Updates To Facebook Data Use Policy & SRR

Facebook today announced some proposed updates to their Data Use Policy and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (SRR).

A new document on their Facebook Site Governance Page announces the proposed change and also gives us links to the new documents.

Excerpt from the document:

Today we are proposing some updates to two documents which govern our site: our Data Use Policy, which explains how we collect and use data when people use Facebook, and our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (SRR), which explains the terms governing the use of our services. These updates provide more detailed information about our practices, reflect changes to our products, and improve how we conduct our site governance process.

          ..................
          .................

• Ask the Chief Privacy Officer. We’ll be launching a new feature on our Facebook and Privacy Page to let you submit questions about privacy to our Chief Privacy Officer of Policy, Erin Egan.

• Facebook Live Events. Erin Egan will host webcasts on a regular basis to address your comments and questions about privacy, safety and security.

As you can see from the document they are adding a new feature to address questions about the changes. The document highlights the following changes:

• New tools for managing your Facebook Messages – replacing the “Who can send you Facebook messages” setting with new filters for managing incoming messages.
• Changes to how we refer to certain products, like instant personalization.
• Reminders about what’s visible to other people on Facebook. For instance, when you hide things from your timeline, those posts are visible elsewhere, like in news feed, on other people’s timelines, or in search results.
• Tips on managing your timeline. For example, you can use tools on your timeline or activity log to delete your own posts, or you can ask someone else to delete a post in which you’re tagged.

However to know what all has changed wrt Data Use Policy and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (SRR), we have to read the new documents.

Use the following links to see the proposed changes. You can leave your comments on those pages. 

• Proposed Statement of Rights and Responsibilities 
• Proposed SRR Redline(PDF)
• Proposed Data Use Policy
• Proposed Data Use Policy Redline(PDF)

Click here to comment. Remember that these documents are open for comment till 9:00 AM PST on November 28, 2012. Make sure you read and understand new documents.

Happy and safe Facebooking!

How To Take Screenshot In Sony Ericsson Xperia

How to take screenshot in Sony Ericsson Xperia phone(and may be with other Sony Ericsson phones)?

Sounds trivial? Turns out it's not much so. I remember taking screenshot with this phone earlier. All I had to do is just press and hold the power button and I'd get option for screenshot.

Problem started  after I updated my phone to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The old method stopped working and it took quite a bit of Googling before I found out the new method.

The new method to capture screenshot is little tricky.

Simultaneously hold 'Power' and 'Volume Low' button for ~2 seconds. 

I'll show how to do that in this video.

Bye Bye Meebo Messenger

Meebo Messenger is going away.

If you are a meebo user you would have got an email by now to let you know the same.
I got the following email couple of days ago:

You may have heard the news recently that Google has acquired Meebo. 

The Meebo Bar for site publishers will continue to be available and will see continued improvements and new features in the weeks and months ahead. 

However, as part of this transition, Meebo Messenger will be retired on July 11, 2012. 

As a past Messenger user, we wanted you to know that until July 11 you can download your archived Messenger chat logs. Log into your account on Meebo Messenger for a download link. Please act soon — after July 11, chat archives will be deleted. 

If you don't want to retrieve your chat logs, no action needs to be taken. 

This is a one-time courtesy email to let you know about the upcoming changes and the availability of your chat logs for download; there is no need to unsubscribe. 

Thank you for being a part of the Meebo community. The team here has loved every minute of the past seven years, and we're honored that you chose to trust Meebo as a place to have conversations with friends, family and colleagues. As we turn our attention to a new chapter, joining forces with the Google+ team, we look back with great appreciation to everyone who used and loved Meebo Messenger along the way. 

Sincerely,
Sandy, Seth, and the Meebo Team

As noted in the email, if you want to retrieve your chat logs, you have to do so before July 11, 2012. You can start by downloading the Meebo Messenger from https://www.meebo.com/messenger.

How To Change LinkedIn Password

A hacker has claimed to have hacked LinkedIn to get access to account details of ~6.5 million LinkedIn users. You can read more about the news here, here and here.

Vicente Silveira, Director at LinkedIn confirmed the password leak in his blog post.

So, if you are on LinkedIn change your password immediately!


If you are wondering how, here are the steps:

1. Login to your LinkedIn account.
2. Hover your mouse pointer over your name on the right top corner of the website, and click on the "Settings".
   
   
3. In the "Settings" page, Click on "Account" in the left vertical Menu, then click on "Change password" as shown in the following image.
   
   
4. Enter your old password and new password(twice)
   
   
5. Make sure your new password is strong enough. Include uppercase letters, numbers and special characters. Click on the "Change password" button.
6. That's all! Your password is changed!.

Important note: If you are using the same password for any other accounts, change them all ASAP.

Links:

• Millions of LinkedIn passwords reportedly leaked online
• LinkedIn confirms passwords were 'compromised' 
• An Update on LinkedIn Member Passwords Compromised

Facebook Messenger for Windows

Facebook recently announced launch of Facebook Messenger for desktop. They are promoting this new Windows app. They want us to keep using Facebook even when we are not using a browser. From their website:

Messenger is a new app that brings Facebook to your desktop. While you surf the web or use other applications on your computer, you can: 

• Chat and message with your friends on Facebook
• See the latest updates from your friends in ticker
• Get quick notifications about what’s going on

Messenger lets you use Facebook without being on www.facebook.com. You will now be able to stay in touch anytime, no matter what you're doing. 

When I logged into my Facebook account today, I saw a small popup box in the bottom right corner of the page suggesting me to install the Windows App.

Facebook Windows app banner

Though I do not use Facebook chat much, nor I like to receive ticker updates from friends, I decided to give this a try. So, I started by clicking on the "Install Messenger" button.

Installing Facebook Messenger for Windows 7
You will need to Windows 7 to run this app. If you are on Windows 7, follow these steps.

1. Go to Facebook Messenger home page  http://www.facebook.com/about/messenger
   
   
2. Click on the Install button seen on that page. This will download a small setup file called FacebookMessengerSetup.exe 
3. Double click on the downloaded file to run it. Click on the "Run" button on Windows security alert.
4. Continue the installation by clicking Install button. 
5. Make sure your firewall(if you have one) is configured to allow this new application to connect to internet.
6. You are ready to go! Now you should be able to use the messenger to see ticker updates from friends and to chat with friends.
                                                  
7. Enjoy Facebooking!
8. For more information and help, visit Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs).

Google Knol Is Going Away

Google is shutting down Google Knol!

Here's an email I recently received from the Knol team:

As part of Google’s prioritization of product efforts, we will be retiring Knol.  From now through April 30th, 2012, Knol will work as usual, but we’ve made it easy for you to download your knols to file and/or export them to Wordpress.com.  From May 1, 2012 through October 1, 2012, knols will no longer be viewable, but can be downloaded and exported.  After that time, knol content will no longer be accessible.  We hope that this timeline provides you ample time to transition your content.  For more information, please visit our FAQ: https://knol-redirects.appspot.com/faq.html

Thank you,
The Knol team

© 2012 Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 

Some FAQs

What is Knol?

Knol launched in 2007 as a method for authors to work together to create authoritative articles about specific topics that they know about.

Why is Knol being discontinued?

Google is prioritizing our product efforts so we can make things much simpler for our users and devote more resources to high impact products.

When is Knol being discontinued?

From now through April 30th, 2012, Knol will work as usual, but we’ve made it easy for you to download your knols to file and/or export them to WordPress.com. From May 1, 2012 through October 1, 2012, knols will no longer be viewable, but can be downloaded and exported. After that time, Knol content will no longer be accessible.

How do I download my knols?

From now through October 1, 2012, you can download your knols from knol.google.com. There will be a large section at the top of the page with links to either export your knols to WordPress.com or download them to a file. Clicking the latter will take you to Google Takeout where you can create your archive.

 Find answers for more FAQs here.

You'll see a Big notice on Knol Website

with links to Export my knols to WordPress.com and Download my knols to a file.

Read Wikipedia entry for Knol to know more about Knol. For an alternative to Google Knol, check Annotum.

Annotum helps you to easily migrate your knol data. They have a neat Getting Started Guide.

Google Introduces Google Play

Google is introducing Google Play, that replaces and extends Android Market.

See this video: Android Apps on Google Play



Google Play is not just a new name for Android Market. It's going to be an integrated destination for Music, Movies, Books and Apps.

Read more:

• Introducing Google Play On Android Developers Blog.
• Introducing Google Play: All your entertainment, anywhere you go On Google Official Blog.

Also watch this cool video


Learn more about Google Play https://play.google.com/about/.