By Cynthia Herbert :: 10:52 AM
Inappropriate posts by football players in the incoming class at the University of Houston have cost those players their spots on the team roster, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle.
Head coach Tony Levine announced this weekend that he dropped three recruits from his team because of remarks they made on Twitter and other social media networks. He did not say what the remarks were, or provide any detail about them, only to confirm that the messages were sent while the recruits were in class, and late at night.
Levine and his coaching staff had already briefed players about expectations of their use of social media while on the team. The University of Houston does allow its athletic team participants to maintain public social media accounts – not all colleges do.
It is becoming increasingly more commonplace for colleges to consider the social media presence and behavior of applicants and recently admitted students. There have been cases, especially at prestigious schools, of admitted students being released from the incoming class due to remarks they have made on social media sites.
“There was a case a few years ago,” recalls college search consultant Monica Snyder, “where an elite college in upstate New York rescinded an offer of admission to a student who made an off-color joke in the school’s Facebook group.”
Snyder also remarked that many schools watch their athletic recruits and players very carefully, often subjecting them to additional scrutiny and regulations on social media use.
By Gilbert Falso :: 11:59 PM
CBS has a message for Time Warner Customers about the network’s actions on Friday, when it pulled CBS stations off the air in three major U.S. markets.
When Time Warner Cable Internet customers visit the CBS.com website, they see a the image above, front and center on the broadcaster’s website. The network is hoping that outraged viewers, who turn to the CBS site for answers, will instead direct their anger toward Time Warner.
“In reality, no one is going to win from this spitting match,” said Barry Saunders, a longtime television consultant based in Los Angeles. “Both sides look pretty evil to the cable customer right now, no matter how you slice it.”
Indeed, many customers are just upset that their favorite shows and channels are currently dark, and are directing that anger to anyone who will listen – whether its CBS or Time Warner, they don’t care.
Below is a sampling of Tweets from earlier tonight, from customers fed up with the spat between the two companies.
Literally just chucked my juice box across the kitchen and into the wall as hard as I could because I’m pissed Time Warner banned CBS
— King Jon (@BasicJon) August 4, 2013
Just now realizing I won’t be able to watch Dexter tomorrow. Way to go putting the customer first @CBS & @TimeWarner.
— Jaime Derringer (@jaimederringer) August 4, 2013
TIME WARNER AND CBS BOTH OF YOU ARE RIDICULOUS BRING BACK THE PROGRAMMING IMMEDIATELY BOTH OF YOU ARE MONEY HUNGRY SOB’S
— Bart Miller (@Bartman51) August 4, 2013
What! I can’t watch The Big Lebowski because Time Warner and CBS are feuding over their already obscene profits? Making a note here.
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 4, 2013
Time warner doesn’t carry show time or CBS anymore? Awesome man I didn’t want to watch dexter tomorrow night or anything
— Eric Bowen (@TheEricBowen) August 4, 2013
By Paul Thomson :: 6:51 PM
The war between cable television provider Time Warner and CBS television networks intensified on Friday evening as the cable provider yanked CBS stations off the air in three major U.S. cities – New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas.
The event marks broken down negotiations between the two entities over broadcast and retransmission rights in all markets. The action killed CBS stations in those three major markets as well as a handful of other markets across the country, and also darkened Showtime and other CBS cable affiliate channels systemwide on Time Warner.
CBS issued a statement about Time Warner’s actions shortly after 5:00 PM:
“We deeply regret this ill-advised action, which is injurious not only to our many affected viewers, but also to Time Warner Cable itself. Throughout this process, Time Warner Cable has conducted negotiations in a combative and non-productive spirit, indulging in pointless brinksmanship and distorted public positioning.”
In addition to Showtime, other CBS stations, like The Movie Channel, Flix and the Smithsonian Channel are also off the air in most, if not all Time Warner markets.
The two sides appear to be at an impasse.
“CBS has refused to have a productive discussion,” read a statement from Time Warner. “It’s become clear that no matter how much time we give them, they’re not willing to come to reasonable terms.“
In addition to Time Warner subscribers, the blackout also affects many customers who use Bright House Networks for their cable service. That provider had an agreement with Time Warner to piggyback service in some markets.
The CBS Sports Channel still remains on the air on Time Warner networks, and is not affected by this current round of contract negotiations.
Television analysis pointed out that CBS has more leverage in the battle than Time Warner does, but Time Warner won’t feel customer pressure to get the network back on the air until the fall TV season and the NFL 2013-2014 season kick off.
By Gilbert Falso :: 2:22 PM
Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer is extending her empire building streak – Yahoo today announced the acquisition of the company behind the social web browser Rockmelt.
The purchase, valued between $60 and $70 million, will allow Yahoo to leverage Rockmelt technologies to improve its lackluster mobile and media sites. Although it began life as an alternative web browser, Rockmelt, as of late, had been focusing mostly on mobile improvements – this is the area that Yahoo will be concentrating on.
Investors, who supported Rockemelt with about $40 million, are not likely to be pleased with the low price of the deal. A number of big names signed on to help fund the company in its early days, like Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Bill Campbell, First Round Capital, and Khosla Ventures.
As part of the deal, a number of talented Rockmelt employees will now work for Yahoo. This even includes some of the Rockmelt top brass. Founders Tim Howes and Eric Vishria will become high level Yahoo executives, and Howes will assume management of the team overseeing engineering for all of Yahoo’s mobile offerings. Vishria has been named Vice President for media products at Yahoo.
In a blog post announcing the deal, Yahoo noted, “the parallels between Yahoo! and Rockmelt are obvious: we share a common goal to help people discover the best personalized content from around the web.â€
Rockmelt will shut down its browser at the end of August.
By Gilbert Falso :: 4:36 PM
Most time spent at the department of motor vehicles can be frustrating, but it was a particularly bad day to visit the DMV in New York on Monday. Computer systems that manage New York’s DMV data were down across the state, affecting offices from Manhattan to Buffalo, and preventing police from checking some motorist records.
Today, the system appears to be back up, according to a DMV spokesperson. The problem developed after a mainframe server that the department uses for data and transactions was upgraded over the weekend, and had passed a testing phase properly, but couldn’t handle the load of actual business early in the week.
On Tuesday, the system was still slower than normal, but most of the glitches had been worked out. The agency is making allowances for New Yorkers who missed a deadline due to the computer problems.
NY’s DMV has 35 offices in major cities across the state, and also supports branches in many county clerks offices in rural areas of the state.