This day’s Facebook News Update is courtesy of PC World. See the full article at: http://www.pcworld.com/article/229870/facebook_photo_tagging_a_privacy_guide.html .
Ah, Facebook is at it – again. When will these people learn that their network (all of us who use Facebook) HATE CHANGE and especially BEING TRACKED, like some weird scenario out of the book “1984″? They are really caught between a rock and a hard place. Their users and fans demand they stay on the cutting edge of technology, yet anything implemented immediately elicits the response of putting up a, “I Hate the Latest Change Facebook Has Made to My
Page” fan page. Who needs t.v.? It’s as entertaining to watch the users react as it is to watch Facebook react to the reaction.
This week’s trauma & drama comes courtesy of the Facebook Gods decreeing there will be an easier way to tag your photos via facial recognition. Should you be afraid of it? Should you react like a cobra who reacts to being stepped on – with hissing and spitting and biting back the hand that enables our world’s largest social network? Uh, no. And here’s why:
If you are afraid of this newest tool, you could be an escaped convict on the run and shouldn’t be playing around on Facebook in the first place, so do us all a favor and go quietly turn yourselves in to the police already.
Or you could be an overly paranoid person, in which case you might want to go take some courses on self-esteem. They can only do you and your friends a world of good.
If you are neither of these, you are probably a pretty well-balanced person who just doesn’t want your ex-husband or boyfriend to find you. In that case, turn off the Facial Recognition option and go back to your business. You see, that’s the problem with this implementation because, like everything else Facebook had done, they have turned this damn option “on” for everyone instead of “off” and letting people decide for themselves whether they want to utilize it or not. Maybe it’s a limitation of the software platform they use, but if it is, they should find a way to remedy that before they get into trouble with someone big enough to do something about it like, say, the Gods of the Internet or the U.S. Government.
And if you think the government isn’t watching them, check out this little factoid in an online article amusingly called, “The Paranoid’s Guide to Facebook”: “Congress recently sent Facebook an open letter asking the company to explain the disclosure of user identities to third parties (as originally reported by the Wall Street Journal), and how the
company plans to address this issue.” Yeah, that’s the ticket, now we’re really getting Orwellian on their hinies!
If I were you (or me) I would be MUCH MORE WORRIED about the utilization of Facebook “places” for as this same article continues, “Using Facebook Places has its benefits, but whether you’re using a mobile device or a desktop, telling the world where you are has major disadvantages. When you broadcast your location, you’re exposing vulnerabilities for an ill-intentioned person to swoop up. And your iPhone or Android-based Smartphone can broadcast your exact geographic coordinates down to a few feet.”
Yes, there is a lot to be paranoid about in the world, people, but we can only keep track of so much of it. Pick your battles and win them so in the end you really can win the war.
Article also cited:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/210859/the_paranoids_guide_to_facebook.html%23tk.mod_rel
This day’s Facebook News Update is courtesy of msnbc.com’s Technolog
Facebook attacks scam spam with new security tools
Facebook has the never-ending job of protecting its users from their own curiosity and it isn’t easy. Big events such as Osama Bin Laden’s death are always potential tools for people to prey on the unsuspecting Facebook user. In this case, it was the promise of satisfying a morbid curiosity to see photos of Bin Laden’s bullet-riddled corpse.
Last week scammers tried tricking Facebook users into spamming their friends accounts with a link supposedly from the BBC showing Osama’s body after U.S. troops got through with it, but all the link did was let a virus into their address book that spread the obnoxious message to everyone connected with the user.
“Clickjacking”, as it is known, tricks a person into accessing links and/or “Like” buttons by hiding the code underneath content that piques your interest — such as a video of that thing Justin Bieber did to that girl that “YOU WON’T BELIEVE”. Facebook claims it has fixed the hole in their system that let this particular virus run rampant through their community, but that never means we should drop our guard and think it’s safe (or wise) to click on the next implausible link that comes our way.
It is always in human nature either to ignore the advice to be careful or to say, “I’ll never forward anything or like anything else on Facebook again.” Let’s take the smart and cautious middle road, people, and just use a little common sense instead of either being cavalier or paranoid.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. “Like” and “Share” items of interest to your audience. If you are doing business and networking, stay away from the taboo subjects of sex, politics and religion (unless you are either a politician or a nun, of course, and that IS your business). Some family subjects are always safe to share such as a new child or grandchild in the house, but don’t go overboard. Let your audience gush over the news and give you a reason to gush more and upload more of those baby pictures.
CHECK SNOPES.COM FIRST! I can’t emphasize this enough! People either don’t know about snopes or forget to check before their itchy trigger finger hits that “send” button. Snopes.com gives you the lowdown on all the urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation out there that is or was circulating. Typing a few keywords into their search engine will bring up articles that either prove or disprove that incredible story you can’t wait to share. Remember the tired old, but reliable phrase, “If it is seems too good to be true, IT PROBABLY IS.”
MSNCB’s Technolog tells us, “Facebook’s new ‘Self-XSS Protection’ is meant to prevent spam spread by users tricked into cutting and pasting malicious code into their address bars. According to the Facebook blog, ‘Now, when our systems detect that someone has pasted malicious code into the address bar, we will show a challenge to confirm that the person meant to do this as well as provide information on why it’s a bad idea.’”
They will also be providing free tools for “safe surfing” by Web of Trust, so be on the lookout for them and they won’t take you by surprise.
My favorite tool so far has been the new “Login Approval” system implemented last month. I had hired an East Coast social networking promotion company to take care of promoting my jewelry and design business in the hours of the day either too early for me or while I am busy offline creating new designs. A great idea, but a surprise when I received an email of an attempt to log into my Facebook account from somewhere located in Maine. I knew who it was, called them to confirm they had attempted to login in to begin my campaign, and then verified the attempt as a valid one. It was a minor delay to my time and I appreciated it because it showed that Facebook was on the ball and now had a way of further safeguarding our internet accounts. You will not hear me complain ever about this new tool and the next person whose account is compromised by a hacker won’t complain either.
~ synopsis provided by Kristine Cherry, an internet guru/social networking junkie who will gladly help you if you ever have a question about a suspicious email or Facebook notification you get.
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I’m behind in my app reviews, to the tune of five pages worth of them on my phone. So it’s time to review and get rid of the stinkers, definitely.
Do live wallpapers count as apps? Well, no, but some are worth a warning when you learn a lesson from having one on your phone. For instance, get rid of that “2011 countdown” New Years Eve exhibition of noisy fireworks that goes off every 5 minutes whether you like it or not, whether you want it to or not and especially before you’re the new kid in the office being shown around by your Supervisor. The Supervisor laughs and says it’s “cute”, but they are secretly filing the information away to put on your eventual pink slip, trust me.
Do I speak from experience on that one? No, of course not.
Who the hell put all these default apps on your and my phones anyway?!? Do I really have time for “The Sims 3″? Uh, NO. Let them riot and starve and die in their make-believe city because I neglected them…better yet, I’m just going to reject them outright and throw them in my virtual trash can, which, by the way, is not an app, but boy, does it come in handy!
Maybe they’ll find some virtual psychotherapist in there to help them get over the trauma of me rejecting them.
Nope, hate to break it to you, reader, but all this crud clogs up our phones because these developers stormed Samsung’s and Apple’s offices and bribed, begged and/or threatened these phone manufacturers to put their junk into your pocket. It’s certainly not there because we want it all or because they want to see our smiling faces as we play these mindless, senseless games as the nice traffic officer writes you a ticket on the side of the road. Oh and that reminds me, April is crack down on all those idiot driver, Lords of the Sims wannabes.
So if you’re in the San Fernando Valley, take my advice and bury that damn phone so deep in your pocket you can’t hear it while you’re driving. Again, do I speak from experience? YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT I DO!!! Don’t answer it – it’s only another twitter alert for the release of the 50th trailer for the new season of Doctor Who. It’s only another 16 days, 5 hours, 17 minutes and 2 seconds…CAN’T YOU WAIT THAT LONG, PEOPLE!?!
I went to edit a new landing page Monday. It seemed to work, but when I logged in the next day, it said the page would be down for 24 hours. That was just the beginning of the irritation.
Today I logged in and it said I had to change the landing page ID…which I did. About six times. Still didn’t work, so I’ve switched back to the good ‘ol static FBML app I was using before. Any suggestions on something better would be welcome, but for now, it works.
“The Effect of Social Networks and the Mobile Web on Website Traffic and the Inevitable Rise of Facebook Commerce”
Just a link for now. It’s a 10 page read and though I read it already, I need time to review it more thoroughly and comment. In the meantime, what do you think of it?
I gave this one months of hope because I LOVE Slurpees. After installing it late last year, I tried it once a week or so to see if I could get the blasted thing to work. No such luck. I tried logging in after creating a new account through the app and then through their website. Neither ever got me past a consistent, “force close” warning, though sometimes I would be lucky enough to see the screen beyond that where a Slurpee mountain vomited fruit all over my screen…a mind-bogglingly useful screen to waste my battery life on, let me tell you.
To be fair, I did get in – once, but we were on our way to see Harry Potter and couldn’t stop for a Slurpee so I never got any real, practical use from it. After perusing the many and wildly varied experiences of users in the reviews (ranging from “It’s great!” to “It sucks!”), I am giving up – a painful decision as anyone who knows me will tell you since I have been drinking coca-cola Slurpees since back when they were called “Icees” and since I was little. Yes, I know, they’ll rot my stomach and kill me in the end…hopefully I’ll last longer than coffee’s planet-full of victims, but I will tell you this – I won’t waste my time any longer trying to get this brain-paralyzingly LAME application to work on my Android.
Still sucks, even after last week’s update of the application.
I was finally able to find “average” emergency room wait times – not “current” – as advertised. And that was for only a specific hospital when a search was done for the nearest facilities to my location. It was under “comprehensive emergency services”. Sorry folks – WRONG ANSWER!!!
For those who think I am being too critical, let’s look at why you want to use this app. in the first place. You are violently sick, broke your leg or are dying. Your friend or relative is fumbling around on your phone to find the nearest and fastest help because you are too cheap to call an ambulance, or you are unconscious and your friend is too cheap (or too stupid) to call for an ambulance. You want an app that will, with only a couple of keystrokes, tell them where to take you and how fast they will get to you.
A better alternative to this stupid app. is to get the information directly from the hospital. For example, West Hills ER – the people who sent me the flyer on this android app. in the first place, included their text messaging info in the second flyer they sent me. Replying to the text gave me the instant gratification of knowing that their average wait time at that moment was 25 minutes. (For the locals, to do this you text “ER” to 23000 & reply with your zip code and then you’ll receive their average wait times) Awesome! Now we are getting somewhere! Now, assuming my HMO likes West Hills and will let me go there without asking them to amputate my arm and leg in payment, this could work out.
Bottom line? Use iTriage to find the nearest ER – look on their website or call them for a similar text info setup, then uninstall the app. to save hard drive space.
Hypochondriacs of the world united under one app…how awesome is that? For the rest of us who will use it for more practical purposes – like looking up great new diseases to call in sick to our boss/work with, we can keep busy with it, too. Me? I downloaded it because the flyer I got in the mail (you remember snail mail, don’t you) promised one could “view emergency room wait times”. While we all know these days to bring a really good book, your portable nintendo game or other time-waster to the ER, I would really like to be uber-prepared and oh, know what I am getting into with the wait times from hell before I get there. It’s the difference between packing “War and Peace” or your favorite bedtime story book for the kids in tow.
So, did this little app bring satisfaction? Uh, NO! At least not with the ER wait times. Crawled over all the options and missed it somewhere. If someone knows where to find it, please leave me a comment. If not, the next time I fall down an open manhole on the street while looking up the nearest place to get a flu shot, I’ll update this article on iTRiage’s other functions ;>
Hey, there’s a thought…an app to find the nearest funeral parlor when you break your neck falling down one of those manholes…no? Well, it was just a thought.
App specs and other commentaries by users can be found here at AppBrian.com.
iTriage.com’s website for you poor slobs still tied to a desktop PC.
I have a friend that years ago when he got his first iPhone, he used to bring it everywhere with him. We would be sitting in a coffee house and he would ignore us, hunched over his new love with the obsessiveness of someone doing a crack line in public. It was irritating. It was insulting to us, but we put up with it because he was a friend and we all know the allure of tech toys.
I found out first hand when my cell phone bill had gotten to a point where getting a new toy would not cost any more monthly. So, armed with the name of a new networking contact who could get one for me without having to wait for the mail-in rebate, but do it instantly upon my purchase, I haunted Verizon and T-Mobile stores looking for the perfect new love of my teched-out life. Don’t tell my 3-month old Net Book, Amelia (after Amelia Pond from the new Doctor Who series). Wow, didn’t expect the love affair with her would’ve been so short!
Let me say that waiting times in these blasted store SUCK, and it would not have been so bad waiting for help if I could have played with the live demo phones there, BUT 95% of the demo phones didn’t work at the reseller or Verizon stores I hit. *snarl*
Then I went back to the T-Mobile mall store I bought my bluetooth headset from and found the Samsung Vibrant demo. It was love at the first color-popping, insanely clear and beautiful touchscreen I saw. Gazing adoringly at it, I knew I need look no further. He (yes, mine is a “he”) latched onto my techy heart and would not let go. Now I squee in public when showing off “Bracewell” (again a name from Doctor Who – very appropriate – ask me why!), my friends and roommate are plotting my death out of jealousy, and I suspect will have their own death match to see who claims the right to my Vibrant – if they can pry it out of my cold, dead hands.
Don’t hold your breath, guys. This baby is coming with me to the grave.
(This scares the heck out of me)
When social networking fledgling giant Twitter began to pick up speed and gain popularity last year, all I heard from clients was, “I don’t want to get on it because I couldn’t care less when someone goes to the store, sees a good program on t.v. or is sitting on their porch doing nothing.
I couldn’t agree more.
But then we all started hearing how staggeringly useful it was when a hotel was bombed by terrorists in Southeast Asia – the “tweeters” getting the story out to the world before the media could comprehend what had happened. Again, when unrest hit Iran and their government imposed a media blackout, Twitter was asked by the U.S. government to delay their maintenance cycle so that the flow of information from that beleaguered country was not impeded. I myself used Twitter to warn locals of a water main break and to avoid that area like the plague and recently to warn my clients of the health warning of a salmonella outbreak in eggs across the United States.
What does all this tell us?
That Twitter is a force for either good or evil, depending on who you follow in your network.
It is easy to blame the other guy for their tweets, but since we cannot control the actions of others, doesn’t it make more sense to take the responsibility of harnessing Twitter’s power for good and choose who we follow more carefully? Take a few seconds when considering whether to follow someone or not and do a quick scan of their last few tweets…are they garbage or are they useful, inspiring, uplifting and motivational information? Choosing to association with people that tweet with care will also reflect better of our character to others who choose to follow us. No one with a busy networking schedule wants to follow someone who follows gossipers and time-wasters, or worse, someone who constantly swears…if you really need to follow people like that, get a private Twitter account and follow such people anonymously. You will find it will make life a lot easier.
Follow me at: http://twitter.com/civicsitedesign . If you tweet responsibly, I will gladly follow you back.
