Adidas cancels 'shackle' trainers

Adidas cancelled plans for trainers with a shackle-like ankle cuff after some critics said it too closely resembled a symbol of slavery.

The JS Roundhouse Mids were featured in a Facebook post by Adidas on June 14 aption

The JS Roundhouse Mid, a high-top trainer with an orange plastic cuff, was made in collaboration with fashion designer Jeremy Scott.
The trainer "is nothing more than the designer Jeremy Scott's outrageous and unique take on fashion and has nothing to do with slavery," adidas said in a statement.
"Since the shoe debuted on our Facebook page ahead of its market release in August, adidas has received both favourable and critical feedback. We apologise if people are offended by the design and we are withdrawing our plans to make them available in the marketplace."
The trainer was supposed to be a reboot of a classic high-top sneaker with a strap across the middle. A preview was offered months ago and generated little chatter, but the company recently started promoting it on its Facebook page.
Scott is known as one of fashion's more outrageous characters. Adidas said he is heralded for a style that is "quirky and light-hearted."

The Roundhouse Mid was inspired by a furry toy called My Pet Monster. "My work has always been inspired by cartoons, toys & my childhood," Scott said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press.
Previous collaborations between Scott and adidas include sneakers with Mickey Mouse and panda bear themes.

Source: AP

Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg college messages reveal steely ambition

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to confirm in leaked messages from his Harvard days that he hacked into the college database. Photograph: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

Instant messages sent to college friends in 2004 paint Facebook founder in unflattering light


He is the 28-year-old computer wiz whose billion-dollar bank balance has inflated as quickly as his social network. But, in a string of unguarded instant messages sent to college friends in 2004, the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg even then showed a steely ambition in his approach to his future $100bn business.

The correspondence, published by the Business Insider website, shows a 19-year-old Zuckerberg firing off scattergun thoughts about business, social networks – and user privacy.

Zuckerberg appears to confirm in one message that he secretly hacked into the website of the Harvard University newspaper, the Crimson, by guessing the emails and passwords of two people in the college database.

"So I want to read what they said about me before the article came out and after I complained," he told a friend. "So I'm just like trying the email/passwords of everyone who put that they're in the Crimson. I wonder if the school tracks stuff like that."

In another message, Zuckerberg boasts about deactivating college students' accounts on the internal Harvard social network, ConnectU. "I got bored so I started deactivating accounts on ConnectU haha," the future cyber-grandee writes.

Zuckerberg jokes in another exchange that 4,000 people have submitted emails, pictures and addresses to his budding Harvard social network. "People just submitted it ... I don't know why ... They 'trust me' ... dumb fucks."

Facebook would not confirm or deny that the messages were authentic when asked on Friday, but Zuckerberg told the New Yorker in September 2010 that he absolutely regretted sending them.

"If you're going to go on to build a service that is influential and that a lot of people rely on, then you need to be mature, right? I think I've grown and learned a lot," Zuckerberg told the magazine in 2010.

The messages were leaked to Business Insider in 2010 as Facebook's legal team trawled Zuckerberg's computer in the search of evidence to defeat the now-infamous legal claim from the Winklevoss twins.

They will have proved painfully embarrassing for the Facebook founder who has attempted to draw a line under his Harvard days and be the responsible, but still hoody-wearing, internet executive his investors yearn for him to be.

The messages have also not derailed the stratospheric success of Facebook. Zuckerberg was named Time's person of the year in 2010, just months after the controversial exchanges became public.

On Friday the social network will cement its place in US business history with a public offering expected to value Facebook at $104bn and make its founder one of the richest people on Earth.

Facebook officially launches its App Center with access to 600 apps

Facebook addicts, rejoice! You favorite social network has finally launched its pre-announced App Center, complete with 600 apps that feature Facebook integration of some sort. We reported this morning that Facebook’s App Center appeared in its iOS app for one user, perhaps indicating a launch this evening. Just as we predicted, the time has come. Facebook is currently holding an app-themed event to go over features. The company said it would push the App Center heavily on the left-hand sidebar on both the desktop version and mobile version of the app. A page for the App Center should launch sometime this evening. It will also appear on mobile devices soon. The best thing about Facebook App Center is that it will give you personalized recommendations based on your interests. Check out a video demo!


Press release: Today we’re launching the App Center to make it easier to find apps you can enjoy with friends.

The App Center features mobile and web apps, such as Draw Something, Pinterest, and Nike+ GPS, and new apps including Jetpack Joyride, Ghosts of Mistwood, and Ghost Recon Commander.

Discover the best apps for you

The App Center gives you personalized recommendations, and lets you browse the apps your friends use. It only lists high-quality apps, based on feedback from people who use the app.

Install mobile apps

To make it easier to find social apps for mobile, the App Center is available in the Facebook iOS and Android apps, as well as Facebook.com.

You can send apps you find on your computer to your mobile device using the new “Send to Mobile” feature. If a mobile app requires a download, you’ll be sent to install it from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Easily preview apps

Every app in the App Center has screenshots and a detailed description, so you can learn more about it before installing it. It helps you control your privacy by showing the information an app needs and letting you choose who can see your activity on Facebook. If you decide you want to use an app, you can get started directly from the App Center.

Get started

The App Center will begin rolling out to people in the U.S. today, with more than 600 apps. It will be available to everyone in the coming weeks.

Watch a screencast of the App Center.