Category Archives: Blogging

WordPress › Internet Blackout Day on January 18

Posted on by
Reply

WordPress.org is officially joining the protest against Senate Bill 968: the Protect IP Act that is coming before the U.S. Senate next week. As I wrote in my post a week ago, if this bill is passed it will jeopardize internet freedom and shift the power of the independent web into the hands of corporations. We must stop it.

On January 18, 2012 many sites around the web — from small personal blogs to internet institutions like Mozilla, Wikipedia, reddit, and I Can Has Cheezburger? – will be going dark in protest and to drive their visitors to sites like americancensorship.org to take action and help fight the passage of the Protect IP Act. So will WordPress.org.

If you want to join the protest by blacking out your WordPress site or applying a ribbon, there is now a variety of blackout plugins in the WordPress.org plugins directory. While joining the protest in this manner is laudable, please don’t forget to also make those phone calls to U.S. Senators — they’re the ones with the voting power.

Get a protest plugin

Take action at americancensorship.org

via WordPress › Internet Blackout Day on January 18.

Related Blogs

    Twilight Themed Facebook Scam Spreading Around Social Networks

    Posted on by
    Reply

    Team Jacob or Team Edward?

    If you’ve got an answer, then you’re a perfect target for a new “Twilight”-themed Facebook scam currently spreading around the massive, and massively exploitable, social network.

    Detected by researchers from the security firm Trend Micro, this new scam promises free tickets to see “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2.”

    Sounds great, right? Who wouldn’t want free tickets to a wildly anticipated movie?

    There are two catches to this otherwise great offer. The first, of course, is that “Breaking Dawn, Part 2″ isn’t scheduled to hit big screens until Nov. 12, 2012, well after the Nov. 18, 2011 release of “Part 1.”

    If that doesn’t raise a red flag, and you find yourself driven uncontrollably — like, say a vampire — to score these free movie tickets and see how the passionate relationship between Bella, Edward and Jacob ends — well, you’re out of luck.

    Like past movie ticket scams that have preyed on Harry Potter fans, following this scam’s directions will redirect victims to a malicious survey that, once filled out, requests their phone number.

    Related story: Secrets of ‘Breaking Dawn’: What do we know?

     

    “As past scams have demonstrated, giving one’s phone number during one of these scams is a very bad idea and could result [in] the user being subscribed to premium-rate services,” the tech blog Softpedia wrote.

    If you come across this, or any other suspicious-looking Facebook offers, ignore them, and never download any attachments, as they often harbor malicious software. For a list of social networking alternatives, click here.

     

    © 2011 SecurityNewsDaily. All rights reserved

     

     

    rd?

    If you’ve got an answer, then you’re a perfect target for a new “Twilight”-themed Facebook scam currently spreading around the massive, and massively exploitable, social network.

    Detected by researchers from the security firm Trend Micro, this new scam promises free tickets to see “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2.”

    Sounds great, right? Who wouldn’t want free tickets to a wildly anticipated movie?

    There are two catches to this otherwise great offer. The first, of course, is that “Breaking Dawn, Part 2″ isn’t scheduled to hit big screens until Nov. 12, 2012, well after the Nov. 18, 2011 release of “Part 1.”

    If that doesn’t raise a red flag, and you find yourself driven uncontrollably — like, say a vampire — to score these free movie tickets and see how the passionate relationship between Bella, Edward and Jacob ends — well, you’re out of luck.

    Like past movie ticket scams that have preyed on Harry Potter fans, following this scam’s directions will redirect victims to a malicious survey that, once filled out, requests their phone number.

    Related story: Secrets of ‘Breaking Dawn’: What do we know?

     

    “As past scams have demonstrated, giving one’s phone number during one of these scams is a very bad idea and could result [in] the user being subscribed to premium-rate services,” the tech blog Softpedia wrote.

    If you come across this, or any other suspicious-looking Facebook offers, ignore them, and never download any attachments, as they often harbor malicious software. For a list of social networking alternatives, click here.

     

    © 2011 SecurityNewsDaily. All rights reserved

     

     

     

    Related Blogs

     

    Related Blogs

     

    Related Blogs


    Related Blogs

      Facebook Games App Kabam Taking ‘The Godfather’ To Facebook With New Social Game

      Posted on by
      Reply

      Facebook Games App The GodFather

      Facebook App :A scene from The Godfather: Five Families

      “I’m gonna make him an offer he won’t refuse. Okay?”
      –Don Corleone

      Social gaming start-up Kabam is partnering with Paramount Digital Entertainment to create The Godfather: Five Families, a new multi-player Facebook social game based on the iconic Godfather film trilogy.

      The move could presage more moves by large studios to turn older classic entertainment content into newfangled social games. Other brands recently brought to Facebook include Ubisoft’s Smurfs game and Electronic Art’s Sims Social.

      It’s a first for Kabam in terms of licensing intellectual property to build a game. It’s also a way for Viacom’ Paramount to monetize its existing titles. The Godfather movies are still quite popular–its Facebook page has almost 5 million fans–but the movie may not be as well-known with the younger generation. However, gamers clearly like mobster games. Witness Zynga’s Mafia Wars, Freeweb’s Mob Wars, the mobile game iMob Online, and so on. Kabam’s new game is going after both Kabam’s hard core social gaming audience but also a broader mainstream audience interested in the Godfather movies.

      Kabam is backed by about $125 million from investors including Google Ventures, SK Telecom Ventures, Canaan Partners, Redpoint Ventures and Intel Capital.

       

      Facebook Games App The GodFatherThis Godfather game is set in New York City in the early 1930s, ten years before the time of the first godfather in the first movie. The goal of the game is to take over territory in the city by attacking others in the game. To do this players gather resources such as food, steel and cement. Then they train an army made up of units that level up from categoriss such as “thug” up to “professional.”

      The Godfather game incorporates Kabam’s style of play, which is competitive and combat-oriented games. They are also social so people can play with friends or meet new players in the game. In the game, people can choose from one of the five mafia families to join. Each family has special characteristics and skills in the game and will battle for territory in the city. Within the family, players also join an alliance or “crew.” The smaller groups, which are a new feature for Kabam, enable more communication and interaction between players. Players strategize and organize attacks on other groups through the game as they can in other Kabam games such as Edgeworld. “One thing we saw as a huge indicator of why people like to play games is that they feel like they’re part of a tight-knit community,” says Larry Koh, general manager of the game at Kabam.Facebook Games

      Facebook Marketing

      Facebook Friends


      Related Blogs

        Facebook Etiquette : Should Teachers & Students Be Allowed To Interact On Facebook?

        Posted on by
        Reply

         

        Facebook

        At this point, just about everyone is on Facebook. And if you’re anything like us, you’re probably friends with just about all of them. From that guy who you barely knew back in high school to your pesky neighbor to your grandmother, there’s a pretty good chance that if you’ve got a Facebook account, you’re friends with them.

        So it should come as no surprise to hear that there are plenty of students out there—particularly in high school and college—who are friends with their teachers on Facebook. In most instances, it’s a situation where a student and teacher become Facebook friends long after their student/teacher relationship is over. Believe it or not, teachers can actually be pretty decent people when they’re not chasing your around badgering you for your homework or telling you to keep it down in the back of the classroom.

        However, there’s an interesting debate going on in Missouri right now stemming from Senate Bill 54, which has come to be known as the “Facebook Law.” Missouri Senator Jane Cunningham recently introduced a bill that, if passed, would make it illegal for teachers and students to have any contact on Facebook or other social media sites. The bill is a response to several instances in which teacher/student relationships on Facebook have resulted in sexual harassment. Senator Cunningham hopes that by passing this law, state government will be able to eliminate these types of interactions and keep students safe from teachers who have ill intentions when they sign onto their Facebook accounts and friend students. It’s a law that could change the way that all states treat the teacher/student relationship when it comes to social media.

        Is it a good idea? Eh, that’s where the debate comes into play. On the surface, the Facebook Law makes a whole lot of sense. As Facebook has evolved, most students have seen absolutely no issue with friending a teacher on Facebook. Teachers also seem more than willing to use the social media site to keep in touch with students and to expand on their relationships with students. But, of course, there are some teachers—and some students, for that matter—who abuse this ability to keep in contact. As a result, there have been a number of stories involving teachers and students and sexual harassment. So, naturally, the easiest way to prevent these types of interactions from happening would be to ban them altogether.

        The Missouri Student Teacher Association sees things a different way, though. They’ve argued that they want to see slight changes to the bill and that they don’t want the Facebook Law to have a negative effect on the student learning experience. They believe that if teachers and students want to use Facebook to interact about school-related matters, they should be able to do so. The Missouri National Education Association has also chimed in, saying that they want to make some changes to the Facebook Law that allows schools and not the Missouri state government to police the issue of teachers and students interacting on Facebook.

        It’s definitely a slippery slope. While the Facebook Law has the best of intentions, it’s probably not the best idea to issue a complete ban on teachers and students friending one another on Facebook. Because while the law would limit the sexual harassment that’s going on due to teachers and students interacting on Facebook, it would also limit the positive effects that it has on the student learning experience. In other words, Missouri lawmakers shouldn’t let a few bad apples spoil the bunch.

        Instead, they should allow individual school districts to police the behavior of their teachers on Facebook. If they feel that teachers interacting with students on Facebook could possibly be detrimental to the students, they should be able to force them to stop doing it. However, if they can put in specific guidelines that permit some interaction between teachers and students, assuming the interaction ties directly to school-related matters, they should allow it.

        But, above all, the Facebook Law should get people talking about how teachers and students interact. The first instinct of most people is probably going to be to ban it altogether. But as we move forward and Facebook and other forms of social media become more and more useful when it comes to the classroom, school districts need to think long and hard about this issue. Because with just about everyone on Facebook now, it’s only natural that more and more teachers and students will friend each other. And we need to make sure that they know their boundaries before they do it.

        Related Posts with Thumbnails

        Popularity: 1%

         

        Bookmark to:












        Related Blogs

          Facebook Revamps Privacy, Pictures And Purchases On Its Way To IPO

          Posted on by
          Reply

          Facebook Market Strategy,Facebook Marketplace

          Facebook

          jumps into and out of the news like a Jack-in-the-box who’s had too much caffeine, but this last week has seen an unusual amount of officially announced Facebook tweaks, as well as a bit of saber rattling regarding its future plans. Something is up in Zuckerberg’s blue-hued social network.

          Privacy

          The biggest change Facebook made this week was a long-awaited overhaul to its deplorably (and legally criticized) complex privacy settings: From now on, users have much more granular control over what they share with whom when they update their statuses, because you can choose how private to make each and every update.

          This is being hailed as a great move, because it means users no longer have to navigate through Facebook‘s obscure privacy settings screens–requiring a flurry of clicks to adjust how open or closed your Facebook profile is. The company has even made it easy, within a click of the mouse or two, to preview what your profile looks like to different people.

          Historically, however, Facebook has been cavalier and aggressive in pushing to redefine privacy online–with its social network in the fore. By enabling a per-update privacy maneuver, Facebook is most definitely tempting users to post much more content to the entire network rather than to their trusted friends only. Without having to adjust their “global” security settings all the time, more carefree users could start sharing their photos with everyone.

          At some point, perhaps Facebook will pull a signature switcheroo, and make its new system “default:all” so users have to select privacy for every status update.

          Meanwhile, Google+ is hailed for having numerous features Facebook “should have” but doesn’t, including better privacy management. Facebook is not under serious threat from Google+ now, but this kind of PR is bad for it. Just as Google+ is earning generally positive press. And Facebook keeps seeing newsworthiness, via real-time public status updates not coming through its system: Google+ is being used to drive Google’s future real-time search capabilities; and Twitter demonstrated its news distributing powers during the East Coast earthquake.

          Meanwhile, Twitter’s about to get a boost through deep integration in Apple’s iOS 5 upgrade, which may grab some social network attention away from Facebook because the iPhone is the world’s most popular single brand of smartphone. By boosting its privacy, and enabling a potentially more public sharing mode, Facebook is trying to keep its customers and future sweet.

          There’s also the matter of the FCC. Ahead of its hotly anticipated IPO, Facebook probably wants to look like it’s acting in the best interests of its consumers–and boosting the granularity of privacy controls is one easy way to do this.

          Imagery

          Facebook tried to buy Instagram, but was rebuffed. So it’s trying an “if you can’t join ‘em, beat ‘em” trick and is offering effects filters for photos shared through it rather than a separate app like Hipstamatic or Instagram.

          What’s going on here is that there’s a booming social sharing meme going on that’s outside of Facebook’s controls. It likes to think of itself as a repository and sharing vehicle for photos and videos–and it is–but Instagram and other apps are innovating and having their own social activities organized around images, and sometimes mediated through Twitter. If Facebook can grab some of this limelight, then it may tempt some smartphone users to use Facebook’s system rather than a rival’s…enabling Facebook to achieve more eyes-on-adverts time.

          Acquisitions

          Facebook’s director of corporate development Vaughan Smith gave an interview this week in which he stated that the company was in the mood to make about 20 acquisitions this year–seven more than its current figure, which includes names like Push Pop Press. That’s double the number for 2010, and 20 times more than 2009′s figure. The most recent feature spin-off from an acquisition is Facebook’s own group messaging service on iPhones and Androids, which comes from the tech of a firm called Beluga that it bought in February and is a rival to instant messaging features that others have planned, such as Apple’s iMessage.

          What Facebook is doing here is demonstrating that it has a spirit for expansion of its business, even as it may be approaching some form of saturation in terms of user numbers. Using smart thinking to acquire target firms demonstrates business savviness, a drive for future growth, and the ability to use (perhaps sparse) cash reserves wisely. These are the sorts of things that investors at IPO will be looking for.

          China

          One big market for Facebook, which really could dramatically alter its user numbers, is China. For now Facebook simply cannot penetrate this market, as its open discussion frameworks would permit Chinese citizens to have the kinds of discussions the government would prefer that they didn’t (they’re even squeezing locally approved Twitter clones on this matter). Nevertheless, it’s known that Facebook is in negotiations to try to launch a China product.

          These plans were dealt a nasty blow this week when Microsoft inked a deal between its MSN and RenRen, which is China’s rough equivalent of Facebook. It may influence Facebook’s future plans to get millions more users logged into its massive database and bolted into its revenue generating streams.

          Developer Conference

          Facebook also revealed details for its upcoming F8 Developer’s conference. It’s happening September 22nd, and Facebook is promsing “exciting product announcements that enable a new class of social apps.” Since 2010′s conference saw the arrival of its Open Graph API and the “like” button, this could be very big news.

          So I Said Hey, What’s Going On?

          Picking through the threads here, it’s possible to draw one conclusion: Facebook is growing up. As it approaches IPO it’ll have to demonstrate a little more level-headedness, a little bit more responsible corporate governance, a growth plan, a less legally dubious attitude to personal privacy erosion and so on. This doesn’t jibe with Mark Zuckerberg’s shy, but doggedly determined management style, nor his dismissive attitude toward privacy doomsayers.

          Facebook’s current investors, already making a profit from secondary market trading, may be behind this, grooming the entire business so that it can slip through a smooth and lucrative IPO and scale to new, geographic markets.

          [Image: Flickr user Josh McConnell]

          Chat about this news with Kit Eaton on Twitter and Fast Company too.

          Related Blogs

            Dangers of Facebook for teens

            Posted on by
            Reply

            FacebookI received an intriguing e-mail Monday morning from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University,about Facebook and teenagers.

            The center does an annual survey on teen attitudes toward drinking and drug use.

            This year’s report found something new and alarming: Teens who regularly use Facebook and Myspace are much more likely than social network avoiders to drink, smoke and use marijuana.

            One possible reason for that, the report concluded, is that teens who use social media are likely to see images of their peers drinking or using drugs.

            A large body of research has shown the influence of peer pressure on teen substance abuse, and this could well be the new frontier.

            There are skeptics, though, and they say that the research doesn’t adequately control for other influences.

            Maybe a kid has a parent who drinks heavily or uses drugs, or lives in a neighborhood where such things are commonplace.

            Those things, the critics say, likely have much more power than social media over a child’s decision to use drugs or alcohol.

            Facebook and Parental Control

            The research will undoubtedly go on. And so will the worries of parents.

            “It’s very frightening,” Jonna McIntyre, of Palatine, told my colleague Robert McCoppin.

            She has a 14-year-old daughter on Facebook, and just last week the girl said that some of her classmates smoke marijuana.

            “I put parental controls on (the Internet) but they know how to get around it. I hope being a good parent has rubbed off on her so she won’t do those kinds of things.”

            – John Keilman

            Join Trib Nation on Facebook for more of the how and why of Tribune journalism.

            Related Blogs

              Facebook users describe memories of Sept. 11

              Posted on by
              Reply

              Facebook

              Associated Press

              It’s the question that’s often first asked or first told when the subject of the worst terror attack in the nation’s history comes up: Where were you? What do you remember most? The Associated Press posted an inquiry on Facebook asking people around the world to describe their most vivid memory of Sept. 11, 2001. A sampling of their verbatim responses follows.___Jennifer Smolen, 35, from Everett, Wash., lived in San Diego at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks.”Received a phone call that morning from my parents back home, telling me to turn on the news. I was living out of state at the time but didn’t have cable (nor an antenna) yet. Had to run out to try to buy rabbit ears antenna, and was nearly in tears there and back from the store. This was only after I ran around my apartment packing whatever US Army gear I could gather…. I had just graduated Army basic training a couple months earlier, and kept thinking the next moment, or the next, would bring my call to deploy.”___Joe Prostrollo, 54, from Sioux Falls, S.D., was living in Denver at the time of the attacks.”Working in a television newsroom. When the second plane hit, many of us didn’t know if that was live or tape from the first plane hit but a different angle. Control room was screaming–LIVE, LIVE, LIVE. The strangest thing then happened. It got real quiet with no scanners, monitors or anyone talking–just glued to the newsroom monitors.”___Jennifer Owsiany, 27, from State College, Pa., was living in Naples, Fla., at the time of the attacks.”I was a senior in high school. our morning announcements just went off and the TV usually turns black. this time it went straight off and to the news where we saw the towers smoking. we had no idea what was going on. i was in physics class and my teacher said that the towers were built to never fall…and then they fell. i heard of the plane crash in PA and thought about my cousins. next class was english and our teacher would not let us watch. i was so mad. that night we had our band photos taken. i remember hearing on the radio for people to put their lighters in the air, so i took out my car lighter and did that. it was such an ugly day in florida.___Kristen Smith, 30, from Roseburg, Ore.”I was 19, still living at home with my parents. We live in Oregon, however, my mom was at a business training in Boston. cosmetic surgery tummy tuck . Her coworkers woke me up frantic to know her wherabouts at the time. Her hotel ended up a crime scene, as they thought terrorists had stayed there the night before. Atlanta Driveway Replacement . They ended up leaving the training early, and because there were no airports really functioning, they rented a car and drove across the country home.”___Joshua Hoyos, 18, from Parsippany, N.J.”I remember being in the 4th grade and sitting in my classroom watching the towers get hit and later come down. My father took my sister and I out of school early and we waited at home for my mother to come home. Beyond that the most vivid memory is that night when my family got in the car and drove through Jersey City and we could see the smoke come out of ground zero. It remains to be the most haunting memory of my life.Copyright 2011 Associated Press

              Facebook


              Related Blogs

                Facebook announces easier, better, faster, cleaner Photos

                Posted on by
                1

                Facebook

                Facebook

                Facebook has announced that it is improving its Facebook Photos product once again. The social networking giant is allowing users to upload bigger photos, is making them load faster, and is also updating the photo viewer as well. These new features will be gradually rolling out to Facebook’s facebook/facebook-confirms-it-now-has-750-million-users/2000″>750 million users over the next few days.

                The photos you share on Facebook will now be bigger (from 720 pixels to 960 pixels). Photos you’ve already uploaded to the social network will also be displayed at this higher resolution, if available. Furthermore, the company is claiming photos will now load twice as fast.

                Earlier this year, Facebook launched the first version of the photo viewer (and I wrote up how to revert to the old one). The company says it has now made changes based feedback it received from its users: the new photo viewer is more streamlined, features a cleaner interface, and makes it even easier to enjoy your photos. The light box is now set against a simple white background that puts more of the focus on the photo, and less on the surrounding frame.

                Facebook also took the opportunity to reveal that the social network sees over 250 million photos uploaded each day. The service is thus still the biggest photo sharing website on the Internet.

                See also:

                Facebook


                Related Blogs

                  Facebook Shuts Down Deals Program after 4 Months

                  Posted on by
                  Reply

                  It was a lovely 3rd of November afternoon when we first heard of Facebook’s intent to create a Deals Program amongst a handful of other new features for the social networking ecosystem, and now not quite four months after its inception, the program has been cut entirely. While the Facebook Deals program seemed at first to very much be an obvious Groupon Rival, even an early June 2011 announcement of a possible UK sect of the program did not prove enough to keep the system alive, and today Facebook has announced the cutting of the Deals.

                   

                  Back the same day the Facebook Deals program was launched, we analyzed the situation, hypothesizing that this new platform could have the potential to drive more location based service usage, it appears that Chicago-based Groupon has proved too much for the big blue social networking site. Over in Palo Alto, California, Facebook has released a statement which made clear their intentions for the moment:

                  “After testing Deals for four months, we’ve decided to end our Deals product in the coming weeks[,] We think there is a lot of power in a social approach to driving people into local businesses[,] We’ve learned a lot from our test and we’ll continue to evaluate how to best serve local businesses.” – Facebook

                  Facebook had thus far begun testing their Deals program in April in the USA in five major US cities: Atlanta, San Diego, Austin, Dallas, and San Francisco. Meanwhile the multi-faceted business empire known as Google is currently testing their own online coupon program, one by the name of Google Offers. It’s important to note at this point that just last year Google attempted to purchase Groupon for a reported $5 billion USA only to be turned down by the undisputed king of group-based deals.

                  Meanwhile Facebook did add that while they were indeed shutting down Facebook Deals, they would stay true to the notion that connecting with local businesses was the way to go:

                  “[We are] committed to building products to help local businesses connect with people, like Ads, Pages, Sponsored Stories, and Check-in Deals.” – Facebook

                  Check-in Deals differs from the Facebook Deals program in that a mobile device such as a smartphone is required when you visit a local business, you then “checking-in” and receiving some sort of discount or deal for literally being there on site with your device.

                  [via AFP]

                  Related Blogs