Tech Blog

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Facebook privacy issues ruled the news last week, and this update reflects it. But, there were also a number of other interesting tidbits including a new functionality for Hotmail, GoogleTV, and some interesting news from Apple...

Facebook

Tension Building At Facebook As Staffers Challenge Zuckerberg's Approach To Privacy
Facebook executives have been "hunkered down" for days trying to figure out what to do about the latest privacy backlash, the WSJ's Jessica Vascellaro says.

Some executives appear to disagree with Mark Zuckerberg's philosophy toward privacy and are arguing for a much broader, simpler approach.

Facebook Grapples With Privacy Issues
A backlash over Facebook Inc.'s privacy practices has triggered disagreement inside the company that could force Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg to scale back efforts to encourage users to share more about themselves in public.

Facebook, MySpace Confront Privacy Loophole
The practice, which most of the companies defended, sends user names or ID numbers tied to personal profiles being viewed when users click on ads. After questions were raised by The Wall Street Journal, Facebook and MySpace moved to make changes. By Thursday morning Facebook had rewritten some of the offending computer code.

Facebook fixing embarrassing privacy bug
Facebook is fixing a Web programming bug that could have allowed hackers to alter profile pages or make restricted information public.

The flaw was discovered last week and reported to Facebook by M.J. Keith, a senior security analyst with security firm Alert Logic.

Fast and Free Facebook Mobile Access with 0.facebook.com

0.facebook.com is a new mobile site that includes all of the key features of Facebook but is optimized for speed. It initially is available through more than 50 mobile operators in 45 countries and territories with zero data charges.

Facebook Knows Who You'll Hook Up With
Facebook's CEO came up with a way of predicting who a given user would be dating one week in the future, according to a new book about the social network. And he did it for fun.

Facebook working on 'simple' privacy settings

After one of the most tumultuous months in its young history, Facebook is planning to announce features intended to offer its hundreds of millions of users simpler privacy choices.

The last few weeks have not been kind to the Internet's second most popular Web site, which has been pilloried by privacy activists and slammed by some members of Congress. The flap has spawned clever interactive graphics showing how Facebook has gradually exposed more user data, tools to fix your privacy settings , and reports of internal discord among employees who may fear that the negative attention would jeopardize a lucrative public stock offering.

Apple

Here's What's New In iPhone OS 4.0 Beta 4
Oh yes! iPhone OS 4.0 Beta 4 is out and we're tearing it apart to find out what's new so that you don't have to risk your iPhones. Here's what we've discovered so far

iPod touch with 2 megapixel camera leaked in Vietnam (video)
Tinhte, the upstarts from Vietnam have first pics of the mythical iPod touch with a camera. The "DVT-1" stamp on the back makes it clear that this is an early design verification test unit in the evolution of product testing. In other words, this might not be the final design whenever Apple chooses to announce it, say, on June 7th .

Yes folks, the official iPhone Twitter app is here
The app, which is simply called Twitter, is dubbed version 3.0 in recognition of its Tweetie heritage. So what’s new? Lots actually, including: search has been improved, adding geolocated tweets and the ability to view top tweets and suggested users; you can signup to Twitter within the application, including the Suggested User list (a pretty big deal); the Retweet button has been given more prominence; and finally you don’t need a Twitter account to start using the app e.g. you can browse tweets, users or see trends etc.

Microsoft

Re-inventing Windows Live Hotmail – the next generation of personal email
Email has changed a lot over the last five years. These days, you’re getting more email than ever – email that often requires you to leave your inbox to complete an action; you’re getting bigger and bigger attachments; and you’re using smart phones where you want to sync not only your email, but your contacts and calendar, too. In this post, we’ll talk about how we’ve built the new Hotmail, slated to launch this summer worldwide, to address the needs of the modern inbox.

Hardware

Google TV: everything you ever wanted to know
Google TV is supposed to bring "the web to your TV and your TV to the web," in Google's words. It's a lofty goal that many have failed to accomplish, but Google certainly has the money and muscle to pull it off. But hold up: what is Google TV , exactly, and why do all these companies think it's going to revolutionize the way we watch TV? Let's take a quick walk through the platform and see what's what.

Online

Secretive speed traders in spotlight after crash
If you saw a penny on the sidewalk, would you pick it up?

You may think it's not worth the effort, but a breed of investors who have been in the news do. Using super-fast computers, high-frequency traders in effect bend down to pick up pennies lying about in the stock market — then do it again, sometimes thousands of times a second.

More than a week after the Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 1,000 points, its biggest intraday drop ever, regulators are still sifting through buy and sell orders to figure out what sparked it. One big focus are orders placed by high-frequency traders, or HFTs, and for good reason. These quick-buck firms barely existed a few years ago but now account for two-thirds of all U.S. stock trading.

TweetDeck Now Supports Foursquare and Buzz
Popular cross-platform social app TweetDeck is announcing an update to its desktop client this morning which will add Foursquare and Google Buzz to its arsenal of supported streams which already includes Twitter , LinkedIn , MySpace and Facebook . In addition, the version 0.34 update will allow for the addition of any Twitter-compatible APIs, including WordPress , StatusNet and Tumblr , as well as a slew of other features such as global filters and scheduled posts. The company will also announce financial news this morning, confirming that it has raised an undisclosed amount of Series B funding.

Search more securely with encrypted Google web search
When you search on https://www.google.com, an encrypted connection is created between your browser and Google. This secured channel helps protect your search terms and your search results pages from being intercepted by a third party on your network. The service includes a modified logo to help indicate that you’re searching using SSL and that you may encounter a somewhat different Google search experience, but as always, remember to check the start of the address bar for “https” and your browser lock indicators

Car Hackers Can Kill Brakes, Engine, and More

University researchers have taken a close look at the computer systems used to run today's cars and discovered new ways to hack into them, sometimes with frightening results.

In a paper set to be presented at a security conference in Oakland, California, next week, the security researchers say that by connecting to a standard diagnostic computer port included in late-model cars, they were able to do some nasty things, such as turning off the brakes, changing the speedometer reading, blasting hot air or music on the radio, and locking passengers in the car. (See a slide show of the researchers' methods and results .)

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Your Turn
So, did I miss anything? What online story really got you going this week? Link to it in the comments!