Feb 22 2012

Facebook Wants to Own You

Mashable is reporting that a number of high profile e-commerce sites have shut up shop on Facebook. One telling remark notes:

Mullen also pointed out that half of shoppers are logged in to Facebook while they shop on third-party ecommerce sites, which lets retailers “capture the massive amount of user data Facebook has,” she says. Brands such as Smashbox and MAC are also incorporating friend recommendations within their ecommerce pages.

Third party sites can get your data even if you’re not actually on Facebook. You only have to have it open. While this in itself may seem harmless, I’m concerned about the trend. It’s like a scene from Farenheit 401.

Remember, if you’re not paying for it you’re the product, not the customer.

Story here: Why Are Brands Shutting Their Facebook Stores?

Feb 21 2012

Deleting Facebook and Cloud Privacy

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

I’ve just deleted my Facebook account in a fit of frustration! It was a fit following months of increasing unease. I don’t like where Facebook is headed and it’s only going to get worse once they launch the IPO.

I’ve been weening myself off Facebook for a while,and while I was trying to unlike some pages the switch flipped. With no obvious way to bulk unlike pages and the process evidently being convoluted (it’s evident Facebook doesn’t want me to unlike anything) I decided I’ve had enough of Facebook’s control, constant changes, and playing fast and loose with privacy. And, frankly, I was tired of what seem to be increasingly trivial posts. I deactivated my account briefly, but that just didn’t sit right. It was all or nothing, so I opted for nothing.

It feels good!

The practical problem is that EVERYONE is on Facebook and there are a couple of organisations pages I contribute to as well.

A few weeks ago I closed my idle Google+ account and migrated from Gmail to iCloud mail, also because of privacy concerns – Google is another company I don’t trust with my data. I think they’ve changed their slogan to “Do know evil”. Not that I trust Apple particularly – I’m not quite sure what they do with my data. Rather, I’m trying to spread the risk. I’ve changed my default search engine to Yahoo (I tried Bing but the interface is a pain).

I want to consolidate my other cloud and social networking services and close or empty extraneous ones. But it’s not easy! We sign up to something and it’s hit and miss whether there’s even the option to close it, if we remember signing in! Lots of apps have cloud services to sync and backup your stuff and it’s too easy to sign up. In some cases it’s not just privacy, it’s security that’s the issue as well.

Maybe I’m getting paranoid in my old age. Or maybe we’re just too gullible as a society.

Anyway, you can find me on Twitter @somerandombl0ke (at least I know my data is public so I’m more conscious about how I use this service).

Jan 17 2012

Is the iPad a PC?

English: iPad picture

I’m a Mac guy so it matters. Not really, but I am curious. The question was sparked when I read some analysis claiming that if you count iPad sales, Apple is now the biggest PC retailer, just ahead of HP. (Note, this is counting hardware not OS, which Windows still wins without contest.) Take out the iPad and it’s a very different story. Continue reading →

Jan 7 2012

Review of Path App

Image of Path appIf you’re not into social networking, let me introduce you to a new social networking app you may be interested in. If you are into social networking, you’ll love this little gem.

Path has been around for a year or so but was recently relaunched and wants to make your social network smaller.

You read that right. Small and intimate is the game.

Path’s goal is to get you sharing openly and more often. Being over 18, that’s not really a life goal of mine. But being over 18, I also value the family and close friendships I have. So while Facebook is fun and Twitter lets me live at 140 characters a minute, there’s a lot of stuff I just don’t want the world to know. And frankly, there’s a lot it doesn’t want to know. Path is for the people in your life who do. That blurry photo of my niece riding a bike for the first time with no trainer wheels? That’s gold. I notice that didn’t go on Facebook. Continue reading →

Jan 2 2012

The Heart of Christianity is Not Doing Good

The other evening I flicked the radio on briefly and was surprised to hear an Atheist talk show. I switched on in the middle of a Christian caller arguing that Christianity is good and is about doing good (I presume against the common Atheist polemic that religion is bad). The host responded that, in his opinion, the key verse for Christianity is “do unto others as you’d have them do to you” and that you can do that without all the other “mumbo jumbo”. He rang rings around the caller, and not because he was smarter or had better arguments. Quite simply, she didn’t understand the heart of her faith. Continue reading →

Dec 29 2011

You Don’t Need a Coffee Machine

English: A photo of a cup of coffee. Esperanto...

In my humble opinion, instant coffee is not worthy of the name. It is an abomination. It used to be when people offered this alleged ‘coffee’ it was a simple matter of declining and opting for tea instead. I gave it a name – instant caffeinated beverage mixture: ICBM.

Then the marketers got wind of the move to ‘real’ coffee and the  home espresso machine took off. And I’m still declining cups of coffee and opting for tea. Continue reading →

Dec 28 2011

Review of the Booqpad Agenda for iPad 2 Folio Case

Image of BooqPad Agenda for iPad 2

BooqPad Agenda for iPad 2

I recently changed jobs and have tried to figure out the best way to incorporate the iPad 2 into my new workflow.  As a Funeral Celebrant I interview clients and use those notes to create a service, so I need to take notes easily and unobtrusively.  I experimented with some handwriting apps and a stylus, but the capacitive touch screen is just not suited to this purpose.  Typing notes can be a little tricky in some settings as well and using the right app is important. I like a combination of iPad and paper and have tried out the Booqpad Agenda for iPad 2. Continue reading →