Facebook 2011 Top 10 Lists

January 3, 2012

Facebook has more than 800 million users. Don’t you sometimes wonder what these users share, what world events they discuss, or how much global news like tragedies, events, and trends affects the activities of users on Facebook? A list of chart topper might show us what people were up to on Facebook. So, here is a collection of Facebook’s Top 10 List of 2011.

  1. Top 10 Global Topics of 2011
  2. Top 10 Status Trends of 2011
  3. Top 10 Most Recommended Facebook Games of 2011
  4. Entertainment: Facebook’s Top 10 Lists of 2011
  5. Music: Facebook’s Top 10 Lists of 2011
  6. Sports: Facebook’s Top 10 Lists of 2011
  7. Most Shared Articles on Facebook in 2011
  8. More 2011 Top 10 List Relating to Facebook

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Thrusting Pelvis: The New Way Of Liking

January 27, 2012

Few years back I met a friend whom I haven’t keep in touch with for a long time at a book stand. We got off talking and he suggested we keep in contact through Facebook. After few minutes, I was explaining about privacy settings (if I am not mistaken) since he was pretty new to Facebook. We were so engrossed in the conversation I didn’t realize what was going on until a cop showed up. There were around a dozen people listening to our conversation and the cop though something was up. When I looked up I saw people grinning and someone shouted “Geeks!!” and the owner of the bookstand said, “You know, you could have done that over a cup of coffee.” I looked at my friend, we let out a laugh. I don’t know how our laugh sounded, because by then I was really starting to feel embarrassed. But, the cup of coffee we went for after that was nice.

I am sure most of you might have had some awkward or embarrassing moments because of Facebook. But, no matter what you story, I guess Deeplocal’s “LikeBelt” takes social awkwardness to a whole new level.

Despite being hilariously funny, the “LikeBelt” is a clever hardware-hacking project that uses near-field communication technology (NFC) to register Facebook likes. The NFC-enabled belt is linked to a smartphone turning the user into a physical representation of social activities.

It’s going to take some work though, because RFID (radio frequency identification) chips need to be manually implanted into points of interest. But, using it is a breeze. Just equip yourself with the belt, and approach a person or thing that deserves liking, give it a few pelvic thrust to register your “Like.”

You can also check-in, add a friend, or post to someone’s profile using the belt.

You can build yourself one if you like. The how-to instruction is available at likebelt.com. But, please, please watch the video before you decide to go start on one.

“There used to be simple ways of saying you like thing, like thumbs up, high fives, or humping,” Nathan Martin, CEO of Deeplocal, told Wired.

Elvis or MJ would have been the perfect product ambassadors for LikeBelt if they were still around (No offence intended).

Jokes apart, embedding the NFC-tech into a wristband or jerseys of NBA players for registering fives would be cool.

Until then, hump your way to social awkwardness with the belt.

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Infographic: If You Printed Facebook’s (Status Updates)

January 27, 2012

An infographic released by printer ink retailer Cartridgesave, reveals that 62% respondents updated their Facebook status once a day, of which more than half were 2 lines long.

If one should print all the status updates made in a year, you’d need as much paper as it would take to produce half a million Oxford English dictionaries, and as much cash as it would take to build two London Eyes.
Would you read the book of Facebook status updates if it was available? I fear you would need a few thousand lives to complete it.

infographic cartridgesave printfacebook Infographic: If You Printed Facebooks (Status Updates)

Credit: Cartridgesave

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Facebook, Washington State Attorney Up Against Adscent Media For Likejacking

January 27, 2012

Facebook team up with the Washington’s attorney general have filed separate suits against Adscent Media, an ad network accused of encouraging the spread of spam via tactics like clickjacking.

In most Facebook scams, users are offered links to provocative content, and through a series of cleverly designed steps, tricked them into liking pages, and/or unwittingly surrendering personal information, subscribing to expensive services, and spreading links to their friends.

Likejacking is a form of clickjacking, which takes advantage of a browser vulnerability that permits malicious actors to make the ‘Like’ button invisible. Once the ‘Like button is made invisible, scammers can overlay pictures and other content, and trick users to click on the invisible ‘Like’ button.

In some cases, a process called “clickjacking,” codes are hidden in enticing-looking links, that activates Facebook’s ‘Like’ function.
Facebook said a browser vulnerability that allowed the exploit has been fixed so users shouldn’t continue to see the scam.

Adscend Media LLC, a self-described “performance-based marketing network”, is believed to have generated $20 million a year from the actions.

“We don’t ‘like’ schemes that illegally trick Facebook users into giving up personal information or paying for unwanted subscription services through spam,” Attorney General Rob McKenna said in a statement.

“Security is an arms race, and that’s why Facebook is committed to constantly improving our consumer safeguards while purshing and supporting civil and criminal consequences for bad actors,” said Facebook General Counsel Ted Ullyot.

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Timeline Apps: Quick Guide To Manage Them

January 26, 2012

Facebook’s announcement regarding making Timeline mandatory might leave quite a lot of users unhappy.
But, that’s what all major Facebook update has gone through. And like it or not, Timeline is here to stay.

For Facebook, it’s a thing of the past and has gone ahead with launching 60 Timeline apps few days back, with the hope that its users will spend more time on the site through these apps.

Timeline apps, on one hand, will make it easier for users to keep tab of things they like without leaving the site. Once you install an app, all activities associated with that app will be neatly grouped into a small box on your Timeline. With the old profile, activity feeds of an app use to litter your wall with each individual action you take on a third-party site. But on the other hand, users will experience an influx of over-sharing with feeds from these apps on their Timeline, ticker, and News Feed.

There are about 80 Timeline apps available on Facebook’s Timeline Apps information page, divided into 9 categories that include Entertainment, Fitness, Food, Giving, Music, News, Shopping and Fashion, Travel, and Others. One can expects thousands more in the near future.

You too, will be using quite a few in a short period of time. So, here are few things that you can do to make the best use of Timeline apps and make the experience worthwhile.

1. Before you download the app, choose a setting for the app by going through the option “Who can see activity from this app on Facebook.” Note that your default privacy settings will kick in automatically for all your applications, unless you change it.

2. Be sure to broadcast your activities of an app only with those who have similar interest. Choosing the “Only Me” option will limit your activity feeds on your Timeline only, and it will only be visible to you.

3. You can always go back and review or change your preferences from your Privacy Settings Page.

You will see all the apps you have installed and the permissions associated with them by going through: Privacy Settings -> Edit Settings (next to Apps and Websites) -> Edit Settings (next to Apps you use).

Here, you can remove apps you don’t like/use. Review the permissions granted to them, and remove certain permission. Some permission is mandatory, as they are required for the app to work correctly.

4. Last but not the least, you should remember that your friends and people you share your information with can also share your activity with apps they use.

If you don’t want people sharing your app activity, go through: Privacy Settings -> Settings (next to Apps and Websites) -> Edit settings (next to How People bring your info to apps they use) -> uncheck the box next to “My app activity” on the dialog that pops up.

Remember that Facebook is about connecting, sharing, and discovering. Don’t do it in a way that risks your privacy or your online connection.

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Rivio Sets Up Date Between Angry Birds and Facebook This Valentine

January 26, 2012

Game developer Rovio has set up their fruit of labor “Angry Birds” for a date with Facebook this Valentine’s Day.

So, Rejoice “Angry Birds” lovers! The rest might have to get ready to show some of your Facebook friends the boot, because angry birds are flocking to your feeds soon.

http://youtu.be/qS0NQ3CtKhg

This very popular mobile game is finally breaking into Facebook on Feb. 14 with a big launch in Jarkarta, reports Penn Olson.

“Why Jakarta? Well it’s obvious … as Jakarta is the global capital of Facebook. Holding the launch here would be appropriate as it is a major Facebook hub,” Penn Olson quotes Peter Vesterbacka.

“Nothing says ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ like competitive pig-popping among friends,” Rovio said in its blog post.

Angry Birds became a smashing hit on smartphones and tablets shortly after its debut in 2009, and quickly became a global phenomenon with over 700 million downloads.

The Facebook version is expected to contain added social elements that include leaderboards and premium items.

Without doubt date between the most popular game and the most popular social networking site will turn out to be the talk of the whatever. But, I my heart goes out to all the sick Angry Birds lovers, because its either “Angry birds” or “Angry Valentine.”

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Developers Congratulates Zynga For Ripping Off Their Game

January 25, 2012

Independent studio NimbleBit, offers congratulations to Zynga for shamelessly ripping off their game, Tiny Tower, 2011′s iPhone game of the year.

Zyng’s latest game “Dream Height,” released last week in Canadian iTune App Store, bears a striking resemblence with Tiny Tower.

Although the games have different graphical styles, the basic gameplay and strategic elements are identical, which drew the ire of users who took to blogs and Twitter to voice their displeasure.

While NimbleBit employee Ian Marsh tweeted a comical and sarcastic comparison of the two games (check out the image below), David Marsh, another NimbleBit employee, tweeted his thoughful response:

“Even when you refuse to go work for Zynga, sometimes you end up doing work for Zynga anyway.”

dearzynga e1327470105989 Developers Congratulates Zynga For Ripping Off Their Game

This isn’t the first time Zynga has been accused of ripping off other games. But, almost all of their titles were well received by consumers. However, this is the first time a rival company has called them out in such a public and pointed way. Wonder if it would change anything.

There’s been no suggestion about NimbleBit seeking legal action against Zynga yet.

What do you think of Zynga’s actions? Do you think Dream Height will fare well?

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Timeline Now Available Worldwide, Will Become Mandatory Soon

January 25, 2012

In December 2011, Faceboook began rolling out Timeline to all users. Users were given the chance to opt-in to the Timeline until it was fully rolled out.

Facebook says that timeline is now available worldwide, and will be switching the profile of its 800 million users to the new profile over the next few weeks, according to a blog post Tuesday.

9b5735de4a6f801ab73e98436da4 Timeline Now Available Worldwide, Will Become Mandatory Soon

Users will have a 7-day period which they can use to decide what to show, hide, or remove from their profile before they publish their Timeline. This is something all users should take time to do, because all of your post – the good, the bad, and the ugly – will become visible all of a sudden.

As with any major Facebook update, not everyone is happy about the changes. A particular Facebook page, called Timeline sucks, set up to protest the move and request the site gives users the choice of which profile page they want.

In the meantime, Facebook unveiled over 60 Timeline apps few days back. These apps allow you to share your activities more easily, in more detail and interact with the app. If adopted widely by users, they will also give users a reason to stay on Facebook rather than spend online time elsewhere.

This might be a reason why Facebook is trying to make the switch as soon as possible.

Facebook has not provided an exact date on which the changeover will take place.

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Facebook, Twitter, MySpace Creates “Don’t Be Evil” Bookmarklet Against Google’s “Search Plus Your World.”

January 24, 2012

Engineers of popular networking sites Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace released a browser bookmarklet called “Don’t Be Evil,” in response to Google’s new “Search Plus Your World” feature.

Google’s “Search Plus Your World” feature is supposed to integrate social network data into search results, but it only pulls data from Google+ and Picasa at the moment.

Twitter criticized changes, saying they artificially inflate Google+ above its natural position if measured by popularity around the web. Moreover, the changes will result in finding the most relevant information difficult.

External commentators have also accused Google of betraying its original aims – to give the broadest view of the most popular links on the web – in order to boost Google+ artificially.

The new bookmarklet, “Don’t Be Evil” (at jab at Google’s informal motto), alters Google search results to make them more like they were before “Search Plus Your World” was launched.

Don’t Be Evil bookmarklet and other resources can be found at FocusOnTheUser.org. To install, click the button that says “Try a More Relevant Google.” Then, drag the “don’t be evil” button into the browser bar of Firefox or Safari. Chrome users can get the extension over at http://www.focusontheuser.org/extensions.php.

While Google insisted that Facebook and Twitter did not allow sufficient access to their sites for Google to be able to integrate results from them into its search, and that Google+ was not being favoured, search engine analyst Danny Sullivan shows that the new “Don’t be evil” tool offers what seems objectively a far more accurate reflection of the popularity of different pages on the web.

The code was created by Blake Ross, director of product at Facebook, with help from Twitter and MySpace.

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Anonymous Denis Plans To Take Down Facebook On January 28, 2012

January 24, 2012

Hactivist group Anonymous denied plans to take down Facebook.

A video posted on YouTube on Monday, claiming to be from Anonymous, said the group wil be attacking Facebook at 12:00 AM EST on January 28, 2012, and called on supporters to target the social network, to protest plans to crack down on online piracy.

“Again we must say that we will not attack #Facebook! Again the mass media lie,” the group tweeted from the @AnonOps feed, the Twitter account linked to the hacker group Anonymous.

The tweet was distributed hours after the video was posted on YouTube.

The video begins with an anonymous voice narrating:

“An online war has begun between Anonymous, the people, and the government of the United States.”

“While SOPA [Stop Online Piracy Act] and PIPA [PROTECT IP Act] may be postponed from Congress, this does not guarantee that our Internet right will be upheld.”

The video goes on to say that taking down Facebook would be the “greatest Internet protest and first official cyber war.” The voice scoffs at the idea that Facebook is too big to destroy. “While it is true that Facebook has at least 60,000 servers, it is still possible to take it down.”

The narrator also suggest that anyone who supports the cause download a program in order to participate in a Facebook attack, which, he says, needs to be coordinated for a specific time in order to bring down the servers.

“There is no way you can get caught. Hundreds of thousands of us … will all be participating. They cannot take down that large of a group,” the narrator went on.

The group became very active in the last few days launching a string of high profile attacks that include the websites of the US Justice Department, CBS News, Motion Picture Association of America, Universal Music, and other sites in protest of the Megaupload shutdown.

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Facebook Game Review: Triple Town – A Fine Addictive Game

January 23, 2012

Facebook Triple down game from Spry Fox is a cute little matching game with a surprising twist.

fb game tripletown 300x219 Facebook Game Review: Triple Town A Fine Addictive GameUnlike other matching games where you group together matching tiles, bubbles, jewels or anything to clean up the board, in Triple Down, you match up items to build up your board or town.

The game starts off with a 6×6 grid game area that is randomly filled up by different objects like grasses, bushes, house etc. Your basic mission is to attempt to grow the greatest possible city by matching three or more similar items together. Match three or more grasses to make a bush, three bushes to make a tree… until you’ve filled the board with cathedrals and castles.

Check out the screenshots that I have put together to get a clearer picture of how the buildings are build.

fb game tripletown buildings Facebook Game Review: Triple Town A Fine Addictive Game

Apart from building, you will have to watch out for pesky bears and ninjas. They themselves won’t do any harm but you will not be able to build on the grids they are on. So, you will have to kill them by trapping them. Once trapped, they will turn into tombstone. Three or more tombs will turn into a church. You can also corner three of more bears at once. Three churches make a cathedral, and three cathedrals turn into treasure.

Trapping a bear is easy with a little bit of strategy. But, ninjas are of different league. You cannot trap them because they will shift their location at every turn. You can only remove them with an Imperial Bot that erases any object from a grid on the board.

Besides imperial bots, you will get a crystal every now and then. Use the crystal as a wild card. There is also a storage facility where you can store objects to use them in times of need. You can also buy items from the game store with the coins that you earn.

When you put down the last piece of a triad, the upgraded object will be formed at that piece’s grid. So, the game requires a careful thinking. A particular board ends when all the grid of the board is filled.

fb game tripletown02 Facebook Game Review: Triple Town A Fine Addictive Game

The game graphics are cute and nice. I don’t have anything to complain about the game, except for its limited social feature as a social game. The only social element I have come across was inviting friends and a weekly high score chart. It would be nice to be able to send gifts.

All in all, Triple Town is a very addictive puzzle/matching strategy game that is full of challenge, fun and be warned that you could get stuck with the game for hours.

You might want to try it out if you haven’t.

(Play Triple Town Facebook Game)

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