Why Facebook Is Losing Its Friends
May 20, 2010
Thousands of Facebook users are planning to “defriend’’ the $24 billion social media corporation on Monday, May 31.
That’s because they’re concerned not only about privacy and protecting their online identities, but also because Facebook is attempting profit from their personal data.
They’re worried that, while users playing the popular Facebook game Farmville, just to name one example, marketers are plowing through their profiles looking for ways to milk user identities.
Loved Avatar? Listen to K’naan? Like to cook? Planning a vacation?
Facebook apparently is ready to market that information.
“Facebook does things with my data that they wouldn’t do with me as a physical person and I think that’s a very dangerous road to go down,’’ says Toronto design strategist Matthew Milan, co-founder of QuitFacebookDay.com.
QuitFacebookDay.com went online May 12 and, as of late yesterday afternoon, had attracted some 11,200 committed quitters. Facebook itself has about 500 million users.
Tech sites such as Gizmodo, Mashable and Wired — not to mention the Columbia Journalism Review — have all chimed in on the privacy complaints in recent days.
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New Facebook Social Features Secretly Add Apps to Your Profile (Updated)
May 6, 2010
When a piece of software is automatically installed on your computer without your knowledge, it’s called malware. But what do you call it when Facebook apps are added to your profile without your knowledge? We discovered Wednesday that this is actually happening, and stopping it isn’t as easy as checking a box in your privacy settings.
If you visit certain sites while logged in to Facebook, an app for those sites will be quietly added to your Facebook profile. You don’t have to have a Facebook window open, you don’t need to signed in to these sites for the apps to appear, and there doesn’t appear to be an option to opt-out anywhere in Facebook’s byzantine privacy settings.
These apps appear to be related to Facebook’s sharing tools. The sites currently leaving this trail all have Facebook Connect integration, and the list includes heavyweights such as the Gawker network of blogs, the Washington Post, TechCrunch, CNET, New York Magazine, and formspring.me.
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DIY Foam Swords
April 16, 2010
You’ve seen foam swords like these for sale in toy stores and other shops. They usually run between $5 and $8 each. They’re fun for the kids to play with but they break very easily and don’t really last long. Today we’re going to show you how to make a more durable foam sword for about the same price by making a quick trip to your nearest hardware store.
Here’s a list of what we used to make two swords:
1 10ft piece of 1/2 inch PVC pipe
1 6ft piece of 1/2 inch pipe insulation
2 4ft pieces of 5/8 inch wood doweling
2 1/2 inch PVC 4-way joiners
8 1/2 inch PVC end caps
1 roll of duct tape
1 roll black electrical tape
Hacksaw or Dremel to cut the PVC
Utility knife or box cutter to cut the foam and tape
Step 1:
Cut the doweling down to 3ft (you can leave it at 4ft if you want but we found the kids had a hard time with this size so we shortened it)
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Miami Lawyer Sues Man Over eBay Feedback
April 12, 2010
Just when you think that set of flamingo-themed flatware is a questionable enough buy on eBay, your business might be even more risky: the seller could be a Miami lawyer.
Mike Steadman paid $44 for a “working” time clock for his small Cape Canaveral welding business in November 2008, but it didn’t work — and now he’s out $7,000 for legal fees and still facing a $15,000 defamation lawsuit from seller Elliot Miller, an attorney living in a $3 million dollar waterfront home on Miami Beach, WFTV reported.
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Fun With Peeps
April 2, 2010
With Easter right around the corner, it’s time to break out that marshmallowy treat that some people like, but most people hate. This is our ode to the fruitcake of Easter.
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