Tag: Facebook

Facebook Teams Up With Microsoft, Offers Bounty For Bugs

Microsoft has recently announced an extension for its Windows 8.1 bug bounty program, but it turns out that it also wants to make the Internet safer with help from its rivals.

Facebook and Microsoft joined forces for a new project called Internet Bug Bounty, which encourages hackers and security researchers to submit bugs for cash rewards.

The Internet Bug Bounty program will pay a minimum for $5,000 for flaws in sandboxed applications or for bugs in fundamental internet technologies such as DNS and SSL. Lower payouts are offered for spotting problems in Ruby, Python, PHP, Apache, Perl, and other software.

“Our collective safety is only possible when public security research is allowed to flourish. Some of the most critical vulnerabilities in the internet’s history have been resolved thanks to efforts of researchers fueled entirely by curiosity and altruism,” the Facebook and Microsoft said on the bounty program’s website.

“We owe these individuals an enormous debt and believe it is our duty to do everything in our power to cultivate a safe, rewarding environment for past, present, and future researchers.”

To qualify, flaws must found in code that is in widespread use, of serious or critical severity, or be an unusual or novel hack that no one has thought of as yet. Once reported and verified, software providers will have 180 days to fix the problem before any announcement is made of money paid out.

The 10-person judging panel is dominated by Microsoft and Facebook staff, but there will be input from Google’s security researcher Chris Evans, director of security engineering at Etsy Zane Lackey, and penetration tester from iSec Jesse Burns.

The contest is open to anyone in the world, except those countries under US trade embargo. There’s no age limit, but if you’re not yet a teenager then a parent or guardian will have to claim the money for you.

November 7, 2013
Soon To Be A Billion? Facebook Now Has 874 Million Monthly Active Mobile Users

Facebook is on a tear. The company reported its Q3 earnings for the three months ending September 30th today, and investors have renewed reasons to be excited about the world’s largest social network.

Facebook beat analysts’ estimates by posting revenue of $2.02 billion, earning $0.25 per share on non-GAAP net income of $611 million. The company now derives 41% of its overall revenue from mobile — 49% of its advertising revenue comes from mobile, too. Overall ad revenue for the quarter was $1.80 billion.

On the user base side, Facebook is now used by 874 million mobile users per month, a 45% increase from the same period a year ago. Overall usage is now 1.19 billion people, 699 million of whom log in daily. Daily active users on mobile totalled 507 million, meaning mobile users are more likely to log in every day than those who keep strictly to the web.

The market is reacting quite positively to the earnings announcement, sending the stock shooting up 15% in after-hours trading.

October 31, 2013
Facebook Testing Softwares To Track What Your Cursor Hovers On

Facebook is testing a technology that will supposedly increase the data it collects for its users, company’s head of analytics group said in an interview.

Facebook might start collecting data on minute user interactions with its content, such as how long a user’s cursor hovers over a certain part of its website or whether a user’s newsfeed is visible at a given moment on the screen of his or her mobile phone, Facebook analytics chief Ken Rudin said Tuesday during an interview.

Ken Rudin tells the Wall Street Journal that Facebook is testing a system which targets ads based on where users mouse cursors hover. This tracking technology is not new, but implementing it on more then 1.2 billion users can be a big task for the company. Rudin notes that there won’t be a decision on this technology for another “couple of months,” and it may never see the light of day. What are your thoughts on this ?

October 31, 2013
Facebook Acquires Onavo To Speed Up Its Mobile Application

Facebook announced on Monday it has acquired Onavo, an Israel based startup focused on intelligence around mobile application data. For more than three years, Onavo has plied its trade reducing internet costs for smartphone users.

Under Facebook’s guidance, Onavo will work with members of the Internet.org coalition to increase the efficiency and lower the cost of web access. Expect Facebook’s apps to get a speed boost in the future, helping it deliver its growing influx of ads. Users if Onavo app may not worry as the company will continue to operate under its own brand.

Our service helps people save money through more efficient use of data, and also helps developers, large and small, design better experiences for people,” Onavo co-founders Guy Rosen and Roi Tiger wrote in a company blog post early Monday morning. “We’re excited to join their team, and hope to play a critical role in reaching one of Internet.org’s most significant goals – using data more efficiently, so that more people around the world can connect and share.”

[via]

October 14, 2013
Facebook App for Windows Phone now allows multi-photo uploads and unfriending

The Facebook app for Windows Phone has been updated to add two of the most essential features to any modern Facebook user. Photography enthusiasts will love the fact that now from their Windows phone they can upload multiple photos at the same time, essential for all those Lumia 1020 buyers.

The new update also allows users to be able to unfriend and unlike people and posts, a simple yet essential feature for Facebook users. The Facebook app for Windows Phone update brings more to the table than just the two updates mentioned above, such as inline @ tagging and speed boosts for both posts and check-ins.

If you dawn a Windows Phone and are an avid Facebook user then getting the Facebook app for Windows Phone update might help you be a little more social, but at the same time keep your : fren-emies in check.

October 5, 2013
Faces of Facebook: View Yourself Along With the Other Increasing Number Facebook Users

A new website showcases profile photos of Facebook users in an clickable collage. Faces of Facebook is the web site which lets users see all the Facebook users throughout the world.

Designed by Natalia Rojas, The Faces of Facebook starts off with a running count of Facebook’s growing membership, with each person represented by a tiny dot. Click anywhere in the static like screen and the page zooms further and shows a thumbnail structure of the faces which handful of Facebook users. Click on any thumbnail, and that person’s public profile pops up.

Miami-based Natalia Rojas has developed the project using HTML5, Javascript, CSS, jQuery, EaselJS, Ajax, FB API, PHP and MySQL.

It seems impossible for one to find a particular face, however, the site also lets you connect with your own Facebook account to let you find your face number and see where your face appears along with your friends being visible on the screen. You can try to find your face here.

October 1, 2013
Facebook Allows Editing Your Typing Errors

Facebook has started to let you edit post’s text after you publish it. The feature comes to the web and Android in an update today, and to iOS soon. Previously you had to delete your post, lose all your Likes and comments, and repost to edit something.

Android users also get emotion and activity sharing, events at a glance, and photo album creation today. Now, you are able to edit all posts and comments from the web. To edit posts, you’ll be able to click the down arrow in the top right of one of your posts and select ‘Edit Post’ to change the text, then click done editing.The revisions and original post will still be viewable if friends check your post’s edit history, though. Editing the comments came into the picture a while ago.

September 27, 2013
Mass Identity Suicide on Facebook, 11 Million Users drop out after NSA probing

Over Eleven million Facebook users in the US and the UK have deleted their Facebook accounts in view of recent NSA spy program revelations. The number is still increasing and is expected to cross 20 million by the end of September. This phenomenon also known as “Virtual Identity Suicide” is demonstrated by people with privacy confers and internet addiction phobias.

Approximately 9 million Facebook users in the US and 2 million people in the UK have deleted their accounts from the social network, the Daily Mail reports. Reasons for quitting Facebook were mainly privacy concerns (48.3%), followed by a general dissatisfaction (13.5%), negative aspects of online friends (12.6%) and the feeling of becoming addicted (6.0%). Fear of Facebook addiction and unwillingness to waste time on silly talk was mentioned among other reasons for deleting Facebook accounts.

Brenda Wiederhold, editor of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking which published the findings, said:

Given high profile stories such as WikiLeaks and the recent NSA surveillance reports, individual citizens are becoming increasingly more wary of cyber-related privacy concerns.

With over 950 Million active users Facebook barely gets a scratch in its popularity, but if the trend continues the Online Social Giant may be forced to tap into better security and privacy norms to ensure the peace of mind of its members.

[VIA]

September 23, 2013
Facebook will Use Artificial Intelligence to Understand and Predict Our Actions

Facebook is trying to get a better understanding of the 700 million people with help of AI which they call as ‘deep learning’, targeting people who share everything happening in their life through the social networking giant everyday.

A new research group in Facebook (called “AI Team”) is working on this artificial intelligence, which will use the simulated networks of brain cells to process the data. With the help of this strategy, the social networking site might be able to predict our actions online and to show us content that is more relevant to our interests, and to better target advertisements as well.

The new team hopes to use deep learning AI, to determine which posts are genuinely important. The technology could also be used to sort users photos, and it might even select the best shots. However, the AI work has only just started, the company shared with MIT Technology, that it should release some findings to the public.

Facebook is not the first company to bring deep learning, last year Google and even IBM have also used this concept in the past. Deep learning uses a multi-layered approach to data, parsing information to build up a body of knowledge that can be used to figure out concepts or even understand what objects sound and look like.

[via]

September 21, 2013
Facebook and Twitter reportedly Unblocked in Iran

Facebook and Twitter became widely accessible to Iranian users on Monday for the first time since 2009, when the services were blocked in the midst of widespread protests against former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to reports emerging from the country.

Various reporters for print as well as Network media located in the country were able to access the services starting Monday.

“Some other blocked sites are reporting themselves unblocked – the National Iranian American council is reporting themselves unblocked as well,” York said, referring to a U.S.-based nonprofit group.

Iranian authorities blacked out Facebook and Twitter in the summer of 2009, when Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election victory sparked massive protests that gained momentum with the help of organizers using social media. The new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had stated earlier this month, that he would have a more open minded approach to social media when compared to the hard minded predecessor.

[VIA]

September 17, 2013
Express Yourself with Doodles, Doodly Doo

Messaging apps have become very popular, specifically applications like WhatsApp. These apps allows one to send and receive not only text messages but also images, videos, locations, audio the recent feature and some songs as well.

Making up doodles or expressing your self was first spread out by the Samsung’s Note series, using that one could easily sketch anything down and share it seamlessly. But the default S note is limited to certain things only.

However, for doodling its not necessary that you would need a stylus, as not all phones supports one. We are talking about the app that can help you to express your opinion in a different way, the app is called ‘Doodly Doo’.

Doodly Doo is an app that allows you to doodle anything that you imagine or to take the artist out of you. You can simply draw anything on the app, there are many brush size options along with a lot of color options. You can also take inputs from the camera, gallery, maps, google images and can also add text, rage faces, smileys and greetings to make your ideas of sketching better.

You can simply use the map option to direct someone where you exactly are, and give your personal message on it. And the greeting option shows up greetings for occasions like Happy birthday, Anniversary and ‘Alot’ more.

The app plays back the doodle on the receiver’s screen exactly the same way it is drawn. Users can also post these doodles to their Facebook, WhatsApp and even send links to watch these doodles to the ones who don’t use this app through SMS.

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September 14, 2013
Facebook Delays Privacy Policy Update

Facebook has said it will not roll out a scheduled update to its privacy policy till next week, after it takes the time to “ensure that user comments are reviewed and taken into consideration to determine whether further updates are necessary”.

Six consumer watchdog groups have asked the Federal Trade Commission to block the Facebook privacy changes that they say would make it far easier for the company to use the names, images and personal information of its nearly 1.2 billion users — including teens — to endorse products in ads without their consent.

“We are taking the time to ensure that user comments are reviewed and taken into consideration to determine whether further updates are necessary and we expect to finalize the process in the coming week,” Facebook said in a statement emailed to the Los Angeles Times. The social networking website is vehement that it isn’t changing its policies but simply clarifying the language they’ve been written in to eliminate all possibility of confusion.

Facebook said it proposed new language in response to a $20-million settlement of a 2011 lawsuit that alleged the company used personal information for commercial purposes without consent or compensation.

The original proposal has drawn tens of thousands of comments from Facebook users, most of them opposed to the changes.

September 6, 2013
Facebook To Pay $20M For Sponsored Stories Privacy Breaches

A U.S. judge has put a stamp of approval on a US$20 million fund for Facebook to settle a class-action advertising suit, despite objections from groups representing minors on the site.

The ruling was issued Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The class-action suit, which was first filed in 2011, challenged Facebook’s “sponsored stories” advertising program. A sponsored story is a type of promoted post appearing in users’ feeds that may include the profile name and picture of Facebook members who have “liked” that advertiser’s products or services.

As Wired reports, “Sponsored Stories” basically turns the act of pressing the Facebook “Like” button into a potential commercial endorsement. If a Facebook user clicks the “Like” button for a product or service with a Facebook page, that user’s profile picture and name may be automatically used in advertisements for that product or service that appear in the their friends’ Facebook pages. Facebook also reserves the right to show such ads on sites other than Facebook.

U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco approved the revised deal months after he said he had “serious concerns” because it originally provided a $10 million payout to attorneys suing Facebook and $10 million to activist and research groups in what is known as a cy pres award.

Under the new plan Seeborg approved, the same $20 million pot is to be shared by charities, the class-action attorneys and the 125 million U.S. Facebook users who appeared in a “Sponsored Story” without consent.

In a statement, a Facebook spokeswoman said the company was “pleased” that the settlement had received final approval.

August 27, 2013
6tag brings Instagram to Windows Phone – Unofficially

Windows Phone users are missing out on Instagram for a while now, but that is now set to change, unofficially. French developer Rudy Huyn has created 6tag for Windows Phone, previously known as 6tagram just before Facebook and Instagram changed their Privacy rules and Third Party APIs.

6tag is free to download, provides access to the original filters found in Instagram, video uploads, and the linear and radial blur effects. 6tag Developer, Huyn, has also added support for sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, VK, and Foursquare. The Previous version had some bug issues and privacy concerns which were fixed when Huyn updated the Application yesterday.

Microsoft Apparently has an App for Instagram already in the works, but has been unable to get Instagram to approve it.

August 26, 2013
Instagram Acquires Video Sharing App Luma

Instagram, now owned by Facebook, has acquired the Luma Camera app and removed it from App Store. The app featured real time video stabilization and rolling shutter correction, real time filters, and pinch to zoom.

The acquisition is announced by Luma on its homepage:

Eighteen months ago, we embarked on a mission to make capturing and sharing beautiful videos easy without expensive software or heavy equipment. By joining the exceptionally talented team at Instagram, we’re taking another big step towards realizing that mission. We’re incredibly excited to be able to help make a product that is already used and loved by millions of people even better.

As part of our move to Instagram, we are shutting down the Luma service. We want to make this transition as painless for you as possible. Here is a link to download your videos. We will also continue to support Luma until December 31st, 2013. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions, comments, or requests for technical support at [email protected].

A heartfelt thanks goes out to every user, family member, investor and friend. We couldn’t have achieved this milestone without your help. We hope to see you on Instagram!

– The Luma Team

Terms of the deal have not been revealed, but Facebook did confirm the acquisition.

“By joining the exceptionally talented team at Instagram, we’re taking another big step towards realizing that mission,” the Luma team wrote after mentioning they want to make capturing and sharing videos easy without the need for expensive software or heavy equipment.

August 24, 2013