likes

What if every time a Facebook friend liked one of your Facebook posts, that friend appeared out of nowhere, wrapped her arms around you, and gave you a big hug of appreciation? That would be pretty sweet.

Since that's not likely to happen in reality, you'll have to settle for the Like-A-Hug vest from Melissa Chow, Andy Payne, and Phil Seaton at the MIT Media Lab.

When a friend likes your photo, video, or status update, the vest inflates. Send a hug back to your buddy by squeezing and deflating the vest.… Read more

The purge has commenced. Facebook is throwing out all fake users, accounts, and likes. That's right, all of those thousands of questionable thumbs ups are starting to disappear.

The social network announced last month that it'd start this massive deletion process, but it was unclear when. According to TechCrunch, Facebook confirmed today that the time is now.

Over the course of the day, tens of thousands of fans were quietly dropped from Facebook Pages. Data from Facebook metrics site PageData shows that Zynga's Texas HoldEm Poker lost 96,000 fans today, while Rihanna lost 22,198, and … Read more

Apple's efforts to trademark an icon for its iOS music player in the U.S. have been denied due to design from a company that no longer exists.

As part of a decision handed down by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board last week, the group found Apple's icon a bit too similar to one issued to iLike in 2008, upholding an initial finding from a trademark examiner.

iLike, of course, no longer exists. The company was gobbled up by MySpace in late 2009 and was eventually absorbed into the company's own music product.

"In comparing … Read more

Instagram has increased its Web presence with a site overhaul that includes the addition of more interactive features.

The update adds the options to like and comment on photos and the ability to log in to edit profile options from a desktop Web browser. The update also sports a new blue-and-white color scheme reminiscent of the app. However, as The Verge points out, the update still lacks feature parity between the app, and Web and photo browsing is limited.

Instagram user interface designer Maykel Loomans announced the overhaul in a tweet this afternoon:

On Day 100 in San Francisco, we … Read more

I have no idea why people feel the desperate need to tell others about their likes.

Perhaps it is something to do with suppressed childhoods. Perhaps it is something to do with a longing to find others with the same predilections, so as to believe that one isn't entirely batty in one's preferences.

But a court case might lead some to wonder whether it's worth expressing your fondness for, say, the collected works of Karl Marx or the troubling designs of Ann Taylor.

For, as the New York Times reports it, a judge in Virginia has ruled … Read more

According to Wil Wheaton, a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" actor turned writer and blogger, "Google is making a huge and annoying mistake."

His main complaint is the Internet giant's move to "force Google Plus on everyone." His woes began yesterday when he watched a YouTube video and tried to like it by clicking the thumbs up icon below the video. Instead of the icon he saw a big G+ like button along with a popup that said, "upgrade to Google+."

Wheaton immediately took to his popular Tumblr blog and wrote: … Read more

Mint Market is a mobile marketplace for preowned goods in mint or near-mint condition. Much like Craigslist, it covers everything from clothing to furniture to auto parts to event tickets, but what makes it uniquely useful, is that it focuses only on new or like-new products.

The first thing that struck me about Mint Market was its interface. While it may not be the most user-friendly thing in the world, it's certainly visually attractive. The Home screen features a long, vertical stream of listings, with each item displaying a large photo, name, and price. This layout makes it easy … Read more

It's been an awesome journey with this guy, but we'll send him off with a proper farewell from listeners who have been with us from the beginning.

"Uncle" Henry Tapchus joins us as the chat room liaison to help us screen voice mails and get through Adele's "Someone Like You" with our dignity intact. … Read more

Did anyone else besides Jeff get teary-eyed yesterday watching Adele's performance at the Grammy Awards?

According to psychologist John Sloboda, there's a specific musical device called an "appoggiatura" that produces chills and a physiological reaction--in Jeff's case, a fist-clenching, hand-trembling faucet of man-tears.

On today's episode, we'll go around the table with the songs and movie scenes that pull at our heart strings, and why.