foundation’s “Justice for Cecil.” From company website:
All Doctor Palmer wanted was to hang dead animals in his house, but what started as an obscure (if legally-dubious) hunting trip has since erupted into a brouhaha of trans-Atlantic proportions. 2015’s most controversial killing has laid bare the rift in American and Zimbabwean attitudes toward exotic game hunting and animal conservation pitting an outraged mob against a Minnesotan dentist in a scandal sure to be remembered for a generation. Our Cecil Lion Killer Dentist Costume features a severed lion’s head mask, bloody smock, and bloody gloves for a gruesome, complete look.
Kaitlyn halloween costume released
Spirit Halloween releases a Caitlyn Jenner costume in time for Halloween. The costume recreates Jenner’s look when she debuted as a woman on the cover of Vanity Fair in June, complete with shorts, a padded top, a wig, and a sash that reads, “Call Me Caitlyn.”
Releases Sway for free
After 10 months of beta testing, Microsoft makes the full version of Sway, its online presentation software, available for free online. It is available for free download immedaitely on Windows 10 PCs and tablets with a Windows Phone app arriving in coming months.
Your invaluable feedback has helped us improve Sway to meet your needs.
King’s Quest Chapter 1
King’s Quest brings back the adventure game series created by Williams. Published under the old Sierra name, this revival by developer The Odd Gentlemen takes the form of an episodic adventure game.
Today marks the release of King’s Quest: A Knight to Remember, but considering it’s been 17 years since the launch of the last game in this classic adventure series, there’s a good chance that a few actual grown adults out there have no familiarity with the adventures of King Graham and his family.
N++ release
N++, a fast-paced, physics-based platformer starring a ninja, is released by Metanet Software Inc, The game took 11 years to make.
YES! We’re so excited. It’s been a really long road, longer than we expected and longer than we wanted, but you know what? We couldn’t be happier with how the game came out, and we think you’ll be able to see that extra effort and abundance of love that went into it.
Movie projector pizza box
Pizza Hut makes a box that can project a movie from a smartphone. After eating the pizza customers put the provided lens into a hole in the box. When the phone is placed in the correct it will project an image. The box is being trialled in Hong Kong only, and includes a download code for a free movie.
‘Amber Alert’ system introduced
Facebook Canada release a system to send out notices and photos to assist in child abduction cases. A similar system has been working for the past four months in the United States.
[We hope that] the new system would help turn the social network community in Canada into one big neighbourhood watch.
Introduces Instant Articles
Facebook introduces the inclusion of articles by selected publishers inside the Facebook iOS app. Publishers include The Atlantic, BBC, BuzzFeed, Bild, The Guardian, National Geographic, NBC, Spiegel, and The New York Times. Not all pieces from these publishers will be distributed as an Instant Article at first. Pubnlishers will receive 100$% of ad revenues on their own ads, or 70% of ad revbenue when Facebook sells ads on their behalf. The app allows sharing of articles to Pinterest and Twitter. Product Manager:
Along with a faster experience, Instant Articles introduces a suite of interactive features that allow publishers to bring their stories to life in new ways. Zoom in and explore high-resolution photos by tilting your phone. Watch auto-play videos come alive as you scroll through stories. Explore interactive maps, listen to audio captions, and even like and comment on individual parts of an article in-line.
Dragon abort test successful
The company tests the Dragon abort system at Cape Canaveral. The abort system is designed to save the crew in the event of a launchpad emergency. The capsule is powered by Draco engines for five seconds. After reaching apogee at 90 seconds, falls by parachute into the Altantic ocean
3000 apps released
App Store for Apple Watch releases 3,000 applications for travel, health, family, communication, fitness and work. It features Yelp, TripAdvisor, Fandango, Twitter and the NYTimes.
Launches marijuana brand
Nelson launches his own brand of marijuana, Willie’s Reserve. The brand will be sold in Washington state and Colorado where recreational marijuana is legal. The brand’s purpose is to support nationwide legalization of marijuana and to offer “clean and consistent products”. Nelson’s rep:
Somewhat controversially, Willie has spent a lifetime as an outspoken supporter of cannabis for personal use and for industrial hemp production.
Launches English-language radio
ISIS launches English-language radio news bulletins on its Iraq-based al-Bayan radio network. The network also broadcasts in Arabic and Russian. The nine-and-a-half minute broadcasts, which begin and end with traditional sounding Arabic music, is hosted by a man with an American accent. Content includes news about the group’s activities in Iraq, Syria and Libya and activities such as suicide bombings, mortar attacks, car bombings, destroying ‘idols’, and ‘martyrdom operations’.
The Button
Reddit adds a countdown button as an April Fool’s joke.
The timer will count down from 60 seconds. If the button is pressed the timer will reset to 60 seconds and continue counting down. Only users logged into accounts created before 2015-04-01 can press the button. You may only press the button once. We can’t tell you what to do from here on out. The choice is yours.
The timer will count down from 60 seconds, but every time someone presses the button before it hits zero, it resets back to 60 and starts the countdown all over again. When the button is pressed, users get a badge, known as “flair,” that they can add to their profile. The flair’s color depends on how long the person waits to press the button. Those who have not pressed the button have gray flair. Those who press from 60-52 seconds get purple flair, and so on, down to red flair for those who wait longest. As of April 16, 751,354 people have pressed the button.