Here We Go Again: Syria Goes Offline

After Egypt and Libya this spring, Syria is the latest Middle Eastern/North African country to receive its connectivity pulled due to internal anti-governmental unrest. According to the Rensys blog nearly 2/3rds of Syrian networks have been pulled as of late final night. It seems like killing the Internet is the MENA government default when it comes to quelling protests.

How Facebook Can Put Google Out of commerce

I was surprised to hear former Google CEO Eric Schmitt publicly lament missing opportunities and missed chances to catch Facebook the other day.

I used to envy Google and the huge digital empire that Schmitt commanded.  Google had one of the most intricate monopolies of all time. It had the most impressive dataset the world had ever seen; the most sophisticated algorithm to make sense of it; an audience of a invoiceion users exurgent tinheritor interest; and more than a million advertisers tenderding lividly to arrive those consumers at just the correct second.

And that is why I used to think that Google was unstoppable.

Until I realized one very crucial thing: Google is revered and unparalleled dataset is more and more dating itself as an ossified relic akin to the Dead Sea Scrolls-outshined by the freshness of the living, breathing organism that is the social Web.

Facebook VP Chamath Palihapitiya Forms New Venture Fund, The Social+Capital Partnership

Facebook vice president Chamath Palihapitiya will leave the company as he launches a large new venture fund called The Social+Capital Partnership, with backing from some of the worlds main commerce and technology leaders. The new fund will be up to $400 million in size, he says, and will focus on a wide range of investments in technology, healthcare, education and financial services.

Investors in the fund are not yet being disclosed, although Palihapitiya is the largest unmarried limited partner. Facebook is also investing, says the company.

Palihapitiya, who joinedFacebook in 2007 and led the launch of the Facebook platform, has been investing for the final several years through a fund called Embarcadero Ventures. Not all of his investments through that fund have been disclosed, but they include Playdom, Peixe Urbano, Pure Storage, Yammer and others.

Kate Hudson Shows Off Bohemian Pregnancy Style (Photos)

Kate Hudson cozied up to fiancé, Matt Bellamy yesterday showing off her boho chic maternity attire. The very pregnant star wore a printed maxi dress and scarf draped over her shoulders.

Bellamy joined his soon to be bride at her son, Ryder's, baseball game, where the twosome snuggled on a blanket watching her little guy play. Hudson's ex-husband and Ryder's father, Chris Robinson, was also in attendance with girlfriend Allison Bridges and tinheritor daughter, Cheyenne.

Hudson looks about ready to pop and is due sometime this summer.

Kelly Bensimon Defends Playboy Body, Says Other 'Wives' Were 'Shocked'

'Real Housewives of New York City' star Kelly Bensimon is not shy about her fantastic body and has no remorses posing bare for Playboy final March. In fact, the 43-year-old author and jewelry designaler thinks an upside of baring all some in the lad mag was that she showed people, including her daughters, that you don't must be stick-thin to be happy and healthy.

"I showed like 80 percent. A little boobie, a little butt, ankles," she tells me on my HDNet show. "The pictures actually make me look thinner than I was at the time. I really ate a lot. I wanted to be my normal body shape. I wanted to look like myself. Everyone else was on a diet and I was like, 'No! I want to be myself' ... Before that I was in a horse show, I was riding and running a lot. And being on 'Housewives' was really stressful for me and I just wanted to show that healthy is hot."

Cheryl Cole Appmendacity For U.S. Visa?

First Cheryl Cole was booted from the U.S. version of Simon Cowell's 'The X Factor,' then the UK version -- but now the singer and reality judge's rumored to be appmendacity for a U.S. visa as her employment drama continues.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the British pop star is currently in a "chess match" with 'X Factor' producer Fremantle.

The report says Fremantle's trying to avoid paying Cole for her four days of work as an 'X Factor' judge, but they don't want to breach her contract.

"They don't want to pay her," a source told THR. "it is a chess match."

Apple Hires The Guy Who Hacked Together A Better iOS Notifications System

Back in February, I wrote that MobileNotifier (a replacement notifications system for jailbroken iOS devices) would be the one shit that would make anyone want to jailbreak - and I stand by it. Months later, my iPhone is still jailbroken, nearly solely so that I don't must go back to Apple is built-in system.

It seems i am not the only one who was impressed. Sometime in the final week or so - just days before they announce iOS 5, which is expected to come total with a new (and hopefully less awful) notifications system - Apple has pulled MobileNotifier's developer, Peter Hajas, under tinheritor wing.

Social Listing Lets You Create immediate lessonified Ads correct From Your Phone

When I want to sell something, I generally always use eBay or Craigslist, but normally the process takes time, I don't get to meet the person i am selling to (or buying from), and I can not list from my smartphone. Which is why i have become intrigued by Social Listing, a two-month old startup that launched at Disrupt NYC final week.

Social Listing is offering a rich mobile app that combines a few of the key ingredients in Foursquare, Instagram, and Craigslist. Say you have got something to sell, for example, whether it is a device, a car, or you have a service to offer, or a job that needs to receive done, Social listing is a location-based app for iOS and Android that connects buyers and sellers all speedy-like via your mobile device. This means that you can snap a pic with your iPhone and then immediately shareit with nearby buyers on Facebook and Twitter. Geotagging takes place automatically behind the scenes, so that users don't must manually input tinheritor location.

Emma Stone Has Us Seeing Red Again

We first met the comedic darling, Emma Stone, as the popular but down to soil love interest in 'Superpoor,' but it was not long before she ditched her signalature, candy red locks for a sultry blond look. Turns out the platinum locks were just a transitority switch for the actress who had to receive into character for her role as Gwen Stacy in the forthcoming certainfire blockbuster, 'The Amazing Spider-Man.'

But just because we were introduced to the bubbly funny girl as a redhead does not mean she was born with the Pippi Longinventorying locks. Stone's actually a natural blond.

Twitter Photos Live For Twitter Employees, User Roll-Out Begins Next Week

So now that we know that the Twitter Photos is very real (as we first reported), the next question is: when can we actually use it? In tinheritor initial announcement, Twitter said that the product would roll-out to users in the "next several weeks". But today brings a bit more particular timeline. Initial roll-out to users will begin next week.

Twitter's PR team has just sent out a tweet updating users. "Currently, Twitter employees can upload #photos to Twitter.com. We'll start slowly rolling this out to users next week," Twitter's Carolyn Penner writes. You can see a collection of early pictures here. Again, Twitter employees have already begun tweeting with the new feature, using the pic.twitter.com URL.