A Week for Geeks

Posted on May 29, 2010 by Tom Long

There were a lot of stories that caught my eye this week.  I’ve already touched on the Facebook Fiasco.  But, there was a lot more changing in our ever shifting geek landscape.

Google Buzz

Led by preeminent techies like Leo LaPorte and Gina Trapani, the rats jumping the Facebook ship seem to be giving Google’s ill-started but currently excellent Buzz service new life.   Here is the buzz about Buzz.   Google Buzz Expands: Now on all Mobiles and ReBuzzing » TECH BOTTLE.   Now even the huge number of people clinging to their Blackberries can use Google Buzz on their mobile phones.   Welcome aboard.   What does the corporate world buzz about? Maybe now we’ll find out.   Google Buzz Adds Rebuzz Feature — But Don’t Call It That, That’s Lame.   Buzz-ers are no longer limited to “Like” and “Share”.   TechCrunch reports that now, we can re-share, too.   I’m not sure how this will work.   Getting multiple 140 character re-tweets is a lot less annoying than multiple unlimited reshares of articles.   I hope those I follow will be kind and use links to longer articles they wish to share.

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Facebook Unapologetic but Changed

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Tom Long

Facebook | Making Control Simple.  Markie Markie Markie.  I love the I’m just a kid excuse.  Still no apology but I’m guessing that just isn’t in the Zuckerberg repertoire.

In his blog today, Mark Zuckerberg has implemented the changes that users have insisted on.  I’m looking forward to hearing the response of folks like Leo Laporte who left Facebook over their amoral treatment of users.

1. “The number one thing we’ve heard is that there just needs to be a simpler way to control your information.”
True,  some people thought that 50 settings with 170 options was a little complex.

2. “First, we’ve built one simple control to set who can see the content you post. In a couple of clicks, you can set the content you’ve posted to be open to everyone, friends of your friends or just your friends.

“This control will also apply to settings in new products we launch going forward. So if you decide to share your content with friends only, then we will set future settings to friends only as well. This means you won’t have to worry about new settings in the future.”
The usual foggy Zuckerberg, but I think he is saying that in the future Facebook won’t change our settings without our knowledge which is exactly what they have done in the past.  This is the “opt in” versus “opt out” model we were really clamoring for.  Hurray!

3. “Second, we’ve reduced the amount of basic information that must be visible to everyone and we are removing the connections privacy model. Now we’ll be giving you the ability to control who can see your friends and pages. These fields will no longer have to be public.”
You may remember from my previous posts that Facebook required us to share basic information or not have it at all.  We will no longer be required to tell everybody if we want to tell anybody.  HUGE.

4. “We’ve added an easy way to turn off Platform completely. This will make sure that none of your information is shared with applications or websites.”
Thank you.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE.

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New Facebook Privacy Controls

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Tom Long

When the new privacy controls come out tomorrow for Facebook, I will be curious to see one thing. Will all my defaults be set to public as Facebook has done in the past when they’ve made these changes? Mark Zuckerberg has not apologized but he has admitted that he missed the mark on privacy. I don’t want an apology or a promise. I’ll be looking for performance and that boils down to whether Facebook will default to user control or Zuckerberg’s “expose all” control.

PS I still stand by my philosophy of assuming everything we put in the cloud will go public one way or another, no matter who promises us otherwise.

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Obama's Katrina?

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Tom Long

How much worse can it get for the Gulf region? Nature strikes with Katrina and the government fails to adequately respond. BP fails to safely drill and once again the government sits on its hands. Will this be to the Obama administration what Katrina was to the Bush administration? Could our government do any less? Might it not be better to take direct action than to keep saying we’re going to fine or blame BP? Frankly, I don’t care about the blame. Blame the government for approving their plan or blame BP or blame us for selling our souls for a pint of oil. But get off your high horse and do something to help.

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Google TV?

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Tom Long

Google TV.  By now if you are a) as into tech as I am and b) as into media as I am, you may be nauseated by the amount of Apple-esque hype that has surrounded Google TV.  For those  of you that have real lives, let me break down not just the features of the proposed Google TV but the potential impact of Google TV.

The moniker is the best clue.  Google=access to their powerful search engine + TV results on the biggest screen in the house.  Google TV will allow us to find not just the next time Glee comes on regular TV but episodes, clips, and images from Glee on the internet.  The search results can then be bookmarked to watch later.  There will also be a homepage where we can keep links to favorite episodes, series, pictures, videos, or channels.  Think of it as a media start page in your browser.

For the Consumer:

By merging broadcast and webcast, Google TV will imitate the functionality of Microsoft’s Media Center.  In addition, changes made on one’s Android phone or computer will be instantly reflected on Google TV.  An Android phone could easily be used as a remote.

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