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24 May 2010 21:44

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Tech: “Fuzzy Orb”: Facebook has nothing to worry about, guys

  • Currently in the upper reaches of the Google Trends “Hot Searches” is this incredibly awful-looking site called “Fuzzy Orb,” which promises a more private social networking experience but in reality makes us seriously afraid of getting a virus. It’s getting force-fed onto Twitter right now. Let this be a reminder to you, kids – Facebook may have privacy issues from time to time, but this is the alternative. And it ain’t pretty. source

24 May 2010 10:56

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Tech: Mark Zuckerberg writes inevitable “we screwed up” op-ed piece

  • Simply put, many of you thought our controls were too complex. Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls; but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark.
  • Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg • Admitting the privacy options on Facebook kind of suck for many users, and that they plan to change them. He wrote a lengthy op-ed piece for The Washington Post noting just that. One thing he says might be a bone of contention, though: Zuckerberg flatly denies that the company has shared personal information with advertisers. (Note the word “personal” in that statement – your more basic demographic data is fair game.) Oh, and Facebook will always stay free. source

20 May 2010 10:25

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World: Pakistan’s a nation of young, social-networking-loving people

  • 170M the population of Pakistan, which is more than just the Taliban
  • 25M the number of people currently on the Internet in Pakistan
  • 60% the share of the population currently under 25 source

20 May 2010 10:13

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Politics: Additional comments on “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!”

  • It’s a noble cause, but right now it feels like trolling. Look, we think free speech is great and want to encourage it, but this whole controversy feels like an excuse not to defuse a free speech issue, but to amplify it. In that NYT article we just posted, there was a quote from Twitter which sort of said it all. “One day,” the user said, “they will ban breathing in Pakistan.” You want to promote free speech? Fight for this guy, who just wants to watch a clip of a dog riding a skateboard. Don’t fight against him. Enable him. People like him will eventually encourage the cause you’re fighting for if you help him out. source

20 May 2010 09:46

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World: Pakistan’s Facebook ban extends to YouTube, but not Twitter

Thanks to the high number of Mohammed depictions on the video site, they had to shut that down, too. Again, this was a good idea because … source

18 May 2010 21:39

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Tech: Facebook finally admits that their privacy settings are confusing

  • Now we’ve heard from our users that we have gotten a little bit complex.I think we are going to work on that. We are going to be providing options for users who want simplistic bands of privacy that they can choose from and I think we will see that in the next couple of weeks.
  • Facebook head of public policy Tim Sparapani • Regarding the site’s fairly complex privacy options. People have been complaining, and now there are tools out there that allow you to easily sort through the options because Facebook made them too complex. With all the other crap going on, they need to do something to ease privacy concerns or they’re screwed. At least they realize it. source

15 May 2010 13:37

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Culture, Tech: Aaron Sorkin is about to ruin Mark Zuckerberg’s reputation

On October 1st, Aaron Sorkin’s new movie, “The Social Network,” promises to make Mark Zuckerberg look like the kind of jerk most techies think he is right now. source
 

14 May 2010 22:08

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Tech: Want to be overly dramatic? Quit Facebook en masse on May 31

  • Let’s face it. This stuff just isn’t productive. And, well, it’s just the same old rage that we’ve heard from Twitter users for the last five years. You want to scare Facebook into listening to your concerns? Do it better than they do. That’s why Facebook has spent the last year trying to respond to a (real or imagined) threat from Twitter. That’s why this strikes us as overwraught drama. That’s why the Diaspora project on Kickstarter actually has people’s attention. source

14 May 2010 11:12

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Tech: Are Facebook’s privacy issues getting overblown by a mob mentality?

  • It’s completely out of hand, and it’s just another example of an online mob getting out of control. I’m embarrassed to see people I respect stopping one step short of calling for physical violence against Zuckerberg.
  • TechCrunch guy Michael Arrington • Regarding the seemingly high level of rage some have focused on Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg, especially after these years-old messages leaked to the press. We’re with Arrington. We think people are completely overreacting and looking for a way to completely discredit the Facebook founder because they don’t like recent changes to his service. Granted, privacy is a weird thing with Facebook, but the backlash is just getting over-the-top. source

13 May 2010 22:37

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Tech: So, yeah, now there’s a Facebook protest on the table. Hoo-ray

See, if we were Facebook, we would’ve registered @facebookprotest on Twitter (and the corresponding domain name) knowing the odds someone would get to it first. source