Facebook is an online social networking service that can connect you with friends and family. Over the years, Facebook has changed and has become something entirely new and unique that goes beyond just social contact with people you know. New services and features have brought up a lot of privacy concerns that are making people wonder if sticking with Facebook is really worth it.

People normally find Facebook to be a fun place to share information about their life with other people, but there’s a lot of information even prolific users probably don’t know about Facebook. The biggest concern relates to privacy. There are many ways your information can be compromised because of convoluted privacy settings on your account or because your friends are setup to share information about you. The new system called Open Graph and Instant Personalization automatically provide websites outside of Facebook with your information -- unless you specifically go in and turn it off.

These changes over the years have even prompted DownloadSquad’s Jason Clarke to cancel his Facebook account. This is quite unheard of for an online writer of a tech website.

Will I be cancelling mine? I’ve thought about it -- but since I’ve taken an active role in managing my online identity and keep on top of my Facebook privacy settings, the use of Facebook is worth the risk for me. For now. Is it worth the risk for you?

Hopefully if you’ve followed some of those previous links you now have a much better handle on your privacy settings. If you didn’t, please do so now because many of these settings change as services change -- and you aren’t notified or asked about the option, you’re automatically opted in.

Even after setting all your privacy settings to be locked down just as you wish, you can still run into people who suck at Facebook. Unfortunately, there isn’t a setting for that.

As a reward for reading through all that dry information, here’s the Facebook Song:

UPDATE: Facebook has updated its login security today. So at least that’s a little better.

WolframAlpha is a “computational knowledge engine” – and that’s truly the best way to describe it. Basically, it provides answers and details about almost anything. Not just links to sites that may have the answer but the answer, or detail, itself; presented in a clear and organized layout.

Here, just give it a try real quick. Type in your birthday ( in whatever format you want):

It also does complex math and statistics, provides nutritional information about food, lists movie details, and tons of other stuff. It’s difficult to show you exactly all the things it can answer for you in a simple blog post. I suggest you go to the site and check out the screencast and example searches to get a real idea for just how much WolframAlpha can answer for you.

Plus, there’s a bunch of handy extras like an iPod/iPhone app, a desktop app, and even some plugins for your favorite browsers.

Using Google to search for information is great, but if there’s any question or quick detail you want – go to WolframAlpha first!

The movie is Summer Wars and it’ll be coming to DVD in the United States very soon. Check out the trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

It really is an engaging story and the animation is very good. Be sure to add it to your Netflix queue.

Also, in theaters now is How to Train Your Dragon from Dreamworks and it is a very good tale with nice animation and a very nice story with good characters. It’s even pulling a 90+ rating at Rotten Tomatoes (that’s a very good score by the way). Here’s a good trailer for How to Train Your Dragon:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Animation provides a vehicle for stories that can go beyond what can be presented in live action. You just have to get used to the format a little…

Click here to view the embedded video.

I love Rube Goldberg devices, and you have to admit they are fascinating to watch. The music helps of course…

UPDATE: Here’s their other version which is also a single take video. Very fun version.

UPDATE 2: NPR recently did an interview with the lead singer of OK Go about this video and their split from EMI.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There’s also a lot of mobile integration so here’s Google’s short feature video about the mobile specific functions:

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’d like some more details, check out Lifehacker’s run down on this new service as well. It actually isn’t a way to beat Twitter or Facebook but help you reign it in and access the data you want to access in one place. In the meantime … it’s time to play with a new Google toy.

UPDATE: If you don’t want Buzz to bother you in Gmail just follow this easy Lifehacker guide.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here is another animation that translates the above into stop motion:

Click here to view the embedded video.

By now the song should have infected your brain. There’s nothing to be done about it. Enjoy.

Here’s my favorite creative video about the features:

Click here to view the embedded video.

So why switch to Chrome from Firefox or Internet Explorer?

Well the IE question is easy to answer – Internet Explorer just doesn’t work as well as either Chrome or Firefox. It has worse security, lack of standards compliancy, short on features and in general just isn’t very snappy. It is best for use in a business environment because of it’s compatibility with Sharepoint and other MS specific services but otherwise it just doesn’t compare – though to be honest, Internet Explorer 8 is probably the best version of IE ever created. So if you are scared about switching please at least update.

So the bigger question is why choose Chrome over Firefox. Well… there it gets tricky. I am choosing Chrome because it’s faster than Firefox on my Mac and has more standard extensions than Safari. On my PC it’s faster than Firefox and the extensions are lighter than Firefox add-ons so it doesn’t hit my resources as hard. The built in bookmark sync with storage in Google Docs is also nice to have. Plus, if you are already using Google services it works very well with them and the official Google extensions only make it better.

A reason to keep Firefox is the extensive add-on support and tried and tested website support. Firefox is a more mature browser; similar to IE in that it’s become better supported over the years. Firefox keeps on trucking and the latest release does provide some increased speed and security.

A last reason to switch to Chrome is because of the HTML5 compliant video function. Sounds really boring right? Well, what it means is better control and playback of video on the web. YouTube and Vimeo now offer it and the playback is much smoother and much friendlier (especially for accessibility users).

So which extensions do I prefer? Here’s a quick list:
AdBlock: Good adblocking (and Google is okay with it).
Chrome Reader: Google Reader RSS subscription extension
Google Similar Pages: Good for finding, well, similar pages…
Google Mail Checker: Basic checker and link
Google Voice Checker: Check Google Voice account and also activates numbers found on pages.
Send from Gmail (No Button): Sets Gmail as default for composing when you click on email links

If you want a few to try out just head over to the extensions page and check out some of the “Featured” and “Most Popular” ones.

So there you have it – a whole new browser to play with and see if you like. Oh – I forgot to mention – it will automatically bring over your bookmarks/favorites and settings from either IE or Firefox so you can be up and running in no time. So give it a try and see what you think – worse that could happen is you don’t like it and go back to what you were using.

I’ll be surprised if you do though…

Hit up the full page to get 1080 super duper hirez Muppets.

UPDATE: This video is nomiated for 2 Webby Awards! Go Vote!

Click here to view the embedded video.

So what you see is that this OS will be good for people who are pretty much based on the internet. It’s only been out for a week and it won’t be officially released for a year – and as you’ve noticed, more and more is becoming internet (or “Cloud”) based so this makes pretty good sense.

Maybe next year all you’ll need is a browser … in which case all you’ll need is Chrome OS. Google has posted a few other case uses for Chrome OS and Lifehacker has some interesting commentary about other people’s experience.

Even if it isn’t for you – it certainly does seem like an interesting take on where computers are heading these days.

This is all done using a function called magnet links. This allows you to join a torrent swarm without truly using a torrent file or a centralized tracker. TPB has converted all of their torrents to magnet links. TorrentFreak has a good article about the changes. This is why many people will be commenting about “problems” at The Pirate Bay. It’s not a problem but a change – a major change for the site but for most people it won’t affect them much at all.

Many of the popular clients can already use magnet links so the change won’t mean much for those using Azureus/Vuze or uTorrent, but those using the popular client Transmission on OS X and Ubuntu may have to grab a different client for use with TPB (and uTorrent is still working some bugs out of magnet link usage).  You can also try Magnetiser, a Firefox extension for using magnet links.

Other sites may be switching over as well (torrentz.com site started with a trackerless system), especially with TPB’s considerable influence on the peer-2-peer community. Hopefully client development will quickly include the magnet link function.

TL;DR – it’s a change. Grab a client that works with magnet links and The Pirate Bay will be back to normal for you.

UPDATE: Transmission devs have already stated they are reworking the new 1.8 version to include magnet link function. That was fast.

Click here to view the embedded video.

First off, to turn it on, go to your Google Mail (Gmail) account and click on Settings in the upper right corner. Then click on the Labs header. You can also click on the little green bottle next to Settings to go directly to the Labs page.

Next you’ll want to scroll down a ways until you find the Canned Responses options and then mark it as Enable and then click the Save Changes button either at the top or bottom of the page.

Now you are all set to start creating your canned responses.

The most common use is to create a draft of text that answers a common question. For example, I get the question about how to clean spyware off a computer regularly so I have a canned response with some recommendations on how to go about this.  When I get the question I can just click on Reply and then click on Canned Responses and select my spyware cleaning response. It then automatically loads all the text, links, and formatting into my current message. I hit send and I’m done. Also, having a prepared answer means I’ve had a chance to go over it a couple times to make sure it’s clear and concise.

A similar option would be if you are the birthday maven of your family and you get the “when is Uncle Bob’s birthday” question regularly. You can have a canned response that has everyone’s birthday setup already. You can just hit that quick option and be done.

Let’s create a new canned response that we’ll use for another function – an email signature. Gmail has some automated signature options but sometimes you may want a different signature for different occasions.

First start a new email by clicking on Compose Mail on your Gmail page. Leave the details like To and Subject blank and just go to the body of the message.  Here is a common format for a detailed signature:

--
First Last Name
123 Main St
Somecity, CA 12345
Phone Number
Email Address

Once you have the details written out, you’ll want to save it as a canned response. Click on Canned Responses in above the message body and below the subject line and choose “New Canned Response” under Save.

You will be prompted to name it so call it something you’ll recognize like “Detailed Signature” or something similar. Once you click OK you are done. You can click on Discard and you’ll be back to your message folder.

To test out your new canned response you can click on Compose Mail and then in the message area click on Canned Reponses and choose “Detailed Signature” from under the Insert heading. It will appear in your message body.

The nice thing about the Canned Responses is that it will appear wherever your cursor is located. So you can type out your entire message and then insert your signature.

As you can see, this allows you to not only have canned emails but saved snippets of text that you can insert anywhere you like. If you are often typing out a common phrase or bit of information you can save it as a canned response and insert it into your email wherever it fits best.

The last function I wanted to mention is that filters can use canned responses. This is useful for businesses who get frequent common questions and it’s also useful as a vacation reminder (so you can tell specific people specific information while you are away). This means that emails that come in with specific triggers can get a specific response from you without your direct interaction.

It’s a pretty neat function and can provide lots of options. Currently, I use it for many tech responses to common questions, as a vacation reminder to family, and to insert different signatures with different details depending on the situation. For some other ideas, check out Lifehacker’s article about how they and some of their readers use canned responses.

Good luck and as always, feel free to ask any questions in the comments.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out the official Star Wars: Uncut website for more details and clips from the fans.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Barnes & Noble has come out with their own eBook reader to compete against the Kindle and it was officially announced today. It is called Nook.

Here are the main features the Nook has over the Kindle.

• The Nook has Wi-Fi which besides being a fast connection also is enable to allow full book browsing while on the B&N wireless network in store.
• The Nook has touch screen navigation and a color LCD for library browsing and other display and navigation options.
• The Nook has an expanded memory slot to increase the storage space if necessary (or for managing sets of books).
• PDFs can be read natively (Kindle has to have the PDF converted – unless a hack is applied).
• Custom images for the “screen saver” (Kindle also needs a hack to do this).
• Multiple device sync for books including iPhone/iPod Touch, Blackberry, and Computer (Kindle only has iPhone/iPod Touch and Computer).
• Digital book lending is possible which could possibly allow for library ebook borrowing systems.
• The battery on the Nook is replaceable and there are some harware customization options (like colored backplates).
• The Nook runs an Android OS which could allow for many future development options.

The e-Ink displays are almost identical so the readability will be the same but this is true of almost all eReaders that use e-Ink technology so the difference in devices really does come down to features.

The Nook also has AT&T 3G built in just like the Kindle has the Sprint 3G so depending on your area, one wireless service may be a better option than another.

The only real winner here for the Kindle is the battery life (14 days vs 10 days) and the backing of Amazon… but the book prices are about the same and currently Barnes & Noble is boasting an opening digital library larger than Amazon’s so it will be interesting to see how that aspect shapes up.

The price is $259 and will be available in November. Barnes & Noble stores will be putting up displays in the next couple days so you can check out the device yourself and pre-order one if you like. That is also an advantage for the Nook – the ability to check it out before you buy it.

This device looks very cool and has many of the features that some Kindle owners have complained about lacking (which would be why they are on this device). It has good bookstore backing and already has accessories. I see no reason this device couldn’t outshine or at the very least provide excellent competition for the Kindle – and in technology, competition is a good thing for customers.