Facebook reorganizes chat list 'again'

After receiving flak for reorganizing users’ chat lists, social networking giant Facebook did it again: reorganizing the list and placing friends they interact with most at the top of the list.

Friends whose profiles the user interacts with most are listed at the top of the list, while others are placed in a list of “more online friends" below.

The changes were implemented Thursday morning in response to user feedback from a redesign of chat in July, tech site Mashable quoted a Facebook spokesperson as saying.

Mashable noted about 28,000 people had “liked" a Facebook Page entitled “I hate the new Facebook sidebar chat" – the first time Facebook had recently reorganized the chat list.

The latest redesigned chat now stretches from the top of the browser to the bottom instead of being contained to its previous pop-up box.

It showed only a selection of friends instead of everyone who was online.

Before July, all online friends appeared in the same bar in alphabetical order.

Mashable quoted the Facebook spokesperson as saying this most recent change is not a test. — TJD, GMA News

Facebook Messenger

Facebook recently launched a mobile messaging client, a standalone app that aims to challenge carriers, handset makers and others as the company expands its platform.

www.mobiledia.com - Facebook Messenger will let users to exchange instant messages, images and location information by using contact numbers stored on smartphones, regardless of whether they are friends on Facebook, according to the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company. Messages can also be broadcast to a group of people at once, a feature the company said can help organize activities and socializing on the go.

The client will run on iOS as well as Android smartphones. Facebook in March acquired messaging firm Beluga, which helped develop the app.

Facebook Messenger builds upon the increasing popularity of Facebook's communications features. Its email-like messaging and chat features, available to the social network's estimated 250 million active users, have made Facebook one of the top destinations on the Web and on smartphones, expanding the company into a full-fledged platform.

The company describes Messenger as an extension of the Facebook communication experience, which currently allows PC users to text chat. The company's prior IM offerings worked only among Facebook friends and required mobile users to go through the Facebook app, which is much slower than the new chat-optimized app.

"The positioning has always been how do we make Facebook messages more readily accessible and useable," said Peter Deng, product manager at Facebook in charge of the Messenger app.

By releasing its own standalone messaging client, Facebook is taking on competing offerings like BlackBerry maker Research In Motion's BBM service and Apple's future iMessage service. The Messenger service also goes up against niche offerings like GroupMe, and competes against mobile phone carriers' own text messaging services.

Carriers themselves, who derive profits from texting fees, may pose the biggest challenge to Messenger by managing networks in a way to hinder Facebook's app.

Messenger's launch also seems timed to respond to rival social network Google+ and its much lauded Hangout and Huddle features, which allow group videos and instant chat with friends. The new network has grown to more than 25 million users in just a little over a month, so Facebook may be feeling pressure to roll out new features like Messenger to keep people away from its rival.

A standalone app is a rarity for Facebook, which has so far attempted to consolidate its activity either on its website or via apps. Necessity may have prompted the release, since a dedicated client offers more speed and reliability in delivering messages, but Messenger could also herald other standalone apps, especially as Facebook moves to offer more videos, for example.

The company also recently announced a partnership with Skype to offer video chat through its website last month, offering another way Facebook may expand its suite of services and features.

How To Fix Your New Facebook Chat

Out of frustration of the new facebook chat system, you know - the one that shows offline contacts jumbled up awkwardly with online and Idle contacts - I decided to create an extension to hide all the offline contacts to have a simplified interface which will show only Online and Idle contacts side-by-side, similar to the old interface, with the added bonus of the new search function and multi-person chat function!

You can download this extension here!

Facebook's new chat design has received varied degrees of hate in recent reviews... Most people see this as Facebook trying and failing to keep up with Google's new social network, Google Plus. Google Plus has so far gotten exceptional reviews and gained in excess of 20 million users in 3 weeks of operation, despite being an invite only network for the time being...

I suspect this is the first of many changes we are about to see on Facebook and indeed, facebook chat. With Microsoft's recently acquiring Skype, Facebook is slowly loosing the massive lead it has obtained over the years by two of the largest companies in the world - Google and Microsoft! Facebook will i'm sure, step up to the plate, but in the mean time, do yourself a favor, and download "Fix the New Facebook Chat" extension... NOW!

Hometown Online Visiting

Filipinos who have long been away from their country can virtually "return home" through the popular social networking site Facebook.

The online pages have become venues for prospective "balikbayans" who want to be updated on happenings in the places they had left for work abroad or for good. They may give comments and suggestions on how their hometowns may improve.

"San Vicente is a little community in the Philippines, on the main island of Luzon, 350 kilometers south of Manila," reads a Facebook account of the town of San Vicente in Camarines Norte in welcoming "fan" or "friend" to view and post.

As of July 10, the page has been "liked" by 462 people, including the town's mayor, Joseph Stanley Alegre. Persons who "like" the page can post.

Hundreds of people with roots in the small municipality have already posted.

"I miss Mananap," says one Facebook user, referring to a village that has a waterfall.

"Then go here so you won't miss it," the page administrator tells the user.

The conversation goes on and on until the discussion boils down to the fiesta and the reunion of users who have liked the page.

Also posted are photos of tourist attractions or landmarks that, evidently, make people long for their hometown more.

In the Facebook page of Daet in Camarines Norte, one user says, "I am proud I am from Daet where the Bagasbas Beach, the number one surfing destination in Bicol, is found."

But he was quick to say that he was missing his hometown. The user works as a management trainee in a food company in Qatar.

In the page of Milagros, Masbate, many persons are exclaiming love for their hometown.
"How is there in our place?" asks a user, who works as a security guard in Malabon City.

"I feel sad that I have to leave Milagros soon after the town fiesta. I miss the place," says another, who is working in a health facility in Quezon City.

Progress check
In the Facebook page of San Ramon, Uson, Masbate, many have expressed gladness over the progress of the barangay in a photo of two traders on board a motorcycle that is overloaded with what appears to be farm produce.

"I salute San Ramon for the development," comments one user, an interior designer based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"The people in San Ramon are lucky now. In my time, it's hard because the road is very bad," replies another.

In the page "Cawayan Masbate Watch," one user posts: "I really miss my birthplace ... But I'm counting the days to be there again! Hope that it will be soon ..."

"How are you Pio V. Corpus. My birthplace," says a user in the Facebook page of Pio V. Corpuz who is now living in San Diego, California.

"Wow, I miss the place. Maybe five years from now, I'll go there on a vacation," says another now residing in Cebu City.

Home soon
The Facebook page of the town of Balud, Masbate-the westernmost town of Bicol-is full of posts from persons missing the far-flung town.

"Things have changed in Balud. I'm missing it," says one user.

"Balud, I'll be home soon. I've been gone for almost three years. You have changed much," says another.

Still another commented that he suddenly missed his hometown upon seeing a photo of its pasture lands. He now lives in Calamba City in Laguna.

In the Facebook page of San Fernando, Masbate, one user tells all other persons who like the page "The only thing that changed in San Fernando is the mayor [who runs it]."

Richard Gacu, 24, of Talisay, Camarines Norte, who has been a Facebook user since last year, "liked" the page of Camarines Norte in May.

"I did it because I am proud of my hometown," he said. He now works as a documentation officer in Metro Manila.

Dustin Sierra, 21, the administrator of the Facebook page "Tamban Camarines Sur" said he created the page to update all those who were born in and spent a part of their lives in Tamban on what has happened in the place long after they left.

"It is also meant to update them on important local developments."

The page, he said, was for those who who had ties to Tamban who were missing their families, looking for childhood playmates, craving for native fares and missing the good times of the bygone years.

Anyone who is not a minor can create and administer a page in Facebook, the social networking site founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz and Eduardo Saverin in 2004.

As of July 2011, it has at least 750 million active users around the world.

Facebook ban spurs picket at Ateneo de Davao

Students and some faculty members picketed the Ateneo de Davao University last week in protest of the restrictions imposed on them in going online on social networking site Facebook within campus.

Students complained that they were required to pay more than P1,300 as “information technology fee" each semester.

But the administration of Ateneo de Davao clarified that Facebook is “not totally banned" in their university, but rather the restrictions prohibit students from going to the popular site from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. only.

School officials said that the sheer number of people who go on Facebook on campus heavily overburdens the university’s internet service bandwidth, such that it negatively impacts on the university’s other online services.

GMA News' newscast "Saksi" on Monday reported on the picket.

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After the official announcement of the ban, an open letter was issued stating: “The College Faculty Union of Ateneo de Davao University (CFU) vehemently protests the blocking of social networking sites such as Facebook and Friendster, including other sites. The blocking is initiated by the Technical Service Office (TSO) of the university, as the internet site claims to be [sic]. This infringes on the freedom of information and of expression which requires thorough discussion beforehand to determine what constitutes a violation or not. The CFU will file grievance as initial and LEGAL response directed to the head of TSO."

On her blog, Ateneo de Davao professor Dominique Cimafranca noted that the picketers held up placards with Facebook’s blue-and-white “f" logo and the statement “Stop Facebook Ban."

“They do know what an ‘F’ means academically, right?" she wrote wryly that she had quipped to her fellow faculty member.

Also last week, another university in Mindanao, state-run University of Southern Mindanao prohibited school personnel from going on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites during office hours. — Marlon Anthony Tonson/VS, GMA News

Goodbye Friendster!

My last log-in on Iphone...may isang viewer pa.. lolz

BACK when Facebook was a mere seed in the mind of Mark Zuckerberg—or the Winklevoss twins, depending on whose side you are on—Friendster was all the rage.

To the younger ‘uns who’ve never been, Friendster was the virtual hangout for everyone, and it pioneered the social network that Facebook has become famous for.

In lieu of Walls and poking, there were testimonials—long drawn-out, flowery testaments about how awesome a friend you are. There was no tagging of photos (gasp!), but you could see when your friend last logged on, so no “I didn’t read your message ‘cause I haven’t logged on yet” drama, and for a while, Friendster surprise installed a “Who’s viewed your profile” feature which drove all the snoopy stalkers, myself included, into a crazy panic. There was no Farmville, or any social game, and Friendster was essentially like a stripped-down version of Facebook.

Explosion
And then Facebook happened. Its explosion on the social network scene guaranteed the steady demise of Friendster, and everyone jumped like rats from a sinking site. Pretty soon, Friendster was a thing of the past, with most of its previous members denying they were once addicted to the site.

Still, the dregs of our past profiles lived on—that is, until the end of this month. In Friendster’s efforts to clean house and revamp its site, all user data and photos will be deleted from its servers, so you still have a few days to decide if you wanna download your profile onto your hard drive, or even export it to other sharing sites like Flickr or Multiply.

For those who want to keep a copy of past profiles and photos, simply visit Friendster’s help page and use the Friendster Exporter app to perform the backup. The Exporter covers friend lists, profile information, blogs, comments, photos, messages and testimonials, and groups.
Friendster will only wipe out the contents of your profile, but your profile will remain as part of Friendster’s new, future site—that is, if you’re still interested.

inquirer.net

Virtual marijuana farming on Facebook

It looks a little like the hit game Farmville, but a new game that lets players grow and sell virtual marijuana also looks more like courting potential controversy for social networking site Facebook.

The new game, "Weeds Social Club," is based on the hit TV series "Weeds" and lets players grow and sell virtual weeds so they can —like the show's lead characters— save their house.

The game is based on "Weeds," an American TV comedy centering on a widowed mother who sells marijuana to support her family, but becomes more involved in illegal activities.
Like in Farmville, players will have to keep track of duties like growing, tending to, and selling their "plants" at the right time.

Also like in Farmville, players can interact with other Facebook users playing the same game.
But unlike Farmville, players will get to experience the run-ins of Nancy Botwin, the lead character in the TV series, with problems such as police and organized crime, according to tech site Mashable.

On the other hand, The Huffington Post said that players can get tips in the game from Andy Botwin, another character from the "Weeds" show.

But the game's creators insist the game does not break any laws, adding that it has already been approved by Facebook.

The game is presently in closed beta testing and is expected to be publicly launched in August, according to Mashable. — TJD, GMA News

Winklevoss Twins Give Up on Facebook Case

By pefohorh

The Harvard University classmates of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg are ending the legal battle made famous by the Hollywood movie "The Social Network."
In a one-paragraph court filing Wednesday, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss said they would accept a settlement that was worth $65 million when agreed upon in 2008.

The twins had sought to undo the settlement of $20 million cash and $45 million in stock.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the twins, saying they had been represented by a squadron of Silicon Valley lawyers and their father, a noted business professor.
The twins said Wednesday they would forgo a trip to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Their stock is now worth more than $100 million.

Buhay na buhay ang internet (Lola Techie 'Like' TV Commercial)

Lola Techie, a technology-oriented grandma who uses Facebook and other social networking sites, and plays online games, has a new Bayan DSL infomercial. Anyone who's fond of watching TV would notice her ad, "Buhay na buhay ang internet," where she doesn't say anything except 'like'.

Here's Lola Techie's video:

Friendster is shutting down its social networking services.

Say good-bye to Friendster as you know it. The first social network site is shutting down its social networking services after 9 years.

Friendster was bought by Money Online (MOL), a Malaysian company that also owns the Berjaya group of companies, from its American owners.

Last week, Friendster sent an e-mail to its users advising them to export their profiles, photos, and blogs by May 31 or these will all be history. All these will be erased to give way to the new Friendster which will be launched in a couple of weeks.

"You can't compete with Facebook. They did a good job. It's a Facebook world," said Nikolai Galicia, Friendster and MOL country manager for the Philippines.

But Galicia clarified that Friendster is not shutting or closing down. "Friendster will continue. Mag-iiba lang ang focus niya. After MOL bought Friendster, we are moving forward. The new Friendster will complement Facebook."

Friendster will retain its name but will discontinue its social network services. It will be re-launched as a social entertainment site where users will be able to play games and listen to music.

"Fifty percent of FB users don't like games. We will service the other 50 percent," said Galicia.

The Philippines has the most number of Friendster users worldwide with an estimated 20 million users.

Galicia said they understand how important Friendster is to many Filipinos. "Nine years na ang Friendster. Parang diary na 'yan."

So Friendster has created tools to easily export users' profiles, photos and blogs where these can be kept.

For instance, photos can be exported to Flickr or Multiply, and blogs to Wordpress and Blogger.

A user's Friendster profile including comments, testimonials, messages, shoutouts and treasure chests can be saved as a document. "[With] a few clicks, it can be saved like a PDF form. Forever mo na makikita ang diary mo," Galicia said.

Long time Friendster users like Anne King are sad about this new development. King said when she got the e-mail announcement from Friendster, she immediately exported her entire account. "The earlier, the better", said King.

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com