Facebook Links To TOR Network Via A Dedicated TOR URL.

While we had to report many a times about misgivings of Facebook but today, the social network has done a remarkable thing, linking it self to TOR network, the anonymous browser, network. Now users of the TOR browser would be able to connect to Facebook, trouble free.
If you are a TOR user, wants to connect to Facebook, you can peel the onion by using this link: https://facebookcorewwwi.onion/
This is not light news, even though it is done more to secure Facebook and support  TOR users at the same time, our kudos to Facebook. Facebook make another first by being the first major website / network, with a Certificate Authority to offer a dedicated Tor URL and a certified connection.
Gizmodo has a better article on the matter.

Got Facebook? Check The New Privacy Settings!

Everyday millions of us hit our Facebook pages, from our desktops, smart phones or even work computers, where it is allowed (and some times not.)
But very few think about the privacy setting. Again privacy setting on Facebook is like chasing a rainbow. They keep on changing.
From basic privacy setting of sharing your posts and photos with a select few or the whole world to how you connect to the Facebook could be chosen.
What do you do with old posts? does the current setting apply them as well?
What do you do with other people tagging you in their posts and photo when you plan only to share your info with a close circle of friends?
Well without going into much lengths, there is a guide, well written by my Twitter friend, Ruhani Rabin, taking you through all the folds of Facebook privacy.
Read Ruhani's post and be knowledgeable.

Facebook IPO May Make Graffiti Artist, David Choe, A Cool $200 Million

When graffiti artist David Choe was asked to paint the walls of facebook offices in Palo Alto, California, in 2005, as desired by the founders, he took Facebook Inc. stock instead of a few thousand dollars of cash for the job.
As New York Times reports, Choe's Facebook stake may be worth about $200 million, based on a market value of $100 billion. I hope Choe, kept his shares.

In addition to countless millionaires, facebook IPO will create a bunch of billionaires as well. Mr. Zuckerberg, has 533.8 million shares, and is worth $28.4 billion in the same base valuation. He owns 28.4% of the company and 57% of voting rights.

Peter Thiel, Facebook's first outside investor will collect about $2 billion for his $500,000 investment. U2's front mas, Bono also invested about $120 million in the facebook and stand to gain lot more than he invested.

Even there are some unwelcome rich people, like "Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the Olympic-rowing pair, Harvard graduates and former business partners of Mr. Zuckerberg, own about 1.2 million shares as part of their settlement with the company and their former classmate, who they claim essentially stole their idea for Facebook. " According to NYT.

Facebook To Lazy Developpers, Fix Authentication Leaks Or Else.

Facebook is serious about autentication leaks that Symantec discovered last week. Facebook also had a blog post on Oauth 2.0 requirement that will go in to effect on September 1 this year. Oauth 2.0 is supposed to be more secure.
But Facebook is not letting those leaky apps that Symantec exposed, sit idle till September 1, 2011. Those developers have received the following email from facebook;

Our automated systems have detected that you may be inadvertently allowing authentication data to be passed to 3rd parties. Allowing user ids and access tokens to be passed to 3rd parties, even inadvertently, could allow these 3rd parties to access the data the user made available to your site. This violates our policies and undermines user trust in your site and Facebook Platform.

In every case that we have examined, this information is passed via the HTTP Referer Header by the user’s browser. This can happen when using our legacy authentication system and including

Would you “Like” the name Like?

After hearing some people naming their babies with likes of "facebook", and other dumb things, it is less painfull to hear about the Israeli couple who named their baby "Like" after facebook's like button.At least it is more likable than the rest!
I am sure Google must be waiting for someone to name their child "Googlie" or Twitter looking for "Tweetie". In any case I feel these are insane decisions made without thinking about the child it self.
I always wondered why most kids say that they hate their parents because I did not. I think now I am begining to understand.
Via Mashable

T-Pain Gets A Facebook "Like" Tatto!

Looks like people do all sort of things to with for facebook, other than spending working studying and free time on it.

Singer / rapper T-Pain has got a new tatto, "I DON’T HAVE TO [Like] ME"
T-Pain Tweeted;

I get a tatt every time I come to Hawaii. I think this ones pretty sweet, unless facebook shuts down soon 0_o 

Yep it is your right T-Pain and as  Techcrunch's Wauters said, I DON’T HAVE TO [Like] IT

Facebook Valued At 50 Billion As Goldman Sachs Invests $500 Million

Godman Sachs ($450 Million) and Digital Sky Technologies (50 Million) have investedon the ever changing facebook driving the valuation of the firm to whopping $50 Billion. With this valuation, facebook surfaces eBay, Yahoo and Time Warner in value!
The new infusion will allow facebook to steal away from it's rivals in many fields like developing new products, hiring and possibly new acquisitions.
The SEC is showing interest in companies like facebook, twitter and zinga and their lucrative private markets and if they are using the private market to avoid public disclosure requirements.
On the otherhand, experts belive the new money inflow might force facebook to go public just like Google or Microsoft. Also all these companies are making the market change as well;

“When you think back to the early days of Google, they were kind of ignored by Wall Street investors, until it was time to go public,” said Chris Sacca, an angel investor in Silicon Valley who is a former Google employee and an investor in Twitter. “This time, the Street is smartening up. They realize there are true growth businesses out here. Facebook has become a real business, and investors are coming out here and saying, ‘We want a piece of it.’”

NYTimes

"Google Me"? Google's Social Media Layer Emerges

Techcrunch asked Google about the ways to slay competing dragons like facebook, in the social networking world. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google had a few words to say that summarizes all "Google Me is not a product, it’s a social layer across all products"(more after the jump).

Arrington: How important is social to google’s future, and how might google go about competing with a large established competitor?
Schmidt: Our view of social is a little different than what everyone has been writing. we want our core products to get better from social information. The best thing that could happen is if Facebook opened up its network and if we could just use that information…Failing that, there are other ways in which we can get that information.
We are trying to add a social component [to google's core products] to make them even better. With your permission…and knowing more about who your friends are, we can provide more tailored recommendations, search quality will be better.
A reasonable expectation [of launch] will be the Fall.

Thechcrunch

FaceBook Devalued?

Looks like Marks stance on 15 Billion valuation of Facebook is wavering and it might be as low as 2 Billion now, according to a TechCrunch Post! The article talks a lot about company values, early investors and anti-dilution provisions.
Hmmm I guess I better tweet like Oprah, if my posts are this short!

Tags: facebook, techcrunch, twitter

FriendFeed Offsite With FrienFeed Desktop App.

FriendFeed has revealed another way to keep tab on your friends, off the site. With the new Adobe Air-based desktop application updates whenever your friends post something on FriendFeed on your desktop.
The difference is invisibility this time, that is until there is something to see. Unlike many ways that you keep a watch on your friends like IM notifications, RSS feeds, e-mail digests, or the Facebook app, where you have to flip between what you are doing and the method, Bubbles are the way with Friendfeed desktop app.
You can even comment directly from the bubble that pops up to inform you of update.
You will need Adobe - Air to run the application but it is easy two clicks to install.
FF Blog
Tags: social network, Friendfeed,

How ConnetU Really Lost Ater Winning Against Facebook!

The websphere is awash with facebook / ConnectU case and what the court papers revealed. Mark Zukerberg is still the winner and Divya Narendra and Cameron and Tyler Winklevossare the losers even after winning.
ValleyWag has done a nice bit of calculations to show how the triplets lost.

Tags: facebook, connectU

RIAA Gets Facebook To Shutsdown Playlist!

Part of what used to be Michael Arrington's Playlist page.

In the face of litigation threat, facebook has cleared away all the traces of playlist from users pages and banned the playlist application from the face of the facebook. According to Techcrunch, they released the following information;
"The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) initially contacted Facebook last summer requesting the removal of the Project Playlist application for copyright violation, and recently reopened those communications. We have forwarded the RIAA’s letters to Project Playlist so it can work directly with that organization and music labels on a resolution. In the meantime, the application must be removed to comply with the Facebook Platform Terms of Service. Our hope and expectation is that the parties can resolve their disagreements in a manner that satisfies the developer and copyright holder, that continues to offer a great experience to music fans, and that doesn’t discourage other developers from using Platform to share their creativity and test new ideas."
Winnie with a 15 Billion valuation is not a hotdog I guess, you solve your problems and I will watch!!. Read more at TC.

Tags: RIAA, facebook, laylist

Coomuto Provides Bartering On FaceBook

Toronto, ON (PRWEB) August 25, 2008 -- Commuto announced today that it has released the Commuto Facebook application, allowing Facebook users to access Commuto's database of millions of products and interact with Commuto's functionality by posting, viewing and trading items from within their Facebook accounts.
"Launching Commuto's Facebook application is a very important step for us and our users. By combining Facebook's social networks with Commuto's social communities, we have given our users the most social and interactive bartering application online and have given our users even more choice over how they interact with Commuto", said Stephen Arbib, President and founder of Commuto, "Millions of Facebook users will now be able to show their friends all the items which they own and those they want, and be able to trade with Facebook and non-Facebook users all in real time."

Commuto's Facebook application is the first of a series of widget and applications that Commuto plans to release in the coming year to increase awareness of their online social bartering site,
Commuto.com.

Commuto is still in beta release and will continue through the third quarter of 2008, after which an integrated marketing campaign will begin with Vancouver-based partner, UM Marketing.

Tags: facebook, commuto

Paris Hilton Exposed & Facebook Suspends Peephole.

Yes Above is supposedly the profile of Paris Hilton created using her middle name Whitney. There are other people that were exposed using the App, Top Friends app by Slide. So if you were a Top Friends user, you will be disappointed today. Those juicy bits are gone!.
Until Facebook suspended the Top Friends app, created by Slide, anyone could browse partial profiles of anyone else on Facebook who had added Top Friends to their page. The security hole exposed the birthdays, gender, and relationship status of strangers, including Facebook executives, the wife of Google co-founder Larry Page, and one profile that seemed to belong to Paris Hilton that used her middle name "Whitney."
You can get more information here.

Tags: Paris Hilton Exposed, facebook, Slide, Top Friends app

Facebook Changes Face For Better! Tabs Dominate The Controll

I was browsing through the profile previews of upcoming facebook interface changes. Few things I really liked even digging any further. Your profile will be presented in five separate tabs: Feed, Info, Wall, Photos, and Applications. And if the new screen captures are anything to go by, you will be able to add more tabs. (There is a plus sign at the end of tabs.)
Applications! Yes Applications will have their own tab under your profile! No of those cluttered applications! Photo tab is not much different from what you are used to.
Feed Tab is the Holy Ann! It will contain your recent activity, including stories about actions you have taken, content that you have uploaded and wall postings by your friends and visitors. You can change the view only to show the wall postings, if you want to and switch back to normal view. The new Publisher box withn Feed Tab has a few tabs of it's own and they will not only allows your friends to add wall posts and links to your profile, but it also enables you to add content to your own profile. This is the place where you upload photos, video, notes, links, and posts on your own wall. I think this is one of the best improvements as having to upload all of these different types of content in different places can be difficult and prevent many people from doing so. Now you can upload photos, video, notes, links, related to a wall post from the same place.

Facebook's album.

Tags: facebook, facebook tabs

facebook CTO, D' Angelo Leaves facebook.

According to two articles published almost simultaneously, facebook CTO is leaving due to personal reasons and some corporate reasons.
D' Angelo has been one of the facebook founders and played a big part in it since inception. Burnout seem to be the case and even if it is not the case, he should be able to find another place once he cools down.
Here are the articles I mentioned.
Facebook’s CTO D’Angelo to Leave by all things D
Facebook CTO Adam D’Angelo to leave the company by Venturebeat

Tags: facebook

Move Your Blogging To Facebook With Blog It Powered by TypePad.

Six Apart, the software company behind blogging platforms TypePad, Movable Type, and Vox, has launched a new Facebook application called "Blog It." This cross-platform blogging application for Facebook, Blog It Powered by TypePad. It brings blogging to Facebook as well as taking face book to blogging. This application makes it easy to blog from within Facebook and let your friends, network and others know about what you are doing.
I know this is one application on facebook that I will be using. Another thing is that you don't have to be blogging on Six Apart platforms, Blog It support bloggers on Blogger, LiveJournal, Movable Type, Pownce, Tumblr, TypePad, Twitter, Vox, WordPress.com and WordPress.org!
Facebook members who install the application can post to multiple blogging services at one time, update their Facebook status in sync with micro-blogging services like Twitter, and have updates from the app appear in their Facebook Mini-Feeds.
I think now I can live facebook.
tag: facebook, Social networking, blogging, Six Apart, TypePad, Movable Type, Vox, Blog It, Blogger, Twitter, LiveJournal, Movable Type, Pownce, Tumblr, TypePad, Twitter, Vox, WordPress.com, WordPress.org

Block That Facebook Beacon Light

The Advertising 2.0 (or is it 1.9) entry by facebook, the facebook beacon brought a lot of criticism when it was launched. Now there is another helper to fend off stealth marketing by Facebook. This time it is flugpo and mydataismydata.org.

A new internet explorer plug-in which is actually a tool bar, will allow users to monitor and delete cookies created by the Facebook Beacon advertising system. The cookies are used by Facebook to inform a user's friends about his or her purchases.

The free MyDataIsMyData plug-in developed by mydataismydata.org, and sponsored by social network Flugpo will provide multiple options for monitoring and deleting cookies, offline content and visits to Beacon's partner companies.

"Selling private information for profit unbeknownst to the users is an abuse of trust and MyDataIsMyData.org hopes to empower users by allowing them to control the amount of personal information that they make visible."

Press release

tag: facebook, facebook beacon, flugpo, mydataismydata.org, MyDataIsMyData plug-in,

New Threat To Israel National Security - Facebook

Associated Press is reporting that Israeli defense officials are saying that they have identified an unlikely new threat to national security - Facebook.
AP
tag: facebook, national security

Mobile Social Networking With Facebook For Blackberry Smartphone Application.

Las Vegas, NV,“ CTIA Wireless 2008 - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced that downloads of the Facebook® for BlackBerry® Smartphones application have surpassed the 1,000,000 mark. The easy-to-use mobile software application, which leverages the push-based BlackBerry(R) service and Facebook(R) Platform to offer an unparalleled mobile experience for Facebook users, was launched at the CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment 2007 show on October 24, 2007.

"When we launched Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones, we believed that consumers would recognize the value of marrying social networking with mobility and that vision has now been validated more than a million times," said Mark Guibert, Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Research In Motion. "This innovative mobile application, combined with the refined usability of BlackBerry smartphones and the incredible convenience of the push-based BlackBerry service, makes it easier than ever for Facebook users to stay connected with people wherever they choose."

With the Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones application, Facebook users can wirelessly send and view messages, photos, pokes and Wall posts. The rich, native application goes beyond browser-based access, automatically pushing notifications to the user's BlackBerry smartphone as friends and colleagues send notes, Wall posts or pokes. The application allows users to take a photo, upload it to the site with captions and tags; quickly and easily invite friends; manage events; manage photo albums; and manage their status while on the go.

Since its initial launch, Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones has added language support for French, German and Spanish. The software application is available as a free(i) download from www.facebook.com/blackberry or www.blackberry.com/go/facebook and can also be downloaded using a BlackBerry smartphone from m.facebook.com or mobile.blackberry.com.

Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones is being showcased this week at CTIA. Visit the BlackBerry booth (425 in Center Hall) for a demo.
tag: facebook, Research In Motion, CTIA Wireless 2008, Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones application, Mobile Social Networking