The FTC has accepted a settlement over its allegation that it repeatedly misled its users about privacy. Facebook was accused of telling users they could keep their information private and then repeatedly disclosing it anyway. Facebook won’t take a fine for the privacy violations. Sigh More »
If staring at the incoming callers’ visage just wasn’t enough, Current’s Caller ID might worth a try. The utility app adds a raft of extra detail to your smartphone when it rings, from recent tweets and status updates through to weather conditions and even location data. After loading up the app, you can connect to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles, which Current Caller ID combines with your existing contact list. Based on your use history, the app will even offer up a time to return missed calls. There’s the nice addition of some metrics between you and your phonebook, visualizing that precarious balance between text messages and calls with your significant other — or a timegraph of when you call Mom. These stats are possibly more useful than the caller ID features, and while the design does jar a little with the typical Android aesthetic, it’s hard to complain when the app’s free. If you’re willing to forgive those minor visual flaws, the download awaits at the source below.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software
Current Caller ID app adds social info, weather details, suggests a good time to ring back originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 19:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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What started out as a hackathon project could turn out into a highly lucrative milking cow for the giant social network. We are hearing reports today that Facebook is testing out a new feature that will allow its users to turn their photos into real postcards. So how does it work? Those who were able to test the feature were able to view a “Mail A Postcard” button at the bottom of the photos they’re viewing.
By clicking the button, a screen will open up and will then prompt the user to enter the mailing address of a person as well as an option to write down a personal message to be included in the photo (see example above). Few testers say that for now, they were only able to mail their own private photos, and that it doesn’t work on public photos. The new “Mail A Postcard” feature is reportedly powered by Sincerely, the makers of Postagram. Details of the feature are still bleak, and Facebook has yet to release an official statement to confirm it.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Facebook announces dedicated email address to report phishing scams, World’s cutest dog owner actually works on Facebook,
Following Facebook’s 10-Q report earlier this month that revealed a staggering number of fake accounts, roughly 83.09 million accounts all in all, Facebook is announcing a dedicated email address to report those scams. Facebook users can now report phishing scams on the platform by sending reports to phish@fb.com, an email address available to the public to report phishing attempts. As you know, phishing is actually an attempt to acquire personal information such as username, password, or financial information via impersonation or spoofing. So if you have experienced any of these, you can write to phish@fb.com to report them.
“By providing Facebook with reports, we can investigate and request for browser blacklisting and site takedowns where appropriate. We will then work with our eCrime team to ensure we hold bad actors accountable. Additionally, in some cases, we’ll be able to identify victims, and secure their accounts,” Facebook said. The social network previously explained that out of the 8.7 percent fake accounts it has estimated, 4.8 percent of them are duplicate accounts, 2.4 percent of them can be considered as user-misclassified, and the remaining 1.5 percent are spam.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Facebook expands Bug Bounty program, Facebook begins notifying users whose PCs are infected with the notorious DNSChanger malware,
Take a look inside your spam folder and you’ll find a variety of phishing emails from the likes of eBay, PayPal, and Facebook. The social network has decided to take matters into its own hands, setting up an email address (phish@fb.com) that users can forward phishing emails to. Facebook will then investigate the emails, trying to determine where it came from and who sent it.
It’s a big problem for any popular commerce or social networking site on the internet, but Facebook is taking steps to try and ease the problem. Mark Hammel, a Facebook engineer, says, “We have a pretty robust team here to deal with bad actors. This will give us extra visibility into people’s e-mail inboxes, where there wasn’t a good feedback mechanism in place.”
So, what exactly does Facebook do with forwarded emails? The team takes a look at the URLs found within the emails and forwards them on to browser creators as well as search engines in an attempt to blacklist them. Once they’re added to a browser blacklist, for example, users should be warned and veered away without clicking through and inputting any sensitive information.
Trying to find the root of the problem is still Facebook’s primary goal, however. The team will send out cease-and-desist letters to any hosting companies found harboring the phishing websites, and potentially file criminal complaints if they discover who’s behind the emails. The big problem for Facebook is that phishers often move quickly, taking down and throwing up new websites in an attempt to circumvent blacklists. How effective the new email address is depends entirely on how fast the investigative team can move.
[via CNN Money]
Facebook: Forward us your phishing emails is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Ever wondered why those crazy fools at Facebook think it’s a good idea to meddle with the timeline, or how you chat? Well you can blame yourself. Probably. The social network’s Director of Engineering, Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, reveals all in a recent blog post. By first explaining that the site evolves in a two-step process, “technology pushes people to move forward and then people move past technology and it has to catch up,” we can start to understand why constant user testing of new, often multiple, solutions is required. Boz goes on to explain that by using select groups, or even nations, the efficacy new features can not only be quickly, and solidly determined, it can actually supplant the need for weeks of boardroom debate. He goes on to say that the odds are that everyone on Facebook has been part of a test at some point. Curious to know more about the process, or just feeling a little bit used? Head over to the source link for the full post / comment thread.
Filed under: Internet
Facebook’s Director of Engineering explains how you’re part of the dev team originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 08:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you happen to love dogs, then probably you know who Boo is. Just a quick “world’s cutest dog” search on Google will tell you who the dog is. And while I love my 2-year old Rottweiler more, I got to admit that Boo is one hell of a cute dog. Won’t you agree? Well, the 6-year-old Pomeranian with a weird coiffure recently hit the top stories this morning. That’s because the public now knows who Boo’s “mom” is.
Interestingly, the owner of the dog with more than five million Facebook fans is Irene Ahn, and she happens to work at Facebook, sort of leading the social network’s finance department. AllThingsD, who first broke the story, said that Ahn used to work for Yahoo and PayPal prior to joining Mark Zuckerberg’s company in December 2008. Apparently Boo’s owner has kept her identity secret to most of the world. When Boo guested on Good Morning America last year, Irene Ahn reportedly stayed off-camera. Even when Boo’s book was published last year, Ahn decided to write it under the pseudonym J.H. Lee. Interesting isn’t it?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Facebook introduces its new mobile ad system for apps, Facebook mixes social, gaming, and gambling in the U.K. ,
Sharing your pictures with friends on Facebook is convenient! It’s also really convenient for creepers you hardly know to peer at your body and digitally stalk you too. And with Facebook’s privacy settings so confusing, you need something better. You need McAfee’s Social Protection app. More »
Facebook hosted its first earnings conference call last month with Mark Zuckerberg highlighting the social network’s vision and strategy in moving forward. Facebook was quick to admit that it was not doing so well in terms of advertising, prompting the team to work on new ways to generate more revenue from mobile ads. Today, the developers at Facebook are introducing a new mobile ad system for applications. Facebook’s Vijaye Raji said that the new system aims to boost app downloads while helping developers grow their business with an ad unit that helps them reach and reengage their users.
Talking about the initial success it has done so far, Raji added that during the past 30 days, they were able direct people to the Apple App Store and Google Play 146 million times via clicks from channels such as news feed, timeline, bookmarks and App Center.”Mobile ads are an additional way to drive people to apps. When a person clicks on one of these ads, if they do not have the app installed they will be sent to the App Store or Google Play to get it.” he said. Facebook is conducting the tests together with a few sets of beta partners. To learn more about how it works, you can visit Facebook’s developer blog.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: World’s cutest dog owner actually works on Facebook, Facebook mixes social, gaming, and gambling in the U.K. ,
Rapid turnaround just may be the name of Facebook’s game. Just a few weeks after its SDK 3.0 for iOS reached beta, the new developer tool has surfaced in a polished version. As it’s shipping, the SDK continues to emphasize a more iOS-native experience, better API support and slicker session management. Any iOS 6 integration will still have to wait until Apple finishes its software update; Facebook is keeping a separate beta track active to serve forward-thinking developers. The social network’s regular members aren’t quite getting the same reward, however. The expanded app support is being followed just as quickly by a mobile ad beta. While Facebook is still sparing us from a full-bore marketing assault, it’s letting developers pitch their Android and iOS apps from Facebook’s mobile portals, with a quick hop to the relevant app store if the title isn’t already loaded. While there’s no estimated completion date, we have a feeling that this is one Facebook beta where most customers won’t mind a delay or two… or ten.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software
Facebook SDK 3.0 for iOS arrives in finished form, mobile ads tag along in beta originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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