Victor Stanescu @victor-stanescu-blog - Tumblr Blog

Sociable and Nice for the Holidays

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Merrry Christmas!!! That's how it starts, with these 2 innocent little words that once set in motion will cause all hell to break loose! It's the holidays season, time to be good and jolly, sweet and friendly, sociable and nice (:P), it's time for peace on earth and kindness amongst men... Yeah right ?! ;) It's just an excuse to stuff your face like there's no tomorrow, and drink your mind away to can feel the christmasy spirit, or the ambulance, which ever comes first. Smile to thy neighbor, the same one you hated all year long.. But now it's time to knock on his door and bring him some home cooked crap that you wouldn't be able to eat anyway. And the only reason you do it for it's not really kindness, it's smugness, you're proving to him that you are better, that you are a nicer and a kinder man! It's the season to be shopping.. of course! Because you have to give presents to everybody, since you are so good and kind! And the stores will be waiting for you to spend your money on pointless crap.. but crap on sale!!! And it's a free pass for severely musically challenged kids to roam the hallways day and night yelling some indistinguishable gibberish they call carols.. And apparently is not very sociable and nice to call the cops on them.. or chase them with a bat or some form of pointy stick :D Not to forget about the TV, it's a free pass for all the washed up celebrities to get together and embarrass themselves and our education system in a desperate pursuit of a lost humour, all for the poor misguided idiots left with nothing better to do than to watch them. And yes, there are movies to be watched, mostly the same old lame american movies filled with those "Hallmark moments": family reunited, people changing their lives for the best, overcoming difficulties to find the right path and teaching us the true values of life! So fortunate of us to have their guidance.. But how all things "get worse before they get better", actually most things "get worse before they get.. worse", you need to survive the new year's eve party usually with a new resolution you will spend ignoring all year long! My new year resolution is to be even more sociable and nice, what about yours?

[Remember to go and read the original article at Sociable and Nice for the Holidays ]

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How To Disable Or Remove Facebook Timeline

[ Read the original article at How To Disable Or Remove Facebook Timeline ]

As you must know Facebook officially unleashed upon the world their new traffic gimmick and stalker paradise, the Facebook Timeline.

You are here because you obviously hate the new Facebook Timeline and you want to remove or delete it.

Most of us already have the shinny new Timeline, either by choice or imposed on us by dear old Zuckerberg in the "Facebook way" of always doing things.

They care not about what us, the users, actually want. And why would they?! All we are for them is a source of income, the "product" that they are actually selling.

But enough with that, for more Facebook bashing, see: "Facebook new crap profile reloaded"

Now you must want to Remove the new Facebook Timeline, right? Here's the only useful guide I could find:

Step 1. Alternative account

Go to Google+ and create your account, in case you don't have one..

One you do that fill in your profile, add photos, friends, and so on, you know the drill..

(More about Google+ here: Google turning Sociable and NOT Nice )

Step 2. Spread the word

Log into Facebook and inform all of your friends about your new Google+ created account. Spam them until they get it ;)

Step 3. Problem removal

Go to the Facebook Account Delete page.

They will ask for your password and stuff, and once you do that, for 14 days you must NOT log into your Facebook account until it will be terminated.

Step 4. Socialize.. ahead

Stay on Google+ or what ever social networking site you enjoy most and never look back at the nightmare you just escaped from!

This, my Facebook using friends, is unfortunately the only method I could find to disable and delete the new Facebook Timeline forever!

[Remember to go and read the original article at How To Disable Or Remove Facebook Timeline ]

and do feel free to comment and share!

Facebook settles with the FTC: 20 years of privacy audits!

[ Read the original article at Facebook settles with the FTC: 20 years of privacy audits! ]

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that a settlement has been reached between Facebook and the FTC (the US Federal Trade Commission).

The FTC previously accused Facebook of engaging in "unfair and deceptive" practices and systematically invading their users privacy over the years.

There were 7 main complaints expressed by the FCC about Facebook privacy:

- In december 2009 friend lists and other user data became public without any warning

- Facebook applications may request almost any piece of user data even though Facebook said they can only access the data they need to operate.

- The "Friends Only" privacy setting still allowed data to be accessed by third-party applications used by friends.

- Facebook claimed their “Verified Apps” program will verify the security of applications, witch did not happen.

- Facebook "accidentally" shared personal data with advertisers when it expressively promised it would not do that.

- User data from deactivated and deleted facebook accounts were still accessible even if Facebook claimed the contrary.

- Data from European Union users was transferred in violation of the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework (a certification for US companies to comply with an EU Directive for protection of personal data).

On November 29th, 2011 Facebook has settled with the FCC over these complaints, Mark Zuckeberg himself admitting in a Facebook blog post that "we have made a bunch of mistakes" (yea think?!)

From now on Facebook is "required to obtain consumers affirmative express consent before enacting changes that override their privacy preferences", effectively making "opt in" (a user choice) for all future changes on privacy control to the audience of already shared data or content. That means that if you once posted a message or a status on Facebook for only 2 friends to see, Facebook has to always respect this choice of yours and not make it visible for everyone with one of their delightful updates.

Also under this settlement, Facebook has to subject itself every 2 years to an independent audit on consumer privacy for the next 20 years. So for at least 20 years from now they have to... "behave" ;)

The FTC did not accuse Facebook of intentionally breaking the law and submitted them with no fines. However, if Facebook violates the terms of this settlement in the future, it would be liable to pay a penalty of $16,000 a day for each count. It's not like they can't afford it ;)

Of course, they're not doing this for our benefit, the settlement is part of their assumed plan for Facebook to file for an I.P.O. (initial public offering). When the company goes public it will raise $10 billion, bringing its valuation to more than $100 billion, making each of their 800 million users worth $125. (Facebook IPO would value each user at $125) Can I get my money now?! :D

Well I would say Facebook got away pretty easy considering all of their "mishaps" (see Facebook tracking user activity after log off and The Facebook crap profile). But I'm not that surprised, I bet their legal department costs them as much or even more then their development one.

Basically even if Facebook got away so easy, I hope this will make all of our data more secure (an itsty bit more)!

[Remember to go and read the original article at Facebook settles with the FTC: 20 years of privacy audits! ]

and do feel free to comment and share!

Google Plus Business Pages Released

[ Read the original article at Google Plus Business Pages Released ]

The long expected Google+ Pages for Business have just been released! As announced on the official blog Google "wants to make sure we can build relationships with all the things we care about, from local businesses to global brands"!

A lot of people (including my sociable and nice self) from marketers and business owners to plain simple users were highly excited expecting this new feature from the first launch of Google+.

The outcome proved to be a bit.. ah well, disappointing! The new Google+ Pages tend to have a striking similarity to Facebook Pages, and even those of an earlier development stage. Instead of actually bringing some new insight in this field or new exciting features they are back on copying each other without much innovation or creativity!

As soon as I heard about the launch I went ahead and made a Vectorash.ro Google+ page. It took me less than 5 minutes, because you don't really have much to work with or any opportunity for expressing more creativity. You add the name, few words as a description, a link, a couple of pictures and that's it.. Now all of your business or brand's loyal fans and customers can +1 your page (Google "Like" it!) and/or may add your page to their circles and receive your spam, ah I mean notifications and updates.

The only problem with this logic is that most of the people are still using Facebook. And this new "features - rich" business opportunity from Google is not bringing any substantial motivation for a social networking platform switch. I am of course sure that they are working on improving these pages and planning to add other new features and functionalities.

There is though something new that Google already brings to the table, the Google+ Direct Connect (sound like Facebook Connect but it's not the same)

This is the ability to connect your Google Page to your web site. It makes it very simple for people to find your brand and even share the "+1" appreciations.

More about that, here:

There are already a number of privileged brands that were allowed to build their Google+ Pages in advance. Some examples:

Google (of course)

Angry Birds

Muppets

Pepsi

Toyota

To create your own Google+ Page all you have to do is go to https://plus.google.com/pages/create.

Google said nothing though about the real true main advantage they can leverage in this business pages war with Facebook: the search results benefits! It is of course a tricky subject, they can not be to forward on giving special favors to Google Pages based on anti-trust and legal challenges.

On the other hand I am sure they will find some loopholes allowing them to bring some sort of an edge in making Google+ Pages as the better choice!

[Remember to go and read the original article at Google Plus Business Pages Released ]

and do feel free to comment and share!

Google Playing Hoaxes and Practical Jokes

[ Read the original article at Google Playing Hoaxes and Practical Jokes ]

Interesting to see the technology giant that is Google managing to take itself less seriously and even playful at times by making fun of their more "gullible" users!

Who said their taking over the world master plan can't be done with a smile on your face!

Over time there were a series of hoaxes, April fool's pranks and practical jokes that Google played on the world showing most of all a human side of the company.

It's sort of a geeky humor, of course, and that's what makes it honest. There's no PR campaign behind it, it's just your average Google geek having fun at work!

And people that are happy and feeling comfortable at work will always give a higher performance and generate better ideas! I guess this has aways been one of the secrets of Google.

But let's get back to the fun and games part.

Google Search easter eggs

An easter egg is a hidden messages or features that not everyone is aware of. Type on the Google Search page these words:

"do a barrel roll" or "z or r twice" Type in "do a barrel roll" or "z or r twice" on Google Search and you will see a very cool page effect. You may get that same effect in here by clicking the next link: Vectorash Barrel Roll ( please use a decent browser and version )

"tilt" or "askew" Similar to the previous one, this will "tilt" your page.

"anagram" Type in "anagram" to get a special "suggestion".

"recursion" This is for the computer geek in you. Typing "recursion" will cause Google to repeat the same: "Did you mean recursion" text each time in an infinite loop, well a.. recursion.

"ascii art" Type in "ascii art" and check out the Google logo in the top left side.

"loneliest number" - calculator Type in "loneliest number" or "number of horns on a unicorn" and check out what Google thinks. A cool one is also: the answer to life the universe and everything Also type in any number operation, from 2+2 to 678*12379 or whatever and Google will calculate that for you ;)

"I'm feeling lucky" searches. For this you will need to press the "I'm feeling lucky" button. Some people might have to go to Search Settings (top right of your screen: Options - Search Settings and select "Do not use Google Instant") or use the normal search and just select the first answer Google will return.

- Type in: "Find Chuck Norris" - and you will understand why not to do that again!

- Other cool tricks you get from typing: "Google gravity", "Google Loco" or "Epic Google".

"Special" features

Over the years Google had some special "sociable and nice" features and products announcements for very "special" people:

The MentalPlex - Google can read your mind!

Back in 2000 Google launched the MentalPlex project. Concentrate at what you want to search for and just by thinking at it Google will return those search results to you. You may still try it even today.

PigeonRank

In 2002 Google finally reveals the technology behind its revolutionary PageRank Systems, the PigeonRank. Check it out to see one of their biggest secrets revealed!

Google Copernicus Center is hiring

Google released in 2004 a job opportunity for a research center on the new hosting and research center called Luna/X located on the.. moon. Yeah Google is now taking over the entire Universe! Be part of that as you may still apply for this position here.

Google Gulp - Quench your thirst for knowledge.

A drink "designed to maximize your surfing efficiency by making you more intelligent". It comes with "auto-drink" and 4 great flavors:

- Glutamate Grape (glutamic acid),

- Sugar-Free Radical (free radicals),

- Beta Carroty (beta carotene)

- Sero-Tonic Water (serotonin).

The beverage can only be obtained by returning the cap of a Google Gulp bottle to a local grocery store.

Google Romance

"Love is just another search problem". Solve it with "Google Romance". Released in 2006 the service was offering a "Soulmate Search". In case you are still searching, find your true love with Google Romance!

Google TiSP (Toilet Internet Service Provider)

A free broadband service released by Google in 2007 that comes straight from your.. toilet!

The service would make use of a standard toilet and sewage lines to provide free Internet connectivity. But it has to be a working toilet! If you don't want to pay for Internet anymore just install Google TiSP.

gDay

Google announces the gDay event that will happen in Australia. It's a new beta search technology that will search web pages 24 hours before they are even created! That's a pretty cool trick, I'm already wondering what my future post will be ;)

Gmail Custom Time

This service will allow GMail users to send emails to the past using an "e-flux capacitor". Manipulate time now with this revolutionary Gmail tool.

Google Wake Up Kit

In 2008 Google announced a new service for their calendar, the "Wake Up Kit". If you can't wake up in the morning, Google has the solution: from an SMS message to your phone to a bucket full of water or a bed-flipping device!

GBall

Google Australia launched the GBall that "will change Australian rules football as we know it" with GPS and motion sensors, advanced analytics and tutorials for kickers.

The most important features of Gball: - Kicks are automatically measured using special in-built equipment - Getting personalised online kicking tips and suggestions, based on previous kicking data - gBall vibrates if player agents or talent scouts want to speak to you - Finding your lost gBall online with the help of Google Maps Get your own GBall now!

Google Chrome with 3D

Google's artificial intelligence project: Cognitive Autoheuristic Distributed-Intelligence Entity (short CADIE) has released an amazing new Chrome browser enabling 3D browsing with special printed 3D glasses. Experience the full power of the web with the new Chrome 3D.

Store anything on Google Docs!

In 2010 Google made an announcement that on Google Docs users will have the ability to upload anything, including physical objects like keys, remote controls or... grand pianos!

Find your keys just by clicking "CTRL + F" with this revolutionary Google Docs project.

Google translate for animals!

"Bridging the gap between animals and humans", an Android service that finally allows mankind to communicate with animals. See what your pet is really saying with Google translate for animals.

A small video presenting this service here: [HTML9]

Gmail Motion

Based on your webcam and Google's patented spatial tracking technology to detect movements you may now control Gmail with your body. You will no longer need a keyboard and a mouse! Try now the Gmail Motion experiment.

For your lazy bones out there, the small video presentation:

Also the feature will be implemented on Google Docs as well, you may see a preview here.

Google Pac-Man

A mini version of the famous Pac-Man game was created as an animated logo for 30th anniversary on the game. So if feel like go ahead and play Pac-Man on Google.

Google Autocompleter Job

I bet you had no idea that behind every auto completed sentence on Google Search there's an actual person doing that for you. Google is hiring for their new autocompleter positions. An employee currently working as an "Autocompleter" and previously employed as a "Spell Checker" explains this job:

Shoot the bear!

And I'd like to end this with this very cool marketing trick. It's not made by Google but it's made on a partnership between YouTube and Tipp-Ex® (a correcting paste brand).

Well that's about it. This is just a selection of Google's hoaxes and practical jokes they played over the years.

Curious to see what they'll come up with next!

[Remember to go and read the original article at Google Playing Hoaxes and Practical Jokes ]

and do feel free to comment and share!

Gmail Just Got A New Look!

[ Read the original article at Gmail Just Got A New Look! ]

Tired of cursing Facebook for their new changes? Well now Google wants a piece of that also! They are right now rolling out a fresh new look for GMail.

This is mainly an update of the old interface towards the new look consistent with Google+. They're hoping this will make it easier and more familiar for the millions of GMail account owners to actually use the new Google+ social network, that's desperately lacking human activity!

More details in the official video:

[HTML8]

Despite my "Sociable and Nice" nature I don't have much to complain about this new change. Fortunately, unlike Facebook, they took a decent approach for this update, and managed to keep most things and functionalities (more or less in the same familiar places) and added some new features as well.

Google earlier this year already gave a "head's up" warning about the new look for Gmail with a "Preview" theme. Some of the new things are:

"Sticky" Navigation

The top of the page, the labels and chat contacts are now "sticky", remaining visible at all times. You can change the size of the labels and chat area, showing either more labels or more chat contacts. It gets a bit annoying that this is modified automatically by hovering your mouse over one of the areas..

Streamlined conversations

They have redesigned the Conversation view for faster and easier use of the email threads. Now you will see the contact's picture and just a summary of his email content for easier navigation.

Fancy Search

A more "handy" search screen will pop up for an easier search and also with the possibility to create a filter.

HD themes

Full screen images provided by iStockphoto may now decorate your GMail. Now you can open your GMail just to watch the pretty pictures... Weee!

Screen size

You may now change the screen size and density based on your preference or device you are using. The're calling this Elastic density

Moooore Money

Not for you but for Google, of course! The main feature of this new look are the adds that stick out way more than before. You didn't think they are doing all of this work for your benefit, right?!

So in case you don't have the new look already there will soon pop up a small "Switch to the new look" link in the bottom right of your GMail page:

Now if you want, you may even switch back to the old interface (from the Settings menu) but this option will be removed soon as the new GMail look will become final.

[Remember to go and read the original article at Gmail Just Got A New Look! ]

and do feel free to comment and share!

Google Buzz Is Being Shut Down

[ Read the original article at Google Buzz Is Being Shut Down ]

Yeah apparently Google Buzz is going Buuh Bye! Few days ago Bradley Horowitz, the VP for Google+ made an official announcement on the Google blog saying that Google Buzz is going to be canceled. "We aspire to build great products that really change people’s lives, products they use two or three times a day. To succeed you need real focus and thought—thought about what you work on and, just as important, what you don’t work on" Don't think this is complete death though, the users will be able to view the posts they created on Buzz in their Google Profiles, and download them using Google Takeout. So if you ever felt like your status updates are history worthy you may download and frame it or whatever.. Who doesn't want to go back and read that 6 months ago their status was "I'm a moron! (cause I left my computer logged on and people made fun of me)" ?!! Google Buzz was launched in February 2010, for Gmail users in a social networking attempt to let them connect and share content. Initially it was seen as a possible threat to Twitter and Facebook but ended up instead in causing a lot of fuss over privacy. At some point I had the shocking surprise to see that it automatically shared stuff I had on YouTube or Blogger without warning or consent! It was a "nice" WTF moment! But ah well, with a lot of complaints from the users and the Federal Trade Commission this apparently served as a lesson for Google. Bradley Horowitz also said: "We learned privacy is not a feature... it is foundational to the product." Maybe he should tell this to Zuckerberg and his new features (see: Facebook tracking user activity even after they log out). Buzz is not the only one getting the axe, Google is also shutting down other services, some we might have heard (Google Desktop and Google Labs), but most of which we never even heard about. Guess that's one of the main reason they are being closed, huh? ;) One of these services is Aardvark, a social search engine that Google bought in 2010 for something like 50 million dollars. Yeah, that's right, apparently even with the new recession coming up they can afford to do that. They're just trowing away the old toys to make room for the new ones! Basically there are spring cleaning to make sure nothing stands in the way of the new favorite son, the Google+ project that has now over 40 million users. Unfortunately though these people are not using it that often ;) Guess that's about it, RIP Buzz and who knows which product will be the next in line to get the axe?

[Remember to go and read the original article at Google Buzz Is Being Shut Down ]

and do feel free to comment and share!

Facebook is tracking your activity even after you log off

[ Read the original article at Facebook is tracking your activity even after you log off ]

Apparently these days Facebook is the one getting more Sociable and less Nice!

An Australian blogger Nic Cubrilovic discovered and exposed the huge privacy breach that Facebook tracks down your activity even after you log out of your account.

So even if you had log out of Facebook, whenever you visit any of the million web pages that has a Facebook Like Button or any other widget from them, the information, including your (unique) account ID, is still being sent to Facebook!

Cubrilovic, also said that he has been trying to alert Facebook about this findings for almost a year, but received little or no response from the company. Big surprise, hm?!

Of course Facebook has denied allegations, claiming in an official comment that “Facebook does not track users across the web. Instead, we use cookies on social plugins to personalize content (e.g. Show you what your friends liked), to help maintain and improve what we do or for safety and security."

So apparently they do that not to "track" your actions, they just do it to "personalize" your content!

Doesn't this look strangely familiar? Like what Bill Clinton said a while back: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman!". Of course not, it was just a.. blow job ;)

There already are 5 recorded lawsuits for tracking logged-out users and several officials and advocacy groups are apparently getting ready to strike as well. If the courts will rule in their favor it's gonna be a hell of a sting up Zuckerberg's proverbial butt.

The starting point for this discovery was a brand new Facebook feature, that I actually saw in action, the new automatic "frictionless sharing". This means sharing your non-Facebook web activity with your Facebook friends BUT without your explicit permission. As I saw the other day live, and

reproduced for you here:

As you may see I was watching a movie on Dailymotion, and it was automatically posted on the Facebook news ticker. Yeah, creepy as hell! All you have to do is view an article, play a video and not pay to much attention to the privacy settings for this feature, and voilà, everything you do shows up on Facebook.

What does this mean to you?! Well if "cookie removal" sounds a bit too techie for you than make sure you go to a public internet cafe or use a friend's computer while looking up hemorrhoid treatments or performance enhancements, otherwise your Facebook friends might have a bit of a field day (on your ass of course)!

And I'd like to end with a funny quote I read the other day: "Deleting my internet history feels like I never stalked you in the first place!" Now you don't even need to do that, Facebook does all that heavy lifting for you ;)

Soo.. now get ready (with a tinny bit of help from dear old Facebook of course) to share "everything" with the rest of the online social world!

[Remember to go and read the original article at Facebook is tracking your activity even after you log off ]

and do feel free to comment and share!

How to Enable Facebook Timeline right NOW

[ Read the original article at How to Enable Facebook Timeline right NOW ]

In case you haven't heard Facebook has in store a new major change: the Facebook Timeline: It hasn't been released to the general public yet but soon it will be enabled for everyone.

There are though ways to trick Facebook and get ahead of the crowd. This is a step by step guide (7 easy steps) on How to get your shiny new Facebook Timeline right this minute!

This guide is of course for the ones (just like me) who when they get an itch they really really need to scratch it! And as always the scratching comes regardless of the consequences! But more about this scratching on the next posts. This one is just about the timeline enabling guide. So here we go:

Step 1. Prerequisites

First of all you will need to have a verified account on Facebook. This means you will have to attach your phone number and/or credit card. If you don't have that yet, you will be asked to do it during the process of getting the timeline enabled. I suggest you choose adding the phone number. I verified my account long ago and I haven't received any prank calls from Facebook employees (yet anyway).

Step 2. Enable the developer application

You will need to go to https://developers.facebook.com/apps, you will see something like that: Click on.. Allow ;)

Step 3. Create a new Facebook Application

On the top right of the screen there is a button, Create New App: Click on the button and you will see something like that:

The name's not important, use anything you want, like Timeline Testing or... Sociable and Nice Rullz ;) (Don't use Facebook or other general names) Also fill in the Namespace with something (only lowercase, dashes and underlines allowed). Also it needs to be unique so you may have to try few options before it will work. After that, you will have to complete the security check. Here you will also be prompted for that account verification I was telling you about. Type in your phone number and shortly you will receive a SMS from Facebook with an activation code. Click OK and you will be proud owner of a Facebook Application. But no, you're not finished and our journey is not over yet!

Step 4. Get Started with Open Graph

Don't mind the name it's not that complicated. In the main application screen, click on Open Graph (on the left side):

Step 5. Create an Action

You will have to create a bogus test action for your application, anything will do from watch a movie to.. hump a smurf. I went with the classical approach of Drink a Beer ;)

Step 6. Save your application

Click trough all the sections, just press Save Changes and Next! (Don't bother with whatever settings are there, just make sure you click save on all tabs) [caption id="attachment_478" align="aligncenter" width="570" caption=" "][/caption]

Step 7. Get the Timeline

And this is it! After all is saved, all you need to do is go back to your profile and you will get an invitation to try the new Facebook Timeline!!! *** Few remarks:

1. Even if you enable the Facebook Timeline, it will only be visible to the other people that have themselves enabled this feature.

2. If you will log into Facebook from a different computer you will see that the timeline was disabled. To get it back you will need to access: http://www.facebook.com/[USERNAME]?sk=timeline - and replace [USERNAME] with your Facebook username.

Well, that's all folks.. Hope you'll enjoy the new Facebook Timeline!

[Remember to go and read the original article at How to Enable Facebook Timeline right NOW ]

and do feel free to comment and share!

Facebook new crap profile – reloaded!

[ Read the original article at Facebook new crap profile – reloaded! ]

And they did it again! Facebook came up yet again with a new, even crappier profile! Hard to imagine that was actually possible, right?! Uhh, I do feel I am repeating myself, see my previous post Facebook New Crap Profile and the Bullshit Idiot - It's probably the same damn idiot.. but with shiny new new features! For the ones that don't know me, or don't know that about me I am NOT a morning person. I do need little time and peace to adapt my early grumpiness to the new day at hand. So I get up, and even before going to the bathroom, I usually start my laptop. And guess what I see when I open my Facebook account: And of course I see everything got messed up again. This kind of crap makes it really hard to be my lovely sociable and nice self. In the battle against dear old Google+ instead of adding new features, improving the old ones, or even more important solving issues, and putting their shit together.. they just copy each other! And we're the ones paying for it. Now I have what their brilliant minds think are Top Stories on top of the Recent Stories and a pile of crowded data on top of the now smaller chat window. But it's OK they did that to improve our experience: "All Your News is Now in One Place" Where exactly is that, scrambled all over the screen?! And they do share a couple of truly insightful help tips. "If you see top stories first when you load your News Feed, simply scroll down to see the recent stories." And guess what?! It doesn't even work properly. I just removed few posts from people I haven't talked to in over an year from my Top Stories section (of course), and when I refreshed the page the posts showed up again! Crappy embarrassing bugs on Facebook, a 60 billion dollar business? What a surprise?! And don't get me started on the privacy issues, now it's no longer called stalking, it's called "subscribing" ! This is the kind of Facebook crap that should speed up our migration towards Google+. Ah and as a quick UPDATE - I wanted to share with you a perfectly explanatory picture about what the users truly represent to his "highness" Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook: So since we are not paying for it, we are NOT the customers we most definitely are the products being sold! This should paint a more clear picture ;) Technorati check claim code: 5JQKZK4FD22U What are your thoughts on the matter?

[Remember to go and read the original article at Facebook new crap profile – reloaded! ]

and do feel free to comment and share!

AIR Google – Best User Experience While Crashing

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Fasten your seat belts, close your Google Games and say your prayers! We are going down but don't worry, AIR Google will offer you the best user experience while we crash! Fear not, there will be a Google Map placemark on our estimated crash site with direction links being sent to the near by hospitals. We can cancel your Google Calendar schedule and update your Google+ status if you want to share this with your friends and family. In case you will not survive the crash there will be a complimentary plot in our Google Cemetery. I guess that would a crash announcement probably sounds like while flying Google AIR. Why Google Air you might ask? Are they planing for one?! Well odds are that they are. If history has taught us something is that Google always thinks big and they always carefully prepare their moves. It's like they did with Google+: they first started to invest / acquire social media related companies like Blogger and Zynga for the games (See here also Social Games - Billion Dollar Industry), than they released the Google +1 button for the web searches, recently the are rolling out Google Games and now they are preparing for Google+ Business Pages. The same course of action is happening here: On July 1, 2010 Google payed $700 million to acquire ITA Software (the world's largest airline search software company). Soon the Department of Justice gave them the "OK" and on Tuesday (September 13, 2011) Google has just launched Google Flights. So it kinda makes perfect sense, why not start their own flights company.. AIR Google?! - Boldly go where no geek has gone before! Of course Google Flights is still at his humble beginnings: [HTML6] Now you can search for flights only in the US and the results point to the original companies. There are some cool features like loading speed, best price and setting up your travel schedule. Even if they stick only with the searches they are entering a $300 billion market per year! And they are just getting ready to take this industry by storm! There was even a fierce but pointless opposition from FairSearch.org, an alliance of companies in the search and travel industries that include Microsoft, Kayak and Expedia. The of course failed, like the rebel alliance trying to fight the Empire without the "jedi force"! As usual Google was victorious and it's getting ready to conquer these new opponents as well. Soon going online will be called going on Google!

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Internet Explorer Users Have Low IQ

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Finally it's official, if you are using Internet Explorer (especially IE 6) you're a moron! (See here also: The Internet Idiot) A study "Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Browser Usage" made (allegedly) by a Canadian company called AptiQuant that polled over 100 000 people ages 16 and up presented that basically:

- IE users have a significantly lower IQ, the most stupid of em' all use (shockingly) IE6. They have an average IQ score barely over 80, still to much if you ask me!

- Chrome and Safari users have a significant higher IQ with little difference between them

- Opera and Camino(Mac browser) have the highest IQs.

The study also stated that "Individuals on the lower side of the IQ scale tend to resist a change/upgrade of their browsers". Soon after the study was released and spread around the Internet after further investigations it was claimed that it may have been a hoax, and the company that presented it may not even exist (Microsoft interference or not)... Hoax or not, the veridicity of this claim stands, the dumbest people on the Internet are the ones still using IE6. It's the one common thing that every professional web developer in this world can agree upon! Even Microsoft themselves are trying to erase this ugly mistake from their past. Live at a Microsoft presentation I attended a while back in the lovely city of Brasov, Romania, the official statement was "Treat Internet Explorer 8 as a standard and IE7 and IE6 as exceptions!" and promised to eradicate IE6 with the automated windows updates. They even set up a countdown site: Ie6countdown to urge people to finally let the bastard die! A lot of developers and bloggers are supporting this cause for a very long time and with good reason! If you would have tried to open this blog on IE6 you would have got a big banner informing you that you are using an outdated (crappy) browser and provides you the links to real internet browsers. Hope for your sake you didn't get that message, if you have.. there's nothing more to be said except that

You are an idiot!

For reference in how you could fix this problem, check out this simple guide to terminate IE6

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Google is turning Sociable and NOT Nice!

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As some of you might have seen or heard, Google has launched a full scale attack on his new found bold but naive competitor Facebook. ( Did they actually think they could poke the "bear" and get away with it?! ) Google has finally understood the power of social media and as usually decided to "own" it! Facebook is the biggest player in this field but they became too arrogant, consumed by their own fame, that turned them into a bully, thinking people will just take their abuse, privacy violations, spam.. And feeding on these mistakes Google calmly but surely has started to slowly surround it's pray, getting ready for the kill shot. The first wave of the invasion is the +1 Button, basically a Google Like button for the web: [HTML1] It's pretty much similar with the Facebook Like but with a huge incentive. The +1s will be visible in the Google searches and maybe soon it will actually influence the search results. This tiny difference will make most site owners/ web designers / SEO professionals want to include this feature into their websites. This small button is already popping up all over the web and people can now "+1" things. You'd think the marketing department of a 100 billion dollars company could come up with a better name though.. There's one here: [HTML2] (this is a button you can safely press) The second and probably the most lethal move of the attack is the Google+ project, or as they want it to be, the "new Facebook". A small video presentation of it here: [HTML3] Google is trying to use the same tactic as with Gmail, releasing the beta version than can be accessed by invitation only. So there is now a big buzz about getting into and experimenting with Google+. It looks for now like a simpler, cleaner version of Facebook, let's only hope it will work better! The brand new social network includes:

Circles - something like the Facebook friends lists. The good part here is that if you were using Gmail most of the people you know and keep in contact to will magically appear as suggestions. It's not a mind reading device, well at least not yet!

Sparks - a bunch of annoying content (articles, videos, posts) that will spam you based on your "interests"

Hangouts - group video chat! Sounds so kinky doesn't?! Now you can have all of your friends see that brand new underwear or the brand new holes in the old underwear.. I'll be waiting for the Slutty Google Nerds hangout!

Instant Upload and Huddle - some handy features for mobile users.

Facebook is still the leader of the social networking, and even if they have a crappy system and incompetent developers (see Facebook New Crap Profile) they have over 750 million of active users, business profiles and a huge load of out of control applications (not all spammy). This will be a long war, one of business intelligence, strategy, innovation and user satisfaction. May be best lord of darkness win! If you want to try the new social network and you don't know how to get an invitation for Google+ I could send you one since I am after all Sociable and Nice! Just drop me a comment bellow asking for one..

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The Sociable and Nice take on Fairy Tales

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nce upon a time.. people had nothing better to do than copulate (without the use of modern or even old ways or contraception) thus small loud pooping and demanding brats were born.. After yelling running and screaming all day long they had to be "put to sleep", and because most parents were a bit reluctant in stuffing their lil faces with sleeping pills and/or alcohol they had to talk them to sleep. And that's how fairy tales were born! Of course every culture has its own fairytale version but basically they all wrap around the same issues: kings, monsters, beautiful princess, evil to be conquered by the brave and mighty hero! The Romanian versions all have pretty much the same pattern: the beautiful (pitzi) princess is kidnapped by the big bad ugly monster (some sort of ogre) and taken to his tower(falic symbol of course for what happens to her there). The prince, usually the youngest of 3 brothers, the one brave and pure at heart (translation: too young and or/too dorky to get laid) find his father's old, sick and almost shipped to the glue factory but magical horse, feeds him burning embers and turns him into the noble steed! He then travels to find the ogre, they fight for 3 days and 3 nights (potty break and all) until he of course slays the monster and rescues the princess who he of course marries and they live happily ever after! (hopefully if none of the kids will look like the poor departed ogre or the stable boy) What better way to brainwash your retarded kids into thinking they are actually special and as their heroes they will achieve greatness not end up with minimum wage, dead end job, nagging wife and no future.. Nobody really wants to face the actual reality! Why is nobody asking what actually happens before the young prince arrives to save the princess and what's the ogre doing?! Well that will be a story for the older kids.. and the porn industry. That might even be a niche to be explored for the "bold" entrepreneur in you! Or nobody is considering that maybe the true hero of the story is not the prince but the poor misunderstood ogre that was trying to save the unhappy (and slutty) princess from the boring dorky rich prince. And as our weight lifting ogre was offering her his "heart" (in a tower shape of course) he's rudely interrupted and murdered without any mercy! Sadly the truth will never be known.. And as if this was not enough we have now the modern fairy tales... same bullshit, different context: poor beautiful girl abandoned by the rich ass play boy father that knocked up her slut of a mother, grows up to find him (or his inheritance) and meets her prince charming (90% of the cases called Juan Alberto). She of course has to battle the step evil sisters/mothers/whatever and after that they get married and live happily ever after! (hopefully if none of the kids will look like the neighbor or the tennis instructor) That's how those gullible kids get screwed up.. As the boys will be looking for those pure innocent princesses, only to discover that pure girls can only be found in elementary school or deep deep in the woods. And all those princess wanna be girls that will be waiting for their handsome prince charming to come on his noble steed (manele blasting BMW) and sweep them off their feet will end up knocked up with their prince running as fast as he can to nail the next ignorant princess in line. So 10 years and a couple of rug rats later she find herself cooking and cleaning for that alcoholic prince charming that's not so charming anymore drinking and burping as he's watching football! But for all you fairy tales fans, there is still hope: Beavis and Butt-Head return to MTV! I find it so sad that more and more people can only see this glamour, looking for that bullshit fairytale.. True happiness will never come from this. What ever happened to that simple story: Boy meets girl, they talk, like each other and get together.. They treat each other with love, honesty and respect and they truly leave happily ever after?! But ah well, what would the word be without (the sociable and nice) Fairy Tales?!

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The Internet Idiot

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I'm writing this post to raise awareness about an issue that affects all of us. It's not breaking news, it goes on for tens of years, but I think people have just forgot or don't care anymore. So BEWARE: Besides radiation exposure, city destroying earthquakes and flooding tsunamis there is another strong menace out there: the Internet Idiot! This severe condition has spread widely, it has infiltrated our world for a long time. Pay attention, it can be anyone near you, a friend, family, a colleague, a coworker or it can even be.. YOU! You need to watch out for this person, it's your civic duty to put a stop to his or hers disruptive actions. They need to be educated at once, or put out of their misery (and ours). How can you tell if you are dealing with an Internet Idiot, or if you actually are one?! Here's a simple list:

Have you ever used one or more of the expressions: "Where is the Internet?" "How do I open the Internet?" "Can I copy the Internet?" "What does google-it means?" "What's the link for Google?"

When you "open the Internet" your browser is Internet Explorer, it looks like this: Severe Warning: if it's not only Internet Explorer but actually Internet Explorer 6: than this is the end, your condition is too severe. You need to follow these steps at once:

- close this page (do read all of the instructions before.. duh! )

- rip the Internet cable

- call your Internet provider (people you pay for Internet) and cancel your subscription

- choose a suited profession like construction worker, cleaning lady, maid or sex toy. If you happened to choose sex toy please fill in your contact information here

- never try to use the Internet again!

You have an email address but you don't know what it is

Any of your profile pictures involves a mirror, a cell phone and sun glasses.

You think that Facebook is the new version of Hi5

You have a Facebook account but don't know what the "wall" is

You have ever lost your messenger id or yahoo account because you wrote your user and password in a look a like yahoo page someone sent you

One or all of your passwords is "password"

You've ever clicked on a banner with a pretty girl saying "find women near you that want to have sex" or you are our lucky winner, click here to collect your prize..

You're even a bigger Internet Idiot if you actually left your e-mail address of any of those web sites.

You don't know how to send an e-mail with an attachment

You sent by mistake a compromising picture of you or a message to a client/boss/co-worker instead of a friend

You think a hacker will steal your boring vacation pictures at the country side!

Your profile picture for anything is Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie or that lame actor of that lame vampire Eclipse movies

You think Facebook or Yahoo will close your account if you don't send some message to 10 or something of your friends!

Has this happened to you?! Don't despair, acceptance is the first step in finding the cure! Do you have more examples of what an Internet Idiot does? Drop a comment here. No Comments

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How smart are ya? (the cube)

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So you have enjoyed round 1?! Now comes the second one, (drum roll).. The Cube! It has only 30 levels, and the first ones are easier of course ;) Warning: It can be highly addictive or highly frustrating (depending on your IQ) Just don't get upset if you can't do it, the world needs stupid people also.. [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.vectorash.ro/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/3dlogic.swf" width="618" height="480" /] P.S. You can stop, and continue from the level you last finished!

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How smart are ya?

[ Read the original article at How smart are ya? ]

Most people ironically think highly of themselves especially when it comes to how smart they are ;) So do you think you are clever, how smart are ya?! Try this game for size, and see how fast you can solve it. I've even made a special timer just for you. You may post your results as a comment, no point in cheating.. you can't win against the universe, trust me ;) Give it a try, move all the frogs from right to sit on the left rocks, and all the frogs from left to sit on the right side rocks: [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.vectorash.ro/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/frogs.swf" width="570" height="390" /]

Your browser does not support iframes.

Enjoy ;)

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