Samsung Tablet Goes After Apple
Samsung getting into Android Tablet biz. Dell starts selling Smartphone. Nokia into 3D? What? Why? Fuji display? Now Toshiba wants a big version and proposes a large version somehow. Webcam hits iTunes and Paypal. North Korean pages deleted? What? Grand Canyon at risk from mining. Apple kickback scheme was done with shoeboxes full of money. HAR. Intel wants to beat ARM. Well, OK.
Click to listen: [audio:http://m.podshow.com/media/12115/episodes/245889/tech5-245889-08-24-2010.mp3]
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Who is 3Par?
3Par stories abound. MSFT push Win Phone 7. I’m predicting them becoming the odd man out. Apple patent rationalized. I find it onerous. Find out what I mean. New Kindle about to blow doors off the place. And now we are seeing sub-$100 e-readers too. Verizon getting into the act. Google buys Like.com. New pocket camcorder from Kodak sounds like a winner. Do we need an FM radio in all devices? No.
Click to listen: [audio:http://m.podshow.com/media/12115/episodes/245692/tech5-245692-08-23-2010.mp3]
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Disable Facebook Places
My last post outlined how to turn off the most privacy invading feature of Facebook Places – the ability of friends to check you into places. I like to have this function turned off because now only the places I want to share will be shared. It’s just creepy that someone else can check you into a location.
But it appears that many people aren’t satisfied with just turning off the third party check in function and want to turn Places off altogether. I don’t get it. I’d rather have it on (and unused) in case some day I change my mind and want to use it. If I don’t want people to know where I am I simply won’t check in. But, as with most social networking services, there’s no right or wrong way to use Facebook and it’s features.
It turns out that you can’t turn off the ability to check in. But you can change it’s settings so that it doesn’t notify anyone (except yourself) when you have checked in somewhere.
There are a total of 4 settings to change to minimize the impact of Places. The instructions are as follows:
- Go to your Facebook Privacy Settings.
- Click the ‘Customize settings’ link that appears after your settings.
- Scroll down to the ‘Things I share’ section of the page.
- Click the drop down menu next to ‘Places I check in to’.
- Click ‘Customize’.
- In the ‘Make this visible to’ section of the ensuing popup select ‘Only Me’ from the ‘These people’ drop down menu.
- Click the ‘Save Setting’ menu.
- Back in the ‘Privacy Settings – Customer Settings’ page uncheck the ‘Enable’ checkbox next to ‘Include me in “People Here Now” after I check in.’
- Scroll down to the ‘Things others share’ section of the page.
- Select ‘Disabled’ from the drop down menu next to the ‘Friends can check me in to Places’ item.
- Go back to the Privacy Settings page by clicking on the ‘Back to Privacy’ button on the top right of the page.
- Click the ‘Edit your settings’ link under the ‘Applications and Websites’ heading on the bottom of the page.
- Click the ‘Edit Settings’ button next to the ‘Info accessible through your friends’ heading.
- Uncheck the checkbox next to ‘Places I check in to’.
- Click the ‘Save Changes’ button.
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Disable Facebook Places Tagging
Facebook Places was just announced last night and already people are panning the privacy aspects. The truth is that it’s probably no less respectful of one’s privacy than Foursquare or Gowalla.
For those not familiar with any of the services mentioned above they are all location tracking services where one can “check in” at a particular location and publicize that location to their friends. Foursquare and Gowalla include options to post your check ins to Twitter and Facebook so Facebook’s entry into the arena kind of cuts out the middle man for those who post to Facebook. (For now it will only be available on Facebook’s iPhone app and mobile website.)
Facebook’s implementation, though, adds some other features to the mix. The main one people are criticizing is the one that allows others to ‘tag’ you when checking. This makes your location part of someone else’s update as well as checking you in to that location. I like to call this a ‘third party check in’. This is obviously a privacy concern but only for those concerned about privacy. Let’s face it, if you’re participating in such a service then you probably don’t care if others know where you are even if you’re not the one to tell them. Nevertheless this is an issue.
The first time you use Places or are checked in by a third party you’ll get an email notification from Facebook asking you to opt in. Simply don’t opt in to tagging and your done. But what if you’ve already opted in?
You always have the option of removing your tag from a third party check in. But if you want to permanently block third party check ins follow these simple steps:
- Go to your Facebook Privacy Settings.
- Click the ‘Customize settings’ link that appears after your settings.
- Scroll down to the ‘Things others share’ section of the page.
- Select ‘Disabled’ from the drop down menu next to the ‘Friends can check me in to Places’ item.
Now nobody will be able to check you in.
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Seven-Inch iPad Coming?
Michael Dell under attack from the shareholders. HP board trying to explain the Hurd situation.IBM sued for fraud. Orleans working the cloud for Microsoft. Company has new navigation system and a new kind of MS-Mouse. Intel fixing NAND devices. SanDisk going after SSD biz. Australia is crazy. ZDNet seems clueless. Google not helping dev enough.
Click to listen: [audio:http://m.podshow.com/media/12115/episodes/245023/tech5-245023-08-18-2010.mp3]
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