Amazon’s MP3 Shot at Apple

Amazon launched a mobile web version of its MP3 store. On the surface that may not seem significant, but as a mobile version based in HTML5 code, Amazon is able to offer another source for cheap tunes to iOS users.

Apple has historically made sure that iTunes is the de-facto way for iOS users to obtain content. To that end, many iOS users don’t bother to take advantage of other means of acquiring digital media as the walls of Apple surround them.

Now, Amazon is delivering the easiest of sources via a simple website address that any user can access. Hit up Amazon’s MP3 Store to check out the music offerings.

MediaFire Delivers 50GB to Android

In case you’ve been living under a rock, cloud storage services are everywhere right now. Between extremely popular services like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud and SkyDrive, users are covered from every angle. The only downside being that space can be an issue.

MediaFire this week announced that they’ve finally released an Android version of their app. While iOS users have been enjoying MediaFire’s free 50GB accounts for some time now, Android users finally get a taste of that huge chunk of cloud storage.

MediaFire is still a minor player in the cloud storage market, but with 50GB of free cloud storage they’re making a rather large footprint.

Facebook Adds Voice Calling for iOS

Take that Google Voice! Perhaps not. A new Facebook feature is aimed at giving mobile users free voice calls over Wi-Fi or cellular networks. While it is a promising development, there are limitations and it is by no means a serious challenge to Google Voice or other VoIP services.

Currently, the feature is only available to iOS users (by tapping the “i” button), can only call those with the Facebook Messenger app installed and cannot handle landline calls (which Google Voice can).

Still, it is early in the feature’s life cycle so anything is possible down the road.

Other Stories of Note

LinkedIn shuts down LinkedIn Answers

It’s being reported by Mashable that LinkedIn Answers will be expired to make way for other avenues of engagement between its members. End date appears to be 1/31/13. Reasoning behind the move points to limited interaction from users.

The news isn’t exactly earth shattering, but the Answers section was a good place to browse for information. Perhaps all the browsing wasn’t interactive enough to keep Answers alive.

MySpace Re-launch Sort of

MySpace has extended its arm from the grave with a new look. The cleaner more modern look appeals to the music side of users. Connecting through music is very much what MySpace is all about now. The idea is solid and if MySpace was named something other than MySpace, it would probably do well. As it stands, we’ll have to wait and see if MySpace can extend more than an arm from the grave.

Private Dell – A Sign of the Times

Although not set in concrete just yet, it appears Dell is moving towards a buyout on their way to becoming a private company. The computer industry as a whole has struggled amid the onslaught of tablets and smartphones. Dell in particular has taken huge hits with PC sales in a slump and a less than enthusiastic response from the tech world about Windows 8.

Going private may refocus Dell and empower them to think beyond traditional PCs, a gamble that must be taken to revitalize the company moving forward. If everything goes smoothly, expect news of Dell going private sometime in late January.

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The post Tech Stories You Might Have Missed [January 13-19, 2013] first appeared on GeekITDown Computer Services & Technology Solutions.

Currently the option to send voice messages is only available through the separate Messenger app for Facebook though we expect that to expand eventually.

How To Send Facebook Voice Messages

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• First, head over to your device’s app store, search for and install Facebook Messenger. [info]Facebook Messenger for iOS
  Facebook Messenger for Android[/info]
• Open the app and press the + sign to start a new message.
• Enter in a friend’s name in the ‘To:’ field.
• Press the + sign next to the ‘Write a message’ field.
• You’ll notice several options. Tap ‘Record Voice’.
• Press and hold the record button (circle with a red dot in the center) and speak your message.
• Release the record button when you are finished.
• Messages are automatically sent once the button is released.

Once the recorded message is sent, users can listen to it at anytime by pressing play inside their message center.

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The post How To Send Voice Messages To Friends [Facebook] first appeared on GeekITDown Computer Services & Technology Solutions.

Many of the changes are designed to simplify the control process for users with more direct labeling of privacy settings and additional control over what apps can see and do. However, with all the positive that may come from these changes, Facebook can’t mask that they have stripped away possibly the one feature that is most important for privacy.

Here’s a rundown of the changes and briefly what they mean for your privacy.

Facebook Privacy Changes

Request and Removal Tool for Photos

In a nutshell, users will have the ability to mass request other users remove photos of them or untag themselves from photos.

Of course untagged photos don’t remove photos from other areas of Facebook, just removes them from your own timeline.

Privacy Quick Links

A new Privacy Shortcuts button will be added to all Facebook pages in the upper right hand corner with the Home button.

The Privacy Shortcuts button will list 3 primary links to more directly view who has access to your data and who can contact you. A fourth option is available to “See All Settings”, but one can only wonder what “all” means this time around.

Activity Log Improvement

Facebook has implemented a way to view your entire history in one fell swoop through the Activity Log. Users can view their most recent post as well as posts from years ago from the Activity Log screen.

This feature is already in place and can be seen by appending “allactivity” to the end of your Facebook page URL. [info]Example: https://www.facebook.com/YOURUSERNAMEHERE/allactivity.[/info]

The improvements come by way of filtering whether it be by year, month, post type or app interaction so users can quickly see those items which appeared in their timeline.

App Permissions

For a long time it’s been, when an app is in, it’s in. Now users will have another option to prevent blanket allowing of permissions to apps.

Users will still need to allow an app access to their profile in order to utilize its benefits, but only basic approval with an option for advanced permission. [info]Example: You want to use an app so you allow the app access to your profile. Done. Now the app wants permission to post to your friends. You can allow or skip that permission.[/info]

This change doesn’t really mean a whole lot since apps could essentially ignore the process unless Facebook starts demanding they adhere to their new permission policy.

Search Inclusion

Finally, the most significant change isn’t a positive one. Facebook has decided that users cannot opt out of having their name included in search.

That means, users cannot keep their profile hidden from the search feature. [warning]Think of Facebook as a worldwide phonebook, but you can’t be unlisted.[/warning]

The opt out of search feature is one of the most important of all privacy settings and frankly the foundation for privacy on Facebook. We’ll let you draw your own conclusions about this change, but we find this to be unacceptable.

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The post Another Round Of Facebook Privacy Updates first appeared on GeekITDown Computer Services & Technology Solutions.

How To View Friendship Status Page

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• Login to Facebook.
• Navigate to one of your friend’s Facebook pages.
• Look for the gear icon just below the lower right-hand corner of their timeline image.
• Click the gear arrow.
  
• Click on ‘See Friendship’.

If done correctly you should have been directed to a unique page displaying information related to only you and the friend in question.

The pages are a good way to keep track of conversations and find something you both interacted on, in the past. What are your thoughts on the pages?

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The post How To View Friendship Status Page [Facebook] first appeared on GeekITDown Computer Services & Technology Solutions.

It seems every few months or so there is a new sequel in the long running series of Facebook privacy fiascoes. This time around Facebook is targeting anyone in a current or past relationship.

Couples Pages

The new, loosely labeled, feature is a new page created for anyone tagged in a relationship on Facebook. It combines users profiles to portray a single unified couples page. In a nutshell it means John Doe and Jane Doe now have a JohnDoeandJaneDoe page along with their own personal Facebook pages.

The new couples page displays numerous details about those in the relationship. As an example, couples pages might include anniversary date, photos they’re both tagged in, mutual friends, mutual likes and all posts involving each other.

As of now, there is no way to delete the pages or control the content displayed on couples pages.

Privacy Concerns

As usual, this new ‘feature‘ raises a lot of privacy concerns for users. First and foremost, there is absolutely no way to control couples pages. Neither partner in the relationship has ownership (which if they did would raise another problem) and there are no controls in personal account settings to manage couples pages and information.

Now to be fair, married couples in a long stable relationship may not have a problem with this feature. We can also see the benefit in having a couples page for newly engaged users who want to have a unified page to share the news with the world. However, in most cases we’re talking about young adults or even teenagers who flip the relationship tag off and on like a light switch. That kind sharing isn’t what anyone wants.

Additionally, anyone can view relationship information by navigating to a couples page. If you’re familiar with friendship pages, then you won’t be surprised by the setup and information available on couples pages.

What Can You Do

In short, not a whole lot. As we mentioned, control settings don’t exist and there is no way to opt out of couples pages. However, there are a few long, uncomfortable things you can do to limit the information on those pages.

[list type=bullet]

• Eliminate Mutual Friendship Listing: Nothing short of un-friending common friends will fix this.
• Eliminate Posts: Don’t post on each other’s walls or about each other to keep posts to a minimum on your couples page. Delete old posts if you want to remove existing information.
• Eliminate Common Likes: Don’t both like the same things.
• Eliminate Relationship Status and Location: You’ll have to hide those bits of information from everyone in your privacy settings. That will keep the ‘complicated’ and other statuses as well as where you live hidden from viewers.

Aside from those rather drastic steps, you can complain to Facebook and ask them to get rid of couples pages. Although, we have zero belief that Facebook will remove them no matter how much outrage there is.

Something To Consider

Facebook is still the giant among giants in terms of social gathering and interaction. There’s no denying that Facebook still brings us together like never before and even with the backhanded slaps to privacy, people continue to use it because there is no other source quite like it.

For those who are serious about moving on from Facebook there is an option. Create your own page where you, your friends and family can stay in contact. There are so many website creation services available now, that anyone can get started quickly. Many are free and offer plenty of detail for making a space of your own.

If games are your primary Facebook activity, then that option may be difficult to swallow but games come and go and you may find the idea of your own personal space – managed by you – a worthwhile project.

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The post Facebook Strikes Again With Couples Pages first appeared on GeekITDown Computer Services & Technology Solutions.

Recently, a snippet of disabled code was discovered by Tom Waddington, a web developer from Cut Out & Keep. The code suggests that a ‘Want’ button may be on the way from Facebook. The small bit is an XFBML tag, <fb:wants>. Which in plain terms means there is a real chance that a ‘Want’ button could be built-in to Facebook similar to the like button, without the need for users to authorize apps.

A ‘Want’ button would mean a world of opportunity for retailers and merchants to determine what users actually desire in products. Facebook has been actively improving their ad targeting by focusing on users interests, interactions, etc. A ‘Want’ button would open up a new door to advertising revenue and could make Facebook appear more stable in the eyes of Wall Street.

The question of why or why now should be asked. Although we don’t know for sure Facebook will be introducing the ‘Want’ button or just how long its been in the works, we can say that increased social network competition is part of it. Facebook has no real competition, but with the rise of other social networks their grasp weakens on small bits of the social experience. Pinterest for example has turned social sharing through images on its head. Pinterest users share colossal amounts of images and spend a high percentage of time on the site. Google+, while not the competitor it was billed to be, does have a steady following. Those numbers combine to equal less interaction on Facebook.

Facebook’s would be willingness to grow can only be beneficial. Users may gain more enticing deals from brands that know what they want and are willing to give it to them. Merchants could get their products in front of users, creating more exposure and potential profit. For now, the ‘Want’ button is just a snippet of code that is disabled, but the social, consumer potential is enormous.

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The post Facebook Hints At ‘Want’ Button In Unpublished Code first appeared on GeekITDown Computer Services & Technology Solutions.

Users who look at their settings will see the change under Email where they’ll see something like this, <your_facebook_name_here>@facebook.com. The change is touted by Facebook as a way to have everyone on the same level, whereby they can make the change to their liking afterwards.

Now, some may wonder why this is such a big deal. It’s not an overwhelmingly troublesome change, but it is an annoyance and a notification would have been nice rather than relying on media to convey the details. If you’re someone who relies on email as a way for Facebook friends to contact you because you’re too busy for regular Facebooking, then this change means you’ll need to adjust the email address broadcast to friends so that it reflects the email address you’re always plugged in to instead of the @facebook address.

The upside of such a change is that users who’ve embraced Facebook as their complete internet portal will likely find the change welcome since Facebook essentially becomes their email provider as well.

For those who want to make the change to a traditional email address or change their profile back to how it was, follow these steps:

How To Change Facebook Contact Info

• Login to Facebook
• Click your name in the top right corner to reach your profile page.
• Under your Profile photo, click About.
• Look for Contact Info and click Edit.
  
• The box expands to a large window. Find the @facebook email address and click the Friends icon to the right of it.
• Select Only Me to hide the visibility of the email address.
  
• Click the Circle icon to the right of the Friends icon and click Hide from Timeline.
  
• At the bottom of the Edit window, click Save.

Repeat those steps for the email address that you want people to use. For example, if you want friends to contact you through your Gmail account, you would follow the steps through #5, but click Friends, Public or Custom.

If you have any trouble, feel free to contact us through our Facebook page.

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The post Facebook Email Forced As Default On All Accounts first appeared on GeekITDown Computer Services & Technology Solutions.

Make Your Website Part Of The Nifty Collection

My1Login

Aggravated by the total number of passwords you enter on a daily basis? That number grows exponentially when you consider all the other logins you’ve created over the years. If you’re someone who’s security conscious and use different passwords for all accounts, then remembering them is nearly impossible. My1Login remembers your login credentials and passwords so you don’t have to. Continue..Read more about My1Login.

Visit My1Login

Minor Monitor

Minor Monitor is a tool for parents who want to keep track of their children’s Facebook activities. Most of us have seen or heard the stories about Facebook scams involving children. The problem can be anywhere from bad app usage to bullying or drug use to predators all targeted towards children. Minor Monitor provides parents with information on a wide range of topics focused on their child’s Facebook activities. Continue..Read more about Minor Monitor.

Visit Minor Monitor

Crowdtilt

Have you ever been asked to contribute money to fund something or been in charge of collecting cash for an event or cause? If so, then you may have experienced a time or two when funds fell short either in total or from individuals. Crowdtilt is a way to manage funding of projects so that funds are accounted for and goals are met. Continue..Read more about Crowdtilt.

Visit Crowdtilt

ClassParrot

We’ve put the spotlight on a number of ways for students to excel and take advantage of resources through study tools, scholarship programs and college jobs. Those are all great ways for students to achieve their goals, but as a teacher wouldn’t it be nice to have new resources for reaching your students? ClassParrot is a communication service that connects teachers with students through simple, private text messages. Continue..Read more about ClassParrot.

Visit ClassParrot

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Make Your Website Part Of The Nifty Collection

The post Nifty Websites Collection [April 22-28, 2012] first appeared on GeekITDown Computer Services & Technology Solutions.

Minor Monitor is a tool for parents who want to keep track of their children’s Facebook activities.

Most of us have seen or heard the stories about Facebook scams involving children. The problem can be anywhere from bad app usage to bullying or drug use to predators all targeted towards children. Minor Monitor provides parents with information on a wide range of topics focused on their child’s Facebook activities.

The free service works when a parent gives access permission to their child’s Facebook account. From there, Minor Monitor begins gathering data and provides analysis on the activities. Information monitored includes Wall posts, Status updates, Friend networks, Photos and many other Facebook activities. The information can be viewed at any time and Minor Monitor provides a dashboard to summarize all the interaction and activity at a glance. Parents can receive alerts via email or text when specific events occur so that they can act immediately.

Minor Monitor provides a wealth of information so parents with high expectations should find the service to be worthy of their time. Monitoring things like profanity or friend’s content may be low on the priority list while out of network or over-age friends and sexual references may be of more concern. Minor Monitor covers all of those events and much more. Minor Monitor can’t prevent posting or interaction on your child’s Facebook page, rather it’s a tool to help parents parent. The service currently only monitors Facebook activity though future plans include monitoring of other social networks.

Visit Minor Monitor

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Make Your Website Part Of The Nifty Collection

The post Minor Monitor Is Parental Control For Facebook first appeared on GeekITDown Computer Services & Technology Solutions.

Connections are paramount right now with social networks thriving and privacy essentially thrown out the window in favor of networking popularity. As a result, connecting with the right like-minded people is more important than ever. 3degrees is a website which seeks to connect you with others in a more trusted way.

3degrees is a take on the 6 degrees of separation theory by using your Facebook friends and their friends to meet and connect with others. People often need an introduction whether it’s for business, employment, relationships or something else. The most trusted way is to have a friend introduce the two parties. 3degrees uses social friend information to help users discover new people worth interacting with. Users then request an introduction from their friend to the new connection.

The service is focused on opening connections for people that they weren’t aware of. By using friends as introducing tools, people can connect more reliably and safely. Knowing your friend is a friend of someone you’d like to meet means less risk, because it comes from a familiar source of both parties.

3degrees is relatively new so expect more from this service as they expand their userbase. Unlike LinkedIn and other social websites where an entirely new and separate profile is used, 3degrees uses Facebook’s own data to deliver the results which can build your Facebook profile into a source of networking where overall users far exceed anywhere else on the web.

Visit 3degrees

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The post 3degrees: Connect With Friends Of Friends first appeared on GeekITDown Computer Services & Technology Solutions.