Apple User Interface Changes

Via Malcolm Brown -- "iTunes 11 Interface Innovations: Good and Bad, but Not Ugly," by Adam C. Engst in TidBITS ("Apple news for the rest of us"). 

What I’m finding the most interesting about iTunes 11 is not its features, which are almost entirely the same as in previous versions, but the way that it thinks about interface in a rather different way from the previous versions. iTunes is sufficiently central to the user experience of most Apple users that its interface changes could give a sense of where Apple might take OS X’s interface. That may be good or bad, depending on your perspective, but it’s certainly something you should keep an eye on.

Continues at link 

Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook: Competition and Antitrust

The December 1, 2012, The Economist: Survival of the fittest: Battle of the internet giants. 

 
THE four giants of the internet age—Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon—are extraordinary creatures. Never before has the world seen firms grow so fast or spread their tentacles so widely. Apple has become a colossus of capitalism, accounting for 4.3% of the value of the S&P 500 and 1.1% of the global equity market. Some 425m people now use its iTunes online store, whose virtual shelves are packed to the gills with music and other digital content. Google, meanwhile, is the undisputed global leader in search and online advertising. Its Android software powers three-quarters of the smartphones being shipped. Amazon dominates the online-retail and e-book markets in many countries; less well known is its behind-the-scenes power in cloud computing. As for Facebook, if the social network’s one billion users were a country, it would be the world’s third largest.

The digital revolution these giants have helped foment has brought huge benefits to consumers and businesses, and promoted free speech and the spread of democracy along the way. Yet they provoke fear as well as wonder. Their size and speed can, if left unchecked, be used to choke off competition. That is why they are attracting close scrutiny from regulators.

Con't

Lexicon of Tech Terms

Lifehacker has a great lexicon of tech terms -- http://lifehacker.com/5964240/the-lifehacker-tech-dictionary

The Lifehacker Tech Dictionary

 Thorin Klosowski

Here at Lifehacker we talk about all sorts of tech-related things, and often times we'll use acronyms or terms that even the geekiest out there don't understand. So, we've created a tech dictionary to help you better read the internet as a whole, whether you're a tech noob or an advanced user.

This list by no means encompasses every technology term you'll run into, but it does cover the bulk of what we, and many other tech sites talk about frequently. It's meant as a quick resource to look up terms you run into, or to share with less tech savvy friends and family. It's broken down into six categories:

• Hardware Terms
• Internet Terms
• Network Terms
• Media Terms
• Security and Privacy Terms
• Software Terms

If you're looking for a particular term, use Ctrl+F to find what you're looking for on the page.

Con't

Facebook Dominant as Social Networking Service

http://readwrite.com/2012/11/29/users-average-7-hours-a-month-on-facebook-just-3-minutes-on-google-infographic -- Users Average 7 Hours A Month on Facebook, Just 3 Minutes on Google+, Taylor Hatmaker in readwrite social. 

Lots of data points; this all rings true to me. 

Facebook "Privacy Notice" Hoax

Below is a (growing) collection of links to stories about the latest hoax sweeping Facebook. (Additional common hoaxes, off the top of my head, include "Facebook will starting charging," and "OMG! Now you really can see who views your profile!")

These hoaxes are a pestilence. At best, they clog up status feeds, like spam; at worst, they serve as vectors to download malicious software.

My advice is that if someone -- even a close, apparently knowledgeable friend -- sends you something to cut-and-paste post as your status -- particularly if the consequences for not doing so are dire -- you should pause and at least think about verifying it before propagating the item.

Some resources for checking on potential hoaxes and scams, in addition to a routine google search, are

• http://www.snopes.com/ 
• http://hoax-slayer.com/ 
• http://thatsnonsense.com/ 

http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/305312/protecting-privacy-via-wall-posts-and-6-other-facebook-hoaxe -- "In fact, there have been dozens of Facebook hoaxes and scams, ..."

http://www.wired.com/business/2012/11/facebook-copyright-hoax/ -- "A silly copyright notice is sweeping Facebook today, with users attaching pseudo-legalese to their status updates in a misguided effort to prevent Facebook from owning or commercially exploiting their content. "

http://readwrite.com/2012/11/26/facebook-privacy-panic-its-a-viral-hoax-that-wont-affect-your-privacy -- "Fact check: Contrary to the viral cure-all circulating across Facebook and the Internet at large, there is no simple fail-safe text to post that will deter Facebook from controlling your personal data. There is no magic bullet to keep your social privacy private. And in fact, you may not really need one." 

http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/06/05/facebook-privacy-notice-chain-letter-is-a-hoax/ -- "Sorry folks, but posting a supposed legal disclaimer to your Facebook profile does not alter the Terms of Service (ToS) or privacy policies governing how your content is viewed on Facebook." 

http://gizmodo.com/5963210/that-facebook-copyright-notice-is-worthless -- "Good thing you cited the Berner (sic) Convention. Now you're definitely protected. Really though, you signed up for Facebook and anything you post on Facebook is basically well, Facebook's. You've agreed to the terms of service, and have been asked to continually agree to them as they've changed and evolved. ... if you don't like it, don't use Facebook. Or delete the things you don't want Facebook's grubby little mits all over." 

http://mashable.com/2012/11/26/viral-privacy-notice-facebook/ -- "A 'privacy notice' that's been virally spreading on Facebook, supposedly protecting one's personal details and data from unauthorized copying, is fake." 

http://www.insidefacebook.com/2012/11/26/fake-facebook-copyright-notice-goes-viral-as-actual-data-use-policy-is-up-for-review/ -- "Some Facebook users have been posting status updates that include legal language they believe will protect their copyright and privacy. The meme is a hoax that began in May and is going viral again." 

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6851490 -- NSFW. 

Update on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 05:42AM by williamgarrity

Via http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2412537,00.asp, a good list of how to avoid falling for these hoaxes: 

1. Does the information come from a shady source? Is there a reference to someone you do not know? Is the wording about the original source vague and breathless, such as, "This came to my attention after I was told that..."
2. Was the message cut and pasted from someplace else?
3. Did someone tell you to pass the message far and wide to everyone you know? 
4. Is screwball stuff misspelled?
5. Within the post, is there a disclaimer? (The best one is: "This is not a hoax!")
6. Does it seem plausible on the surface but your gut tells you it is bogus? (Your immediate BS meter is always correct! Fine tune it.)
7. Does it somehow encourage you to make a fool of yourself by either posting the hoax or passing it along to others? If you are asked to take action out of the blue by a casual acquaintance, then it's likely a hoax.
8. At the end of the day, is the hoax idiotic when you really look at it closely?