Sad news for springers -- Springpad shuts up shop June 25
Data organization wars have claimed a victim. Springpad, the notebook service designed to help users "get inspired, get organized, get more done" is to close. After six years of helping people store notes, recipes, project ideas and more, Springpad will close in just over a month. The world of note taking tools, managers and general information organizers has become crowded. The likes of Evernote, OneNote and even Google Keep have all been vying for attention in recent years, and there are only so many users to go around.
The closure rumors started last night with the Verge citing the oft-mentioned "person familiar with the company's plans", but now it has been confirmed. In a blog post the Springpad team confirms what hundreds of thousands of users hoped and prayed would turn out to be untrue -- as of June 25, the service will cease to function. At this stage no reasons are being given for the closure, but it will leave users scrabbling to find a new home for their data.
Facebook listens to feedback and tightens up privacy settings -- a bit
Privacy. It's something that we're all concerned about, particularly online. Facebook is one of many companies that comes in for scrutiny and criticism for the way it handles user privacy, and there have long been complaints about the fact that statuses and uploaded photos are made publicly accessible by default. Today that changes. After years of pestering, Facebook has listened to its user base and changed the default visibility setting to "Friends only". At least this is the case for brand new users.
Anyone signing up for a new Facebook account -- can there be many people left who do not yet have one? -- will be able to avoid accidentally sharing private photos with the world. "Going forward, when new people join Facebook, the default audience of their first post will be set to Friends. Previously, for most people, it was set to Public," says Facebook in a blog post. The first time a post is made, users will be asked whether it should be made public or limited to a smaller audience. If no selection is made, it will default to Friends.
Google would be wrong to abandon Plus or Nexus
If you believe the rumors -- and I rarely do, unsubstantiated -- Google+ and Nexus are over. Gossipers claim the social network will lose identity and prominence, while the Nexus 6 smartphone is no more than dust in the wind. Who is writing the script here? George R. R. Martin? Because the Google killing-spree has a "Game of Thrones" (aka Song of Ice and Fire) feel to it -- you don't know which product will be killed next. For sure, the death count is mighty since Larry Page's return as CEO three years ago.
But Google will make a huge mistake if it backs off Plus, or worse, puts Nexus to the sword. These assets' value is immeasurable. Enthusiasts are any company's best marketers, and these products command large and vocal fan bases. Enthusiasts are crucial to Google gaining and maintaining brand charm, particularly as government overlords answer competitor complaints: "Antitrust! Antitrust!" Fans aren't just good marketers, they are foot soldiers rallying against invaders, like European or U.S. trustbusters.
Is AdBlock Plus killing the web? Massive memory usage is dragging Firefox down
As something of a browser butterfly, I like to keep an eye on what's happening with browsers other than the one I'm currently using fulltime. Like many tech journalists (and non-journalists for that matter), I gave up on Internet Explorer quite some time ago, opting for Firefox initially. I also dabbled with Opera and Waterfox, amongst others, but for a number of years it was Firefox that delivered web pages to me. Sadly, I noticed that things started to slow down. New versions were more bloated and sluggish, and in the search for better performance, I ended up with Chrome. I've been a Chrome user for years now, but I was recently spurred into trying out Firefox once again.
Quite where the impetus came from, I'm not sure -- just one of those "let’s see if anything's changed" moments, I guess. Apart from little quirks like the refresh button being on the "wrong" side of the program window, Firefox seems pretty decent. I was impressed by the sharpness of the display for starters -- I had forgotten that Chrome handles high DPIs very poorly. As I'm using a Surface Pro running at 1920 x 1080, running at 150 percent DPI scaling is essential (I don’t have microscopes for eyes!) and Chrome makes everything look slightly blurry... not enough to put me off -- I'm still using it, after all -- but Firefox was a revelation!
Privacy victory: Google told that people have a 'right to be forgotten' online
If you Google yourself, do you stumble across information you would rather wasn't online? Those naked photos of you cavorting in the garden or a snippet from a drunken rant in an online forum could be sitting there for all to see. The page in question may have gone, but that's not to say that you won’t still appear in Google search results.
Obviously there are situations in which this could be detrimental to your reputation, and it's understandable that you might want something done about it. Following a case presided over by the European Union Court of Justice in Luxembourg, judges have ruled that, in certain circumstances, people may ask a search operator to remove data about them from search results.
Twitter's mute function lets you silence talkative tweeters
It is said that Twitter is the social network for those who suffer from verbal diarrhoea, and it's certainly true that you have to be slightly selective about who you follow if you are to avoid drowning in an avalanche of overwhelming drivel. But even if you do pick and choose who appears in your timeline very carefully, there may be times when you want certain people to just shut up. You could stop following them, or even go as far as blocking them, but this might be seen as taking things a little too far. Twitter's new mute function could be the solution to the problem you didn’t know you had.
Announced in a post on the Twitter blog, Product Manager Paul Rosania says the feature is being rolled out to not only the web version of Twitter, but also the official iOS and Android apps. In many ways, muting is a watered down version of blocking a user and it could prove useful in certain circumstances. You may have some friend who is watching a show you've yet to catch up with. To help avoid spoilers, you could mute their tweets until you're up to date; the same idea rings true for sporting results, and other big announcements.
Twitter bolsters security with password reset and suspicious login improvements
Security is always important, but now that we find ourselves in a post-Heartbleed world, it seems that there is more importance than ever being placed on passwords and the safety of online accounts. The constant advice, that we should be using unique passwords of ever-increasing complexity for each service we use, means that there is a greater chance of forgetting our login details. This is something that Twitter recognizes with a couple of account safety changes that are being introduced today.
A new password reset procedure lets you choose whether reset details should be sent to your registered email address or phone number. Having a choice is helpful in case you no longer use the email address you registered with, or if you have switched phone numbers. Choice is good! Mobile users will also find that the reset process has been improved, and Twitter helpfully provides some tips to aid with selecting a strong new password.
Do Not Track: Stop using Yahoo if you're concerned about privacy
It has been mentioned here and there, but to be honest I am very surprised that more of a stink has not been kicked up about Yahoo's announcement last week. Quietly slipped into a blog post by the slightly ironically named Yahoo Privacy Team, the web firm announced that "Do Not Track settings will no longer be enabled on Yahoo". Yep, sod privacy, Yahoo is more concerned with delivering "A Personalized Experience" -- Yahoo's capitalization, not mine.
Do Not Track has been around for a few years now -- interestingly, Yahoo was one of the first companies to start using it -- and it makes it possible for users to prevent websites from monitoring their online activities. It's a feature that is supported by a number of browsers, either as a built in option, or one that can be added through the use of an extension, and it is something that has been welcomed by privacy groups all over the world.
How social media makes people in a relationship jealous
While social media allows people to connect with each other, it can also create jealousy. If a man discovers his new girlfriend has 250 male friends, it is potentially going to create lot of stress for that guy. He is going to feel that he has a lot of competition that he would not have known about if social media did not exist.
It is also going to make him feel insecure in the relationship, and make him feel jealous over his new partner. A person likes that feeling of exclusivity, that he is the one who matters to his partner first and foremost. Social media interferes with that feeling because it makes the person feel that his new flame has many social contacts who could compete with him. Furthermore, when the partner spends a significant amount of time on social media sites engaged in contact with members of the opposite sex, the person is likely to feel jealous and that will lead to trust issues. He may become suspicious of his girlfriend and her activities on those sites.
Microsoft gives OneDrive for Business users 40 times more storage space
Free storage space is very common, and it's available from the likes of Dropbox, Google and countless others. Microsoft's OneDrive also gives users a certain amount of free online storage space, and today business users receive a massive boost -- a forty-fold increase in capacity. OneDrive for Business storage is being boosted from 25GB to 1TB per user, and the same is true for Office 365 ProPlus customers.
Microsoft is putting ever-increasing faith in the cloud, particularly for its business users. "The cloud is about breaking down walls between people and information. Not building a new set of islands in the sky", states the Office blog. There's a third announcement too: "we’ll help organizations migrate data to OneDrive for Business". It's not quite clear exactly what this entails, but it certainly sounds good for anyone who has their data hosted elsewhere.
If Google is your god, I'm glad I'm an atheist
It seems that the world of technology is much like the world of politics and religion -- oh yes, we are going down that road -- you pick your side and you stick to it. While it is great to be decisive in what you believe in, it can also be very limiting. It creates a sense of black and white, ignoring the myriad shades of grey that undeniably exist. It stunts the palate and narrows the mind. This is the effect that Google has had on the world, or the world of technology at least. Just as many people will unquestioning accept what is proffered by their religious text of preference, too many people fail to look outside of what Google has to offer.
It seems that Google is a god to many people, and this is worrying. My colleague Joe Wilcox has written extensively about the importance of writing for one's audience rather than for Google. Refusing to tailor one's content to meet the demands of Google's ever-changing algorithms may mean fewer hits, but it will almost invariably mean higher quality content and a more enjoyable, readable and unique experience for readers. And at the end of the day, that is what matters. Google is not my god. I'm an atheist -- and I'm extremely glad to be.
Google Plus is friggin' awesome -- don't you agree?
On April 24, the Google+ community lost a valuable promoter and leader. Vic Gundotra, head of Google's social media network, announced that he is stepping down and leaving the company. Mr. Gundotra deserves great applause, as he was in charge during the initial growth of the best social media network on the internet.
Yes, that's right, Google+ is the best -- it is friggin' awesome. It is better than Facebook. It is better than Twitter. Despite what the tech community may echo, the service is actually loved and adored by some, including myself. But OK, what makes Google+ so awesome? Here are some of my reasons.
How E-commerce is taking over the world
The internet has been responsible for changing the way we go about many of the tasks in our day-to-day lives. Not least it has changed the way we shop.
Customer experience specialist Baynote has released a new infographic map showing the growth of e-commerce across the world.
Google is a bully, but that's not necessarily a bad thing
Google has a lot of mud thrown at it, and while a lot of it slides off, there is a good proportion that sticks. There are a variety of accusations levelled at the search giant -- evil, self-serving, monopolistic, nosey, invasive, overbearing, corporate, et cetera, et cetera -- but could it be that the power the company wields is actually a good thing? Could Google use the sway it holds over website owners to make the web a better place? But before we start praising Google, there's no harm in sticking the boot in first, eh?
For many people, Google is a bully. In the constant search for page views, ranking in Google matters -- it matters a lot. My colleague Joe Wilcox argues that writers should write for themselves and their readers rather than Google -- something I would strongly advocate -- but until this notion gathers momentum, there are still countless bloggers panicking themselves silly about what impact the latest search algorithm changes will have on their position in search results. It can be a constant game of catch-up, requiring endless changes to optimize content for maximum visibility -- all too often at the expense of readability and reader experience.
Stop Google+ broadcasting the number of profile views you've received
It has often been said that making use of any social network is an exercise in vanity or narcissism. The likes of Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other similar tools give anyone a platform to voice their views, concerns, complaints and anything else they feel inclined to get off their chest. But what matters about each of these social networks -- for the vane narcissist, at least -- is the number of people who are actually reading the words that are published. Unburdening online can be a wonderfully cathartic experience, but all the better if it is read by tens of thousands of people rather than just hundreds.
Each network gives you its own way to keep track of your potential audience. On Facebook, it's easy to keep track of the number of friends you have, while on Twitter it's the number of followers that's important -- as well, of course, as the coveted blue verified badge. Similarly on LinkedIn, it is easy to see how many people you’re connected to, and in the case of Google+ you can check how many people have circled you. But then there is the matter of how these figures translate into actual views.
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