Topics:

- Gmail

- Microsoft Exchange

- Email Alternatives

- Email Clients/Browsers

- Domain Names

Around the Island

Topics:

- In Flight Wifi
- Gmail Outage
- Gmail Tips and Tricks
- Sports for Google Calendar
- iTopoMaps

Topics:

- Apple Snow Leopard Release
- Nokia Phone/Netbook Hybrid
- WPA Cracked
- iPhone Facebook App 3.0 Release

Show Links

Apple Snow Leopard – http://www.apple.com/macosx/

WPA Cracked – Link

Facebook App 3.0 –  iTunes Link

Topics:

- Growl
- Firefox Plugins
- Google Voice
- iPhone Banking Apps
- Evernote
- CBS and Social Media in the SEC
- iPhone TomTom App

Show Links

Growl – http://growl.info/

Evernote – http://www.evernote.com

Google Voice – http://www.google.com/voice

TomTom App – http://iphone.tomtom.com/en-us/index.html

Recommended Firefox Plugins:

http://fireftp.mozdev.org/

http://www.downloadhelper.net/

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/201

http://adblockplus.org/en/installation

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8381

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419

http://pearlcrescent.com/products/pagesaver/

After facing privacy battles in the past, it seems like the social networking community isn’t exactly going to roll over and play dead the next time ’round.  With the rough economic times, identity theft, conspiracy theories galore, etc, people are getting more and more weary about privacy and the associated risks associated with an online presence.  Select Facebook users finally put their e-foot down Monday, stating that the social site is in violation of California consumer privacy laws.  Recent claims have put Facebook in the hot seat regarding copyright, ownership, and personal information disclosure, so will this suit hold its weight in court or will it be paid off (settled) by the social media mogul?  Tough to tell for sure, but it’s good to see the few stand up for what many others let roll off their back without a flinch.

Users file privacy lawsuit against Facebook

A group of Facebook users filed a civil lawsuit Monday that alleges the social-networking site is violating California consumer privacy laws.

The lawsuit, which was filed in California’s Orange County Superior Court on behalf of five users, seeks a jury trial, as well as damages and attorneys’ fees. The five plaintiffs are described as two children younger than 13, a user of the original Facebook, a professional photographer, and an actress and model.

The 40-page complaint accuses the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company of violating California privacy and online privacy laws by disseminating private information to third parties for commercial purposes.

“Plaintiffs and the general public desire and expect a level of privacy, which Facebook has failed to satisfy under its current policies, procedures, practices, and technology,” the complaint states.

A Facebook spokesman declined to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit other than to say, “We see no merit to this suit and we plan to fight it.”

The plaintiffs’ attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Facebook is no stranger to privacy controversy. In July, an investigation by Canada’s privacy commissioner suggested Facebook is unconcerned with members’ privacy and called on it to do more. Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart expressed concern that while it’s easy for members to deactivate their accounts, it’s less clear on how to actually delete them. Facebook could therefore retain member data from deactivated accounts for an indefinite period of time in violation of Canadian privacy law.

The social network went through a user backlash over the introduction of its News Feed in 2006, and a bigger one over the controversial Beacon advertising program. More recently, a revision to Facebook’s terms of use prompted consumer advocacy blog The Consumerist to highlight language that it said meant that Facebook claimed ownership of user profile data and photos.

Source: cnet news

Apple has only said September as the release date for Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard, but some people are reporting that it may be released ahead of schedule.  With the possible release date being just around the corner, this gives people just a little bit of time to figure out if they want to update their Mac’s or wait.  Are the new features worth the $29 upgrade?

Apple has not updated the Mac OS X site yet with a release date.  The only thing they have is a contact form to get notified as soon as it is available.Features:

• 45% faster installation
• faster boot times
• quicker shutdown
• speedier process when joining wireless networks
• faster backups to Time Machine
• built-in applications now in 64-bit
• OpenCL
• video editing inside Quicktime X
• improved Microsoft Exchange Server support

That’s just a brief overview of the features.  I’m looking forward to the new Quicktime X and video editing.  Lots of the Quicktime Pro features were put into Quicktime X, so there should be a lot more there now.  So is it worth it to upgrade?  I’d say yes, for $29 why not.  There are some people who won’t want to upgrade right away, waiting for the first update to fix any issues.  Beyond that there really is no reason why you should’t upgrade.  The price is right and the feature set is great.  I’ll be upgrading as soon as it comes out.

Topics:

- FCC Inquiry Into ATT and Apple iPhone Apps
- Windows 7
- This Weeks Twitter Outage
- Life Streaming with Social Apps