Pop Clips » 26 July 12

Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg denied reports from earlier this week claiming Facebook and HTC were preparing to launch a co-branded Android smartphone sometime next year.

The SmartPhone business is critical: Facebook’s mobile users are much, much more active that those who access the site on standard computers. Mobile users are 20 percent more likely to use Facebook on any given day, said David Ebersman, the chief financial officer at Facebook. The Social Network reported its first quarterly earnings as a public company today. After a disappointing IPO, the company needs a strong showing to regain investor confidence. "Excuse my French, it was a clusterfuck," Elevation Partners Roger McNamee said of the IPO. "It’s like you had a chance to win the Super Bowl and you didn’t show up for the game." By the way: Facebook's shares plummeted as much as 11% in after-hours trading.

You saw it HERE FIRST ::: On Wednesday, Voula Papachristou became the first athlete in history to be banned from the Olympics for material that appeared on the internet...

Papachristou was punished for tweeting on July 22: "So many Africans in Greece at least West Nile mosquitoes will eat homemade food." βούλα Παπαχρήστου (@papaxristoutj)

Her latest reaction:

"I have not slept at all and to be honest I am still trying to come to terms with what has happened," she told Reuters. "I am trying to stay calm otherwise I would lose control.

"I am thankful to my coach and family and so many other people who have stuck by me.... After so many years of hurt and sacrifices to try and get to my first Olympics I am very bitter and upset. But what has upset me the most is the excessive reaction and speed of the disciplinary decision.

"I don't know if they want to make an example out of me because of my profile, this is for others to judge, but what I believe is that they used their maximum disciplinary power on me for this," Papachristou said. "They went straight to the final stage in excluding me from the team, which was highly excessive."

Through her Facebook profile, Carla Bajonero shares her concern regarding mining in Colombia [es]. In her opinion, mining only leaves behind “pollution and laughable earnings.” She then asks: “¿What happens to the environmental and cultural heritage of Colombia if mining continues in this boom?” Carla also writes about this issue in her personal blog [es].