This series is brought to you by HTC EVO 4G, America's first 4G phone. Only from Sprint. The "First to Know" series keeps you in the know on what's happening now in the world of social media and technology.
Facebook Experiences "Worst Outage in Over Four Years"
Facebook was down for most users for roughly 2.5 hours Thursday afternoon in what Facebook Software Engineering Director Robert Johnson has called "the worst outage we've had in over four years."
The outage was caused by "an unfortunate handling of error condition" related to Facebook's automated system for correcting configuration values, Johnson said.
To address the problem, Johnson did what many an amateur user does in an attempt to fix their own personal computers: turned it off and on again.
T-Mobile G2 Pre-Orders Now Available for Existing Customers
T-Mobile's successor to the first-ever Android smartphone, the T-Mobile G2, is now available for pre-order.
Current T-Mobile users can pre-order the device now and receive it as soon as October 4. It will also be available in Best Buy stores beginning October 6.
The phone runs Android 2.2 (a.k.a. Froyo) and is the first T-Mobile phone to support HSPA+. It also sports a full QWERTY keyboard, a 3.7-inch screen, an 800 MHz Snapdragon CPU, and a five-megapixel camera with a LED flash and autofocus, capable of recording HD (720p) videos. The device will cost $200 with a two-year contract after a $50 rebate.
Saturday Night Live, Battlestar Galactica Come to Netflix
Netflix and NBC have signed an expanded rights license, both companies announced today.
The agreement gives Netflix subscribers web access to a number of broadcast and cable shows, including popular programs Saturday Night Live and Battlestar Galactica, which are not generally available on rival network Hulu [via AllThingsD].
Further News
Foursquare announced Thursday that users can now earn badges for completing tasks, such as running a 5K, as well as checking in.
An AOL-owned Digg clone named Propeller will officially shut down on October 1, AOL announced.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey took the stage at the DEMO conference in Silicon Valley Thursday to talk about the scalability issues involved in his much-discussed mobile payments venture, Square. You can watch a video recording of the full talk here.
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