Facebook Agrees With Canada On Privacy Controls

Facebook agreed Thursday to give users more control over the information they share with third-party applications like games and quizzes in response to concerns raised by Canadian privacy officials.

Currently, people who wish to use such third-party software have to agree to share all their data with the application. With the changes, the application developer will have to specify which categories of data the software needs, so users can decide accordingly.

Users will also have to specifically approve any access Facebook applications have to their friends' information. Such access still would be subject to the friend's privacy and application settings.

"Application developers have had virtually unrestricted access to Facebook users' personal information," Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart told reporters Thursday. "The changes Facebook plans to introduce will allow users to control the types of personal information that applications can access."

Although the changes stemmed from Canadian privacy complaints, they will apply to Facebook's 250 million users worldwide.

Last month, Canada's privacy commissioner accused Facebook of disclosing personal information about users to the nearly 1 million third-party developers worldwide who create Facebook applications.

Stoddart's report also said the Web site breaches Canada's privacy law by keeping a user's personal information indefinitely - even after some members close their accounts.

As part of Thursday's agreement, Facebook will provide users with a clearer distinction between deactivating an account and deleting it, along with a better explanation of how its advertising programs work.

"People will be able to enjoy the benefits of social networking without giving up control of their personal information," Stoddart said.

Facebook said the entire process would take up to a year to implement.

Elliot Schrage, vice president of global communications and public policy at Facebook, said the changes set a new standard for the social networking industry.

Privacy has been a central, often thorny issue for Facebook because so many people use it to share personal information with their friends and family. As the 5-year-old social networking service has expanded its user base and added features, its privacy controls have grown increasingly complicated.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company has said it was overhauling its privacy controls in an attempt to simplify its users' ability to control who sees the information they share on the site.

The Canadian privacy commission garnered worldwide attention this summer when Canada became the first country to legally examine Facebook's privacy provisions.

The privacy commissioner launched the probe of Facebook in response to a complaint last year from the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa.

With nearly 12 million Canadian Facebook users, Canada is among the world leaders in per capita usage of the site.

[+] Keep Reading

First U.S. Rehab Center for Internet Addiction :: Opens its Door

Over the last few years, a new and disturbing phenomenon has been increasing in frequency. It’s called Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD), and it has been the subject of new research and debate. It is not currently included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), but many argue that addictions to the web and to Internet-based video games like World of Warcraft does indeed exist. The debate is now back in focus after the Heavensfield Retreat Center announced that it has opened what appears to be the first addiction recovery program for Internet Addiction Disorder in the U.S. Called reSTART, the 45-day program is designed to take serious sufferers of IAD and bring balance to their lives. It already has its first patient, a 19 year old who could not remove himself from World of Warcraft.

The Program

reSTART is a 45-day treatment program out of Fall City, Washington (near Seattle) that takes 2-6 people at a time and essentially cuts them off from the web and works with them to “reprogram” their social skills. It includes work with a recreation coach, a therapist, exercise and yoga instructors, and more. Their website actually provides a detailed sample schedule, which includes exercise, nature hikes, “discovery quests,” career development, therapy, and more.

To qualify for admittance to reSTART, you have to display symptoms of its nine guidelines for IAD. They are as follows:

Have a strong desire or impulse to use the internet.

Decreasing or stopping of the internet leads to withdrawal symptoms (e.g., general malaise,   restlessness, irritability, lack of concentration, dyssomnia); and the above mentioned symptoms may be relieved by similar electronic media (e.g., TV, handheld games, gaming devices).

Continually increasing the amount of internet use and the extent of internet involvement to reach sense of satisfaction.

Use of internet in spite of its harmful effects; despite knowledge of harmful effects, internet use is hard to stop.

Difficulties controlling beginning, and finishing, and the duration of time of internet use; efforts to modify internet use may be attempted multiple times without success.

As a result of internet use, interests, recreation or social activities are decreased or abandoned.
Internet use is seen as a way to escape problems or to gain relief from negative feelings.

The extent of internet use is denied or minimized to teachers, schoolmates, friends or professionals (including actual time and expenditure of internet contact).

Everyday life and social function is impaired (e.g., in social, academic and workability.)

Of course, this program is not free. For 45 days, the price is a hefty $14,500. Rehabilitation programs have never been cheap, though, so this price does not particularly shock us.


What Are We To Think Of These Program

It’s getting tougher and tougher to argue that there is no such thing as Internet Addiction Disorder, especially if you watched the CNN video above. The sad truth is that it’s possible to become addicted to just about anything, and that the web (and World of Warcraft) has sucked many people in so deep that they ignore social interactions and forget real-world obligations.

Does a rehab center for extreme cases make sense? Yes, especially if reSTART can provide scientific proof of success in breaking the addictions of its patients. Still, rehab doesn’t work for all drug addicts, and it probably won’t work for all Internet addicts. And unlike drug addiction, you can’t simply avoid and abstain from using the web; it’s too central to our economy, our work, our education, and our lives to be ignored. 

This debate isn’t going away anytime soon, and most likely, neither is reSTART. We want your opinions in the comments below. Do you think IAD is real? Do you think reSTART is a good idea? Is it possible to “recover” from something as central to our lives as the Internet? Please chime in on the discussion.

[+] Keep Reading

Facebook Lite goes live

Social networking site Facebook unveiled a new downsized version of its Web site to selected test users, but accidentally revealed the 'Facebook Lite edition' to a much larger group than intended.

According to Facebook, the Lite edition is a fast-loading, simplified version of Facebook that enables people to post comments, accept friend requests and look at photos and status updates. Facebook Lite is being tested in India and other countries where new users are flooding to the service. Invitations to take part in a private test of 'Facebook Lite' reached a variety of U.S. bloggers only to have the enclosed links to be available to everyone online.

The screen shots of the new version captured and posted online revealed a Facebook page devoted to fresh comments and updates from friends in a style that could challenge the real-time interplay on Twitter.

Facebook had announced on Monday that it had acquired FriendFeed, a startup which allows members to see what their friends are doing online and share content. FriendFeed has been described as a potential rival to Twitter in its ability to conduct real-time search, an area where Facebook has been seeking to expand.

[+] Keep Reading

Windows 7 half the price in UK

For once, the U.K., which frequently gets the shaft in technology cost comparisons vs. the U.S., is going to do better than the U.S. Quite a bit better, at least for now, with C|Net discovering that they're getting a 50% price advantage on Windows 7.

Checking Amazon.com in the U.K., full versions of Windows 7 Home Premium will cost the equivalent of £65 ($107), while Americans will have to pay $200. That's a full version; even an upgrade version will cost more in the U.S., at $120 (£72).

Looking at Windows 7 Professional, the same discount percentage isn't offered, but there is a lower price in the U.K. A full version will cost $299 (£181) in the U.S., while it runs £129 in the U.K.

Why's this happening? It's unclear, C|Net's theory is that Microsoft is honoring its pricing for Windows 7E, which was cheaper because an upgrade wasn't possible. Of course, 7E has since been scrapped.

[+] Keep Reading

Microsoft Disputes Firefox One Billion Downloads Claim

Two weeks ago, Mozilla announced a major milestone for its Firefox web browser: one billion downloads. They even launched OneBillionPlusYou.com to mark the occasion and demonstrate just how large one billion really is.

Not everyone’s in awe of the number, though. A senior executive of Microsoft, the current browser market leader, has made statements today that essentially question the validity of the one billion downloads milestone. Oh, and she talked about how IE6 cannot die as well.

According to The Guardian, Internet Explorer General Manager Amy Barzdukas asked people to be skeptical of “large number claims” and called the Firefox number “interesting math.” Here’s some of what she said:

As with any marketing statement, I’d encourage people to be somewhat sceptical about large number claims. It’s an interesting number and I have not seen the math [but] how many internet connected users are there? 1.1 billion, 1.5 billion, something in that area.

Of course, these comments come as Firefox continues to chip away Microsoft;s browser market share. While Internet Explorer is still the dominant browser, nearly 1/4 of the world’s computers now run the Firefox open-source browser. Perhaps there’s a little browser envy laced into her comments?

Ms. Barzdukas also reiterated a statement from the company earlier this week that it won't cut off support for IE6 anytime soon, as well as explaining why she thinks IE6 is still used by so many:

The reason that a consumer would still be on IE6 at this point is a lack of awareness or the ‘good enough’ problem,” she said. “If you’re satisfied with what you’re doing and you’re not particularly curious about new technology and don’t really care, upgrading sounds like a hassle. Part of our communication needs to be making clear that there are significant advantages to upgrading to a modern browser.

We still want IE6 to die, but her position is understandable and consistent with what we’ve heard from Microsoft. Maybe it’s that they’re scared people will switch from IE6 to Firefox instead of to IE8, or maybe they just don’t want the complaints that would come with cutting off support. Regardless, we’ll leave Mozilla and Microsoft to quarrel over the numbers.  

[+] Keep Reading

Google Wave :: A Complete Guide

Today has been dominated by news and excitement surrounding Google Wave, Google's new real-time communication platform that will launch to the public later this year. In fact, there’s been so much buzz that you might just not have enough time to read the thousands of articles being released on Google’s biggest product launch in recent memory. To make sense of it all, we have compiled key information, definitions, and links related to the launch of Google Wave. This in-depth guide provides an overview of Google Wave, discusses the terminology associated with it, details information on Google Wave applications, (i.e. the Twitter Wave app Twave)and goes over ways to keep yourself informed. I know you’re excited about Google Wave, so here’s what I think you should know:

What is Google Wave?

While we suggest reading our article on the launch of Google Wave for more detailed information, here’s the sum of it: Google Wave is a real-time communication platform. It combines aspects of email, instant messaging, wikis, web chat, social networking, and project management to build one elegant, in-browser communication client. You can bring a group of friends or business partners together to discuss how your day has been or share files.

Google Wave has a lot of innovative features, but here are just a few:

Real-time: In most instances, you can see what someone else is typing, character-by-character.

Embeddability: Waves can be embedded on any blog or website.

Applications and Extensions: Just like a Facebook application or an iGoogle gadget, developers can build their own apps within waves. They can be anything from bots to complex real-time games.

Wiki functionality: Anything written within a Google Wave can be edited by anyone else, because all conversations within the platform are shared. Thus, you can correct information, append information, or add your own commentary within a developing conversation.

Open source: The Google Wave code will be open source, to foster innovation and adoption amongst developers.

Playback: You can playback any part of the wave to see what was said.

Natural language: Google Wave can autocorrect your spelling, even going as far as knowing the difference between similar words, like “been” and “bean.” It can also auto-translate on-the-fly.

Drag-and-drop file sharing: No attachments; just drag your file and drop it inside Google Wave and everyone will have access.

While these are only a few of the many features of Google Wave, it’s easy to see why people are extremely excited.

Google Wave was the brainchild of a team based out of Sydney, Australia. The core team members are two brothers, Jens and Lars Rasmussen, and lead project manager Stephanie Hannon, all of whom were involved in Google Maps previously. Google Wave was announced today at Google’s I/O Developer conference, although the product will not be available to the public for several months.

  

Teminology

Google Wave actually has its own lingo – yes, you have to learn a few definitions if you’re going to really understand this new communication platform. Having knowledge of these terms will help you understand more about Google’s newest project.

Wave: A wave, specifically, refers to a specific threaded conversation. It can include just one person, or it can include a group of users or even robots (explained below). The best comparison I can make is that it’s like your entire instant messaging (IM) history with someone. Anything you’ve ever discussed in a single chat or conversation is a wave.

Wavelet: A wavelet is also a threaded conversation, but only a subset of a larger conversation (or a wave). It’s like a single IM conversation – a small part of a larger conversation and a larger history. Wavelets, though, can be created and managed separately from a wave.

Blip: Even smaller than a Wavelet, a Blip is a single, individual message. It’s like a single line of an IM conversation. Blips can have other blips attached to them, called children. In addition, blips can either be published or unpublished (once again, it’s sort of like typing out an IM message but not yet sending it).

Document: A document actually refers to the content within a blip. This seems to refer to the actual characters, words, and files associated with a blip.

Extension: An extension is a mini-application that works within a wave. So these are the apps you can play with while using Wave. There are two main types of extenisons: Gadgets and Robots

Gadgets: A gadget is an application users can participate with, many of which are built on Google’s OpenSocial platform. A good comparison would be iGoogle gadgets or Facebook applications.

Robots: Robots are an automated participant within a wave. They can talk with users and interact with waves. They can provide information from outside sources (i.e. Twitter) or they can check content within a wave and perform actions based on them (i.e. provide you a stock quote if a stock name is mentioned).

Embeded Wave: An embeded wave is a way to take a Google Wave and the conversation within it and place it on your website. Users could use this as a chatroom, as a way to contact you, or for something more.

Wave Gadget

A Wave Gadget is one of two types of Google Wave extensions. Gadgets are fully-functional applications. According to Google, gadgets are primarily for changing the look and feel of waves, although this seems to only scratch the surface of the potential of a wave gadget.

First: almost any iGoogle or OpenSocial gadget can run within Google Wave. That means thousands of applications that have been already created will work in Google Wave. Second: a gadget built within Google Wave can take advantage of live interaction with multiple users. This means something like a live online game with active participation from all users. In that way, it has similarities to Facebook or MySpace applications, which take advantage of your friend network to make games, quizzes, and applications more meaningufl and useful.

Gadgets are specific to individual waves, rather than to specific users. Thus, it’s not like having a Facebook app on your profile – the gadget belongs to everyone within the wave. They also do not have titles, to better integrate with the actual conversation. Some of the gadgets already built include a Sudoku gadget, Bidder (which turns your wave into an auction), and Maps (which allows for collaboration on a Google Map).

For a more technical explanation, be sure to check out Google’s Wave Gadgets Tutorial.

Wave Robots 

Robots are the other type of Google Wave extension. Robots are like having another person within a Google Wave conversation, except that they’re automated. They’re a lot like the old IM bots of the past, although far more robust. Robots can modify information in waves, interact with users, communicate with others waves, and pull information from outside sources.

Because it acts like a user, you can define its behavior based on what happens in the chat. You could build one as simple as “change the word dog to the word cat” or one as complex as a fully-functional debugger. We’ll probably start seeming some very advanced robots in the near future.

Some of the robots already in service include Debuggy (an in-wave debugger), Stocky (which pulls stock prices based on stock quote mentions), and Tweety (the Twave robot, which displays tweets inside of a wave).

A more advanced explanation is available at Google’s Wave Robots Overview.

Wave Embeds 

Wave embeds are a little more complex than embedding a YouTube video onto your blog, yet in the end, that’s really what Google Wave Embeds are: a way to take Google Waves onto a third party website. Embedded Waves support many of the functions of the actual Google Wave client, including dragging-and-dropping files.

While the Wave Embeds is still very early stage, Google has already built two: YouTube Playlist Discuss and Multiple Extensions Embed. The former allows you to discuss a YouTube video via a wave and the latter allows for interaction with multiple waves on the same page.

One possibility: Google Wave Embeds may be a real-time replacement to static comments. If Google perfects wave embeds, you could even see YouTube.com comments replaced with waves, although it is way too early to make any calls on the potential of this.

Google’s Wave Embed Developer’s Guide has more advanced information embedding waves.

[+] Keep Reading