Archive for: November 21, 2009
November 21, 2009
Earlier this week, Facebook users voted to adopt new privacy policies the social networking site proposed in late October. Facebook wanted to present its privacy guidelines in a "clearer and more comprehensive" manner. The site split the policy into eight sections, including sections that covered the information the company receives and how it is used and shared; how customers can view that information, change, or remove it, and how Facebook protects information.
As part of its more democratic approach, Facebook put the changes out for a vote, and the community approved them. During the vote, the number of fans for the Facebook Site Governance Page more than doubled, the company said.
"In the coming weeks and months, we plan to build on the progress we've already made in making the document more accessible by also adding definitions of key terms, screen shots of important pages and informational 'learn more' videos," Facebook said in a blog post. "We think these visual resources will make it even easier to understand how privacy works on Facebook."
Facebook said that, in the feedback, users approved of the simpler wording and the structure of the new document. Some asked for a redline version in order to compare changes, but Facebook said it could not provide one because it completely rewrote the policy.
    
Twitter on Thursday released long-awaited location-tagging features for the Twitter API. The new feature will allow users to embed their locations with their tweets. For privacy reasons, it's strictly an opt-in feature--meaning you won't send out your location if you don't want to. To turn on the feature, go to your Twitter account settings and check "Enable geotagging."
The ability to geotag is not yet available on Twitter.com, but the official announcement mentions that some Twitter clients already have it enabled. These include Birdfeed, Seesmic Web, Foursquare, Gowalla, and Twidroid.
Keep in mind that if you tweet with geotagging enabled, people will be able to see your exact location and even if you delete the tweet, there's no guarantee the geotagged info will actually be deleted from every third party app. So, for example, if you're planning to sneak out of the house and then tweet with geotagging, there's a good chance you'll get busted.
 
Name changes are a big deal. Just ask Prince. When Apple asked The Little App Factory was asked to the name of its popular app, iPod Rip, the plucky developer was put in a weird position. The company's CEO, John Devor sent a long and heartfelt e-mail to Apple head Steve Jobs, reading, in part,
It is quite obvious that we mean Apple no harm with the use of the name iPodRip, or of the inclusion of trademarked items in our icons, and in fact I believe that we have been providing an excellent secondary service to Apple customers that has potentially caused you many repeat clients. In fact, we are quite aware that Apple support and store staff have recommended our software on numerous occasions as far back as 2004 so we have felt that we were doing something right!
The five paragraph letter actually managed to garner a response for Jobs, who wrote back,
Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal.
Steve
Sent from my iPhone
No big deal? I seem to remember a little falling out a company had with The Beatles a number of years ago, over the use of a fruit. Still, the word "iPod" is unquestionably Apple's trademark, and its well within the company's rights to get litigious over misappropriated use.
The Little App Factory eventually caved in to Apple, renaming its product, iRip.
 
Sony is taking yet another shot at Apple's music dominance. The company yesterday announced that it look to launch its own online storefront stocking music, books, apps, and movies. No release date for the store--tentatively named Sony Online Service--has been announced.
Sony, which shut down its Connect Music Service last year, is looking for ways to set itself apart from iTunes. Among the planned features, according to Business Week, is the ability for users to upload videos, digital pictures, and other content to the site. Like Apple, Sony is looking to open up app development to third-parties.
 
 If you can make friends with a local cheese maker or find a spice shop in your neighborhood, I recommend doing so. But if specialty shops that suit your champagne tastes aren't available, you might like Gourmet Library. The site is a new social network plus Web service that brings people who love food together with the food that they love You can buy your next bottle of Verjus or package of handmade egg pasta and have it shipped straight to your home, review it after you eat it, and then connect with other members who are thinking about trying it but could benefit from your thoughts, all on the same site.
Gourmet Library is actually a new project by the same people who work on Wine Library. They aim to bring the expertise, attention to detail and quality, and customer service that you would expect from a local gourmet shop to the Web, where anyone can shop and have the same meats, cheeses, sauces, oils, and other treats shipped to their homes. Additionally, you can connect with other members and discuss the products for sale. You can also leave your own reviews and thoughts on the products that you try.  The site stocks a number of quality meats and cheeses, but also hard-to-find items that may have been sourced from your local specialty shop, like "Grandma Broadbent's Smoked Pork Country Sausage." If you're looking for something special, you can use the keyword search at the top of the page, or ...
This is not your grandfather's Netvibes: The former Web 2.0 darling among personal start pages will formally launch a new version at Le Web 09 in Paris in December, but the first 200 of our lucky readers can take an early look. Our contact over at Wasabi, Vincent Chang notes that between now and its launch, Wasabi will add "performance enhancements, including integration with Pubsubhubbub and RSS Cloud to make RSS near-real time." But the key differences in Wasabi over earlier Netvibeses are the new SmartReader view, and multiple page publishing.
The update will also include a Theme Designer, Drag-and-Follow social activity widgets (self-replicating widgets), Flexible Layouts and Multi-View widgets, and Push Publishing Tools (for publishers). This is all on top of Netvibes' very fluid dashboard building and widget platform, which goes beyond iGoogle in letting you build pages and read feeds.
To get your free invitation to the beta following procedure and code:
Go to wasabi.netvibes.com
Sign in (if not already done so) with your existing netvibes account credentials
Enter the code PCMAG. Your existing account will now be upgraded to Wasabi.
 
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If a mobile ad dropped in the forest, would anyone care? Some would, but most wouldn't. According to market research firm Parks Associates, 38 percent of consumers don't want to see mobile ads for any reason, according to 
Google today announced that it has remade the mobile version of its News page for owners of iPhone, Android, and Palm webOS handsets. The new page joins existing versions for Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Symbian handsets. 
