Facebook App Center launched with a fresh URL

The Facebook App Center has been launched with a fresh URL and a clan interface. Found in the App Center are all kinds of Apps built for Facebook, iOS, Android and the web. You can use the apps available now no matter what your platform of choice is. The Facebook app center has apps for games, music, news photo and Video, lifestyle, sports, travel and utilities. 


Facebook App Center: How does it work
1. You need a Facebook ID to be able to view and use the App Center
2. Once you're in you see categories on the left and recommended apps on the main page
3. Below App Center on your left you can choose between all, web and mobile.
4. You have recommended apps and apps that your friends are using. 
5. You also have top rated - most stars given by users, trending - most talked about and viewed, Top grossing - most in-app purchases. 


The App center has been long awaited and is now ready for use. Login today and start exploring there are tons of free apps and all your free Facebook apps are now in one place. Without the App Center apps were scattered all across the place and you had to search for the app you wanted. This makes things easier and all your favorite apps are now in one place. 
Facebook App Center

An original post by

Sociolatte

George W. Bush has a Facebook page

George W. Bush has joined Facebook and now has a fan page. There have been reports hat he also have a Twitter account but that is not true. The George W. Bush presidential center does have a Twitter account and is available here. 


There are many political figures who use social media and Mr. Bush has been missing from that list for a long time. The Facebook page as of now has 39.084 people who like it and the numbers are growing. 


His personal Bio on the page does not say much other than 
43rd President of the United States
Former Governor of Texas

His Facebook page can be Found at http://www.facebook.com/georgewbush

His first post says:

Since leaving office, President Bush has remained active. He has visited 20 states and 8 countries; given over 65 speeches; launched the George W. Bush Presidential Center; participated in 4 policy conferences through The Bush Institute; finished the first draft of his memoir, “Decision Points”; and partnered with President Clinton to establish the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. More on his activities in future posts...

An original post by

Sociolatte

May 31 is Quit Facebook Day

pcmag reported that "Quit Facebook Day" only effected 2% of US users. It seems people are not ready to give up on the social network over the recent privacy issues. Users have obviously spent a lot of time, energy and creativity in creating their own social network on Facebook and are not really ready to give it up.


Facebook has also announced it's new privacy policy that aims to make thing simpler for users to understand and adjust. There are many privacy rights groups who are very vocal against Facebook's privacy policies but that does not necessarily effect the masses. People are just not ready to quit, Facebook on the other hand has already put their new policy in place and if you login to Facebook and click on privacy policy you see a whole new page with simplified layouts in place.


Creating an account and maintaining it on Facebook is also no joke. You need to interact with your people, share photos, videos and then the games. People love their games and applications and it keeps them busy. End of the day people share only what they want to share and this whole thing of  "Quit Facebook Day" did not really  get the success it wanted.


So did you quit?

An original post by

Sociolatte

After Pakistan Facebook now blocked in Bangladesh

You would remember about a week ago Facebook was blocked in Pakistan because of a page called " Everybody Draw Mohammed Day". Muslims regard drawing of their prophet Mohammed blasphemous even the good ones. It is considered sacrilegious to draw images of the Prophet.


Chief telecommunication regulator Zia Ahmed said Sunday that access to the site has been temporarily blocked because it was publishing caricatures that may hurt the religious sentiments of people in the Muslim-majority nation.


Thousands of Muslims took to the streets in Dhaka to protest.


Facebook is back up in Pakistan though.

[Image Courtesy: Yahoo News]

An original post by

Sociolatte

Facebook launches new privacy settings and privacy guide

Facebook has launched privacy settings with a whole new design. When you click on Privacy Settings you are taken to a whole new page where things seem simpler and easier to understand. The options however remain the same and  you need to play around a little to get it right. There is also a guide that has been launched to help explain all of these settings.

To understand each of these settings Facebook has got a page that explains all of this and is available here. We are also posting the guide in this post if you would like to read through it. The New Privacy page on Facebook now looks like this.

Choose Your Privacy Settings

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  Basic Directory Information

  
  

  To help real world friends find you, some basic information is open to everyone. We also suggest setting basics like hometown and interests to everyone so friends can use those to connect with you. View settings
  

  
  

  
  


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  Sharing on Facebook

  
  

  
  

  
  
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    Everyone
    
  
  
  • 
    Friends of Friends
    
  
  
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    Friends Only
    
  
  
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    Recommended
    
  
  
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    Custom
    
  
  

  
  

  
  

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    	Everyone	Friends of Friends	Friends Only	Other
    My status, photos, and posts
    Bio and favorite quotations
    Family and relationships
    Photos and videos I'm tagged in
    Religious and political views
    Birthday
    Can comment on posts
    Email addresses and IM
    Phone numbers and address

    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    

  
  

  
  

  
  Customize settings
  

  
  

  
  This is your current setting.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Applications and Websites Edit your settings for using applications, games and websites.

Block Lists Edit your lists of blocked people and applications.

Controlling How You Share Learn more about your privacy on Facebook.

An original post by

Sociolatte

Facebook acquires ShareGrove the Private Group Share Site

ShareGrove essentially let's people create groups and share things. Where everyone in the group sees the same thing at the same time. So if you have created a group and one member posts shares something everyone gets to see it at the same time. If you post something on your wall all members get to see it at the same time. Essentially we could see Facebook getting better chat features and going more mainstream as an IM client.


To know more about ShareGrove and how it works please check the video below.


ShareGrove made the announcement on their Facebook page.

An original post by

Sociolatte

Video: After Facebook Pakistan has now blocked YouTube

After a page appeared on Facebook called "Draw The Prophet Mohammed" people in Pakistan have started protesting against Facebook. Claiming the in Islam no one draws the prophet as it is blasphemous. Facebook in Pakistan has over 3 million users who are now not able to visit their favorite site. In addition to the protests against Facebook the protesters are now including other countries and well last and not least YouTube. YouTube has been accused of running blasphemous videos on the net. With Facebook and YouTube now blocked Internet traffic has now dropped by a quarter. 

An original post by

Sociolatte

From Earthquake to Boobquake

An Islamic cleric had this to say about Earthquakes happening in Haiti, Chile and the US.

Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi earlier this month warned worshipers:"Women who do not dress modestly . . . lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes."

And so one blogger, Jen McCreight, decided to test his claim. She is urging women on Monday to gather in their "most immodest outfit" and see what happens.

So for all the D.C. women who are interested in participating in this event, there is a gathering being organized for noon at Dupont Circle. According to one Facebook page, more than 30,000 are liking this.

Jen's Twitter page

Jen's Facebook page

This theory will be tested and if there are no seismic events on the 26th the cleric would need to prove why he is right or wrong. 

Jen McCreight says this on her Facebook page

Help fight supernatural thinking and the oppression of women, just by showing your cleavage!

"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes," Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media. Sedighi is Tehran's acting Friday prayer leader.

I have a modest proposal.

Sedighi claims that not dressing modestly causes earthquakes. If so, we should be able to test this claim scientifically. You all remember the homeopathy overdose?

Time for a Boobqauke.

On Monday, April 26th, I will wear the most cleavage-showing shirt I own. Yes, the one usually reserved for a night on the town. I encourage other female skeptics to join me and embrace the supposed supernatural power of their breasts. Or short shorts, if that's your preferred form of immodesty. With the power of our scandalous bodies combined, we should surely produce an earthquake. If not, I'm sure Sedighi can come up with a rational explanation for why the ground didn't rumble. And if we really get through to him, maybe it'll be one involving plate tectonics.

So, who's with me? I may be a D cup, but that will probably only produce a slight tremor on its own. If you'll be joining me on twitter, use the tag #boobquake!

Meanwhile male social networking users hope this turns out to be an annual recurring event. 

An original post by

Sociolatte

Facebook announces the 'Like' button instead of the 'Become a fan'

Remember the "Become a Fan' button that used to what you would click to become a fan of a page you like. Well that is not going to be the case anymore. Facebook has introduced the 'Like' button instead. 

Introducing the Like button

Starting today people will be able to connect with your Page by clicking “Like” rather than “Become a Fan.” We hope this action will feel much more lightweight, and that it will increase the number of connections made across the site

This is a significant step in the simplification of Facebook with the "Become a Fan" button seeming to tell users that they are now a fan and therefore a burden needs to be carried. All users need to do now is like a page and be able to follow it. 

Once users’ click on the “like” button it shows up in the users activity stream.

Websites will also be able to add the “Like” button to their websites and offer customizations to users such as showing them which articles their friends liked and which restaurants they visited.

An original post by

Sociolatte

"Twitteros", Mexico's Latest Outlaws

Yes in Mexico that's what there called "Twitteros" people who use social networking sites life Twitter and Facebook for illegal activities. It is feared in Mexico that drug cartels are using social networking sites to aid their operations.


Found on CBS news.

That's right. Twitter users are fast becoming public enemy No. 1, at least in Mexico City, where they have angered authorities by warning one another of roadside "alcoholimetro" - or Breathalyzer - checkpoints set up by the police.

"It's a way for drug cartels to locate targets," said Ghaleb Krame, a security expert at Alliant International University in Mexico City.

"Facebook and Twitter have lots of weaknesses," he said. "For instance, criminals can find out who are the family members of someone who has a high rank in the police. Perhaps they don't have an account on Twitter or Facebook, but their children and close family probably do."

Indeed, a recent string of killings suggest drug cartels are more web-savvy than the police. In December, a marine was killed during an operation to capture one of Mexico's most wanted drug lords, Arturo Beltran Leyva, who also died in the shootout. Less than a week later, gunmen attacked the marine's home, killing his mother and three relatives.

"How did they know where his parents lived?" Krame asked, suggesting that the cartel could have used websites like Facebook to track down the family. "Drug traffickers have an intelligence network and, as far as I know, at this moment in time it's more effective than ours."

While he seconds Rep. Norberto's call for police to mine Twitter and Facebook for data, Krame said any attempt to restrict social networking websites would be a mistake.

With the rise and popularity of social networks criminals seem to be taking to it faster that police forces. Which brings out the need for forces to get more acquainted with what's happening around them in virtual social worlds. It could also be a boon to police forces as social networks actually makes their jobs easier with a little bit of expert snooping cops around the world are finding that social networks are allowing criminals to fall into their hands with such easy they do not have to leave the comfort of their chair in front of their PC's to do their investigating.

An original post by

Sociolatte

This week is "Celebrity Doppelganger Week" on Facebook.

It's Doppelganger week on Facebook. Which means simply this if your friends have ever mentioned you look like a celebrity now's your chance to shine. Change your profile pic to the celebrity you most resemble

There is also a Facebook group which centered around to this memes. No one is really sure how this happened and it origins but about the mid of last week people started the "Celebrity Doppelganger Week" and it is still catching on. This week is definitely going to last for more than seven days as people change their Avatar to look more like stars.

This however clearly violates Facebook terms but no body is doing any complaining and the fun is starting to rage. Facebook said they would respond only if there were any complaints and to date there are not.

So what's you new Avatar?

An original post by

Sociolatte

Gang Members taking to Twitter and Facebook.

According to an AP report gang members are flocking to social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Twitter gives them the chance for instant bragging right and instant messages to let other members know what's going on. Facebook allows them to easily share videos and pics with friends. They are able to now share information in real time and warm other members of dangers and to also brag of recent achievements. 


There are also goons who use social networking sites from inside join to post threats to rivals. It is also an avenue for some of them to become famous. Like the UK fugitive who kept appearing on Facebook and had a large fan following.


Found the below extract on the Washington Post



Authorities can also seek help from the Web sites. Representatives from Twitter and Facebook say they regularly cooperate with police and supply information on account holders when presented with a search warrant. Neither company would discuss specifics.
Gang use of Twitter and Facebook still lags behind use of the much-older MySpace, which remains gang members' online venue of choice.
The Crips, Bloods, Florencia 13, MS-13 and other gangs have long used MySpace to display potentially incriminating photos and videos of people holding guns and making hand gestures. They also post messages about rivals

Last week, officials in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, announced the arrest of 50 people in a crackdown of a Latino gang they say was engaged in drug sales and hate crimes against black residents. Prosecutors say some of the evidence was pulled from MySpace and YouTube, including rap videos taunting police with violent messages.
While some members are wising up to the police attention such postings can bring, gang information remains publicly viewable online.
Dozens of Facebook accounts are dedicated to the deadly MS-13 gang, with followers from around the globe. At one site, a video displays pictures of dead members of the rival 18th Street gang, and some users have left disrespectful comments.
The toughest part about tracking someone on Twitter is finding the alias or screen name they are posting under. And many tweets are nonsensical or pointless, so cutting through the clutter can be difficult.
"It's tricky," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy David Anguiano. "If you find out what they go by, you are good to go."
Anguiano tracks the online activity of graffiti vandals - the so-called tagging crews that sometimes morph into gangs. They post tweets saying they are heading out to spray paint and sometimes post links to photographs of their work.
Often, they cannot resist bragging about their handiwork, and the electronic trail they leave is frequently used as evidence.
"They talk about it too much," Anguiano said. "You want the fame so you've got to go out there and talk about it. That's when your mouth gets you in trouble."

An original post by

Sociolatte

Facebook's version of Retweet has arrived

The Retweet feature has arrived to Facebook. The feature currently works on links posted by your friends. You cannot share their status updates or photos. If you friend shares a link you can then click the share button found below their link and a "Via friends Name" pops up. If you do not want to share your friends name you can further remove the "via" and just share.

The Retweet does not work exactly like Twitter in that you can share without your friends name. So you can now share links posted by your friends and  choose whether you include their name or not.

You can also choose before posting whether you would like your friends to use the 'Via' option.

Facebook's Twitterfication gets deeper.

An original post by

Sociolatte

Facebook launches a Global Disaaster Relief Page. Help Haiti

Facebook has launched a page called Global Disaster Relief . The first task seems to be to mobilize support for the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. This page will help in the Haiti disaster and any other disasters that may occur in the future. 1000's of Dollars have already been raised through Facebook causes. So with the launching of this page Facebook will have one point of contact where users can come to to be a part of their global relief efforts. 


Facebook is serious about promoting this page. The social site as in the spirit of it's creators believe that a one stop shop will be good. Where people can come to find info and also help. It could become a globally coordinated effort. As of this time of writing this there are already 43, 036 fans of the page. Posted below we have a video found on the page of former president Bill Clinton and how we can all help haiti.





"The Global Disaster Relief on Facebook page will spotlight efforts on Facebook to help respond to disasters around the globe."


There are three URl's to reach their page


http://www.facebook.com/disasterrelief
http://www.facebook.com/globalrelief
http://www.facebook.com/helpinghaiti


And this was found as their mission.


The devastating earthquake in Haiti has underscored the Internet's critical role in connecting the world's population in times of tragedy. In response to this, Facebook has launched the Disaster Relief on Facebook Page where the more than 350 million people on Facebook can educate themselves and find out how to help not only in Haiti but wherever disaster and misfortune may strike.

Moments after the ground shook in Port-au-Prince, people around the world immediately sought to help with relief efforts and express their solidarity with those in need. Every minute, people have been posting more than 1,500 status updates on Facebook that contained the word "Haiti." People have contributed thousands of dollars through the Causes application on Facebook, and groups including the American Red Cross, Oxfam America and Partners in Health have mobilized supporters through their Facebook Pages and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last 24 hours alone.

We want Disaster Relief on Facebook to serve as a collaborative resource for individuals, non-profits, governments and industry to raise awareness for those in need around the world. We're inviting relief organizations to be part of this effort so they can further highlight the needs in Haiti and during times of future crises. Most importantly, we hope all of you will join us by becoming a fan of Disaster Relief on Facebook and by continuing to support relief efforts along with your friends.

By staying connecting, we can all make a difference no matter where we are in the world.

* * * *
Users should be aware that in times of tragedy, individuals with criminal intent may solicit contributions purportedly for a charitable organization and/or a good cause. Be skeptical of any unsolicited appeals you receive or find on the Internet. For more info, visit: www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/escams.htm

An original post by

Sociolatte

Teen gets grounded, starts Facebook group to get ungrounded, group membes tell her to stay grounded will do you good.

The Facebook group "1000 to get tess ungrounded" has now crossed the 1000 mark. The story so far. A teen goes out to a party gets drunk and misses her 11:30 deadline by an hour. Get's punished by her parents and is grounded for 5 weeks. Tess Chapman a starts a Facebook group to help her get ungrounded.

This is what she had to say on her group homepage 

Description:

so basically i was grounded for 5 weeks for a MISTAKE that i didnt fully know the outcome of. my parents flipped sh** and grounded me for 5 WEEKS. thats my childhood right there. please join so i can convice them to unground me. please please please. you guys all know what its like to be a teenager with (sometimes) difficult parents, so lets ban together as teenagers and proove something to my parents, there are actin a fool.

The surprising thing is that most people on the group agree that the punishment is good and she needs to go through it. Many are also surprised that she has access to a pc, internet and laptop. Talk about being grounded electronic style

So now everybody wants to know the magic answer. The group has crossed 1000 and as of writing this the number stands at 1,112. But think about it, her parents must be concerned over her future and now some popularity thing over Facebook. We think the answer will be no and the punishment will stand. 

Story first appeared in the New York Times.... Click here to read. 

An original post by

Sociolatte