Manage updates with the Download AppBill Gates gives up on Facebook
So that's why Bill Gates hasn't accepted my friend request.
I was beginning to wonder why he hadn't added me to his list of Facebook friends. Well, apparently I wasn't the only person that was trying to add him to their list of pals.
According to the British tabloid The Sun, Gates was getting some 8,000 requests per day. While he once spent half an hour per day on the site, he has stopped using it altogether, the paper reported.
So I guess I shouldn't feel so bad.
According to a Wall Street Journal … Read more
Where we're not crying, it's just raining on our faces
Today we joke with Natali Del Conte about Valentine's Day, why Facebook is helping people know what's going on with Tennessee tornadoes, the Arrested Development movie in early talks, and unlimited phone plans.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
Digsby links all IMs with e-mail, Facebook, MySpace
If you're the type of person who communicates with friends, co-workers, relatives, and such via several different IM services, e-mail, and Facebook--and you know you are--software could soon offer you one of the cleanest ways ever to link them all together.
The software, called Digsby, went into private beta Tuesday, and its goal is to give people a way to organize their contacts from Yahoo Messenger, AOL IM, ICQ, Google Talk, Jabber, and Windows Live Messenger, as well as e-mail, Facebook, and MySpace.com into a single client.
According to Jeff Hester, who runs instant message community site BigBlueBall.… Read more
Free tool blocks Facebook, MySpace, and Yahoo ActiveX vulnerabilities
On Tuesday, exploits for the Yahoo apps were reported circulating. There is currently no patch from the individual vendors, so the only workaround is to disable the several specific, vulnerable ActiveX controls. (ActiveX controls were developed by Microsoft for use with Internet Explorer and other browsers.)
The SANS … Read more
Google: Social networking pays poor advertising dividends
Google has come out and said something that many in the industry - including I - have long suspected: Social networks are poor advertising platforms. For those who can't get beyond the advertising fetish, here's a critical data point that suggests you'll need to indulge that fetish elsewhere. Whereas search is a great indicator of customer interest, social networks are not. Said Google's CFO:
We have found that social networking inventory is not monetizing as well as we would like.Of course it isn't. The model for monetizing them should be much different. Advertising is not the be-all, end-all for the web.
Nick Carr thus correctly asks of Facebook:… Read more
Facebook, MySpace image uploaders vulnerable to attack
Updated at 3:37 p.m. PST with statement from MySpace and Facebook.
Within the last week, researcher Elazar Broad has disclosed two ActiveX vulnerabilities in the tools that MySpace.com and Facebook users use to upload images to their sites. On Sunday, Broad disclosed a buffer overflow vulnerability within the Facebook image upload control. Last week, Broad disclosed a similar buffer overflow flaw within MySpaceAurigma's ImageUploader ActiveX; the MySpace vulnerability also affects Facebook users.
Facebook and MySpace use controls repackaged from Aurigma Imaging Technology. Vulnerable to the recent attack scenario are FaceBook PhotoUploader 4.5.57.0, Aurigma … Read more
Super Bowl ads reveal big companies don't get it
It may be a toss up today whether the talk around the office will be more about the game (way to go Giants) or about the commercials. The commercials of course are a big draw for many and at least an entertaining bonus for others. Big name companies employ big name ad firms to come up with something that will hopefully be extraordinary and memorable. And at $2.7 million for 30 seconds, getting the most bang for the buck should be a no-brainer.
But unlike some of the popular TV shows, if the Super Bowl ads are any indication, … Read more
How Microsoft-Yahoo could shape social networking
Social networking is one of the biggest and fastest-evolving phenomena on the Web, and Microsoft's proposed takeover of Yahoo will undoubtedly send it in new directions. More than anything, a MSFT-YHOO acquisition will shake up the debate over just how you can make money off a Facebook or MySpace.com--because they're running out of time to figure that out.
Should the Microsoft-Yahoo acquisition go through, expect them to try to corner the social-network advertising market.
The common wisdom is that neither Microsoft nor Yahoo is a real force in social networking. Both companies own multiple social media properties, … Read more
