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John Biggs: Well, hit about 4:30 and you’ll see how choppy Flash looks on a real page. So clearly we’re dealing with two issues here: Flash is good, on aggregate, for some applications while Flash in the “wild,” i.e. Flash appearing on your average web page, is terrible. Given how much I hate flash: no…
John Biggs:
Well, hit about 4:30 and you’ll see how choppy Flash looks on a real page. So clearly we’re dealing with two issues here: Flash is good, on aggregate, for some applications while Flash in the “wild,” i.e. Flash appearing on your average web page, is terrible.
Given how much I hate flash: no comment.
Let me save you some time: Android is still ugly. You are welcome.
Let me save you some time: Android is still ugly. You are welcome.
Mike Butcher: Of course, now we know that Mark Zuckerberg believes that “if people share more, the world will become more open and connected”. In plain English that means Facebook wants to open up much of your data to the outside world, assuming you haven’t gone through your privacy settings with a fine-toothed comb. That…
Mike Butcher:
Of course, now we know that Mark Zuckerberg believes that “if people share more, the world will become more open and connected”. In plain English that means Facebook wants to open up much of your data to the outside world, assuming you haven’t gone through your privacy settings with a fine-toothed comb. That may also include your mobile phone number.
Must be hate on Facebook day, check out the site itself here. Pretty funny.
Kim Boatman: The threat is so significant Abrams thinks P2P programs should be avoided. “Peer-to-peer file-sharing programs have virtually no place in a business environment,” he says. “The security of the programs varies widely. However, in many cases, the default settings are not the most secure. The risks of P2P file-sharing are too great to…
Kim Boatman:
The threat is so significant Abrams thinks P2P programs should be avoided. “Peer-to-peer file-sharing programs have virtually no place in a business environment,” he says. “The security of the programs varies widely. However, in many cases, the default settings are not the most secure. The risks of P2P file-sharing are too great to be ignored.”
I am not sure how prevalent P2P is in corporations, but I would imagine there is a subset of people who use it for illegal downloads at work. This however is the first I have heard of using it for sharing large files, at my company we use HTTP services on our web server to share files larger than 10mb.
Pete Cashmore: I find Zuckerberg’s private response far more impressive than this public one. His private e-mail to Robert Scoble, reprinted with Zuckerberg’s permission, included honest phrasing like “we’ve made a bunch of mistakes” and ” I want to make sure we get this stuff right this time.” Those concessions to critics verge upon being…
Pete Cashmore:
I find Zuckerberg’s private response far more impressive than this public one. His private e-mail to Robert Scoble, reprinted with Zuckerberg’s permission, included honest phrasing like “we’ve made a bunch of mistakes” and ” I want to make sure we get this stuff right this time.” Those concessions to critics verge upon being a mea culpa, even if they stop short of a direct apology. The Washington Post piece is much less direct: No doubt vetted by multiple members of the Facebook team, it almost seems to blame the users for being unable to work their privacy controls.
Taking a few weeks to make these changes is simply not fast enough. Zuckerberg is complacent right now, he knows that not all their users are happy, but in my opinion he doesn’t think this is at critical mass yet. It is at critical mass and changes need to be made this week.
Great on going Pros and Cons list for people thinking about switching from Android to iPhone or iPhone to Android. This is made by a Mac developer who famously switched to Android (and back to iPhone later) over the policy decisions Apple was making with the iPhone.
Great on going Pros and Cons list for people thinking about switching from Android to iPhone or iPhone to Android. This is made by a Mac developer who famously switched to Android (and back to iPhone later) over the policy decisions Apple was making with the iPhone.
MG Siegler: Sid Yadav, a Facebook users in New Zealand, has been using Facebook Questions within his Facebook social circle for the past month or so. His take-away? It could be “the next killer app of Facebook,” he says. He also confirms that it feels different from Quora because it “seems to be more intimate/fun/terse…
MG Siegler:
Sid Yadav, a Facebook users in New Zealand, has been using Facebook Questions within his Facebook social circle for the past month or so. His take-away? It could be “the next killer app of Facebook,” he says.
He also confirms that it feels different from Quora because it “seems to be more intimate/fun/terse than intellectual/useful/detailed.” Here’s his full run-down in his own words — complete with pictures of what it looks like. Notably, you’ll see that “Questions” has been added to left-column of Facebook, where many of Facebook’s main functions lay. Yes, this is going to be a big product.
Amy Martinez: At the University of Virginia, as many as 80 percent of MBA students who participated in Amazon’s pilot program said they would not recommend the Kindle DX as a classroom study aid (though more than 90 percent liked it for pleasure reading). Ouch, I certainly think I would be in the minority (I…
Amy Martinez:
At the University of Virginia, as many as 80 percent of MBA students who participated in Amazon’s pilot program said they would not recommend the Kindle DX as a classroom study aid (though more than 90 percent liked it for pleasure reading).
Ouch, I certainly think I would be in the minority (I would probably like the Kindle as a text-book) but I am in the minority a lot when it comes to technology and early adoption.
Janko Roettgers: There are also some open questions how Google’s will incorporate advertising into its TV platform. Google CEO Eric Schmidt dodged a question about new advertising formats through Google TV, simply stating that ads on Google TV devices will either be delivered through websites or traditional TV programming. Of course, there’s also a third…
Janko Roettgers:
There are also some open questions how Google’s will incorporate advertising into its TV platform. Google CEO Eric Schmidt dodged a question about new advertising formats through Google TV, simply stating that ads on Google TV devices will either be delivered through websites or traditional TV programming. Of course, there’s also a third option, which would be to deliver ads through Android apps optimized for Google TV, which could potentially compete with broadcast ads running on the same screen. Chandra clarified later that there is no immediate plans to roll out such formats when the devices launch this fall.
It will be very interesting to see how this Google TV adventure plays out, it is going to be a very tough market for Google to crack, very tough.
Ed Oswald: Scared of snoops finding out what you’re searching for on Google? Have no fear: the company has introduced encrypted search which gives the user the option to use SSL (Secure Socket Layer) to prevent packet sniffing which in turn could reveal user’s searches on the site.
Ed Oswald:
Scared of snoops finding out what you’re searching for on Google? Have no fear: the company has introduced encrypted search which gives the user the option to use SSL (Secure Socket Layer) to prevent packet sniffing which in turn could reveal user’s searches on the site.
Joe Wilcox: RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky released a report indicating that Apple is now selling about 200,000 iPads a week, compared to 246,000 iPhone 3GSes and 110,000 Macs. Data is for United States. That puts iPad’s sales rate nearly double the Mac, and that’s with constrained tablet supplies. How much greater could they…
Joe Wilcox:
RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky released a report indicating that Apple is now selling about 200,000 iPads a week, compared to 246,000 iPhone 3GSes and 110,000 Macs. Data is for United States. That puts iPad’s sales rate nearly double the Mac, and that’s with constrained tablet supplies. How much greater could they be if Apple met demand.
I would be surprised if the iPad ever sold less than Macs, and I am surprised that it is fairing so well against the cheaper iPhone.
Brad Stone: Though he did not name the search engine, the implication was clear: the F.T.C. was worried that Google could show prejudice against competitors — exactly the complaint that has been levied by some comparison shopping sites, including Foundem. But increasingly, above and mixed throughout those search listings, Google presents links to its own…
Brad Stone:
Though he did not name the search engine, the implication was clear: the F.T.C. was worried that Google could show prejudice against competitors — exactly the complaint that has been levied by some comparison shopping sites, including Foundem.
But increasingly, above and mixed throughout those search listings, Google presents links to its own services, like maps, YouTube videos, local business results and product search listings. Executives argue that providing these easily accessible results clearly benefits users. Rivals claim that this is self-serving, and that Google promotes its content even though there may be better material elsewhere.
Google needs to make it’s algorithm neutral, which it used to be, or they are going to have problems. If not in the US then certainly in the EU.
John Gruber Microsoft can’t undercut Android on price, and it seems increasingly unlikely that they can beat Android in terms of features or experience. They didn’t warrant even a passing reference from Google at I/O. No chance, indeed.
John Gruber
Microsoft can’t undercut Android on price, and it seems increasingly unlikely that they can beat Android in terms of features or experience. They didn’t warrant even a passing reference from Google at I/O. No chance, indeed.
MG Siegler: Yes, apparently Google is starting to roll out the Android 2.2 Froyo update to Nexus One devices right now. I just tried the EVO 4G (the newest Android phone which Google gave out at Google I/O this week) but 2.2 isn’t available for that device yet. I guess being the “Google Phone” has…
MG Siegler:
Yes, apparently Google is starting to roll out the Android 2.2 Froyo update to Nexus One devices right now. I just tried the EVO 4G (the newest Android phone which Google gave out at Google I/O this week) but 2.2 isn’t available for that device yet. I guess being the “Google Phone” has its advantages. Nexus One owners, if you’re up, check for an update right now.
[I am in no way paid by or affiliated with Dropbox] I am a huge fan of everything Dropbox does, and if you want to help support this site and get one of the best backup / file synchronization services out there, sign up for Dropbox with this link. It is free and helps both…
Adam Ostrow: AT&T is set to nearly double its early termination fees on smartphones from $175 to $325. The most notable smartphone in AT&T’s lineup is, of course, the iPhone, for which it remains the exclusive carrier in the U.S. Most compelling evidence of pending Verizon iPhones that I have seen to date.
Adam Ostrow:
AT&T is set to nearly double its early termination fees on smartphones from $175 to $325. The most notable smartphone in AT&T’s lineup is, of course, the iPhone, for which it remains the exclusive carrier in the U.S.
Most compelling evidence of pending Verizon iPhones that I have seen to date.
It used to be that people (family & friends mainly) would often ask me what kind of computer I would suggest that they buy, as soon as 2 years ago buying a computer was a mystery to most people. In the past year I think I have only been asked once and that scares me.…
It used to be that people (family & friends mainly) would often ask me what kind of computer I would suggest that they buy, as soon as 2 years ago buying a computer was a mystery to most people. In the past year I think I have only been asked once and that scares me. The difference is not that people don’t know more about computers (most people know as little as they did when they bought their first computer) the difference is that the price of buying computers has become so low that people are willing to take the chance on a computer because the price is so low (not just talking about Net books here).
This has me scared – too many people I care about are using crap computers because they didn’t want to listen to me recommending a computer that may be more expensive than what they saw at Costco. So I thought I would write a quick tip list of what to look for and buy when you are getting a new computer.
That is it, my simple buyers guide for May 21, 2010.
FTC: The Federal Trade Commission has closed its investigation of Google’s proposed acquisition of mobile advertising network company AdMob after thoroughly reviewing the deal and concluding that it is unlikely to harm competition in the emerging market for mobile advertising networks.
FTC:
The Federal Trade Commission has closed its investigation of Google’s proposed acquisition of mobile advertising network company AdMob after thoroughly reviewing the deal and concluding that it is unlikely to harm competition in the emerging market for mobile advertising networks.
Take a look at most any tech blog over the past month, or the technology section of most major news outlets – one thing is clear privacy on the Internet is a huge problem right now. Facebook, MySpace, and Google have all ran into privacy concerns this month (multiple times for some) – but should…
Take a look at most any tech blog over the past month, or the technology section of most major news outlets – one thing is clear privacy on the Internet is a huge problem right now. Facebook, MySpace, and Google have all ran into privacy concerns this month (multiple times for some) – but should this really surprise us? The short answer is no, we should not be surprised – the truth is much more complex than that.
One thing that we have to remember is that there is no such thing as free. We all use Google Maps, Gmail, Google Search and so on everyday – for free. But it really is not free, Google did not become a billion dollar behemoth by working for free, nor should it. However, like with Facebook and MySpace, Google has decided that its best business model is not to charge users, rather to serve ads and to charge other companies (companies that eventually charge consumers).
So what does this type of business model have to do with privacy? A lot actually, advertisers know that they are wasting money serving the same ad for the same product to everyone. To spend their money more effectively they need better data on their customers, the more information advertisers have the better job they can do to get you to spend money on their products – more importantly the more data you can give them, the more money they are willing to spend on that data.
Facebook, MySpace and Google have a lot of data on you. A lot. That should scare everyone, because all that data they have on you (searches, links clicked, stuff shared with friends, ages, income, jobs, where you live) is priceless to advertisers. These companies are faced with making the tough call of how much data and what data they should not be handing over to advertisers.
For the most part it is a fair trade-off Google Search is the best out there, and what do I really care if they share my search history with advertising companies (so long as they don’t link it to my name) who really cares. The line begins to be crossed when they start sharing data that allows you to be targeted individually and not as a subset. (whereby ‘subset’ I mean to be targeted as say a 27 year old male living in Seattle, instead of a 27 year old male living in Seattle named Ben Brooks). When companies start giving out this type of data is when their users start to get uncomfortable.
So where then should we expect – demand – privacy on the internet? When you pay for it. Unless you are paying for the service you are using, it is a safe bet that in some way, shape or form your privacy has been compromised. Don’t take this to mean that your identity has been stolen, but rather that the information you are sharing is being shared with quite a lot of people.
Let’s think about this another way. Right now Facebook has ben lambasted by most of the world for all the privacy issues that are popping up with the site. However, the site is free for all users and makes money off of advertising, the better job Facebook can do with the advertising the more money they make – make no mistake it is money that they want, not you to be happy (unless that leads to more money, which it usually does). Now users are leaving in droves because Facebook in their opinion has gone too far with compromising their privacy. So if Facebook were to offer a paid service, say $5 a month for a completely secure, and private account – no ads – would you be willing to pay?
What is the price of your privacy?
It is certainly worth the $5 a month to me, but is it to the rest of the world? I think not, and Facebook I would suspect already knows this.
The scariest part about privacy issues on the Internet is that there is a growing indifference towards it with most users. People simply don’t care, whether they think it doesn’t matter, or they just don’t realize what it all means, people don’t care about their privacy as much as they should.
Take this weekend to start caring about privacy, for the same reason that you don’t tell strangers your private info when asked on the city bus, you should stop telling the casual net user as well.