Imagine what happened when I saw Facebook’s new Timeline feature. I’m still freaking out. I think it is annoying and unnecessary. Here’s why.

I Don’t Need It

One of the most interesting things to watch is what happens when a business embarks on a project that isn’t built with the customer (or user) in mind. Usually the company in question tries to justify it by making grand statements about how the new feature will enhance the life of its customers.

Take it away, Mr. Zuckerberg.

“Timeline is the story of your life.”

That’s great! I mean, wait. What? I thought this was Facebook. The place I go to check up on my friends and see who is dating who and sometimes check up on people I knew in high school. Now Facebook is the story of my life?

“All your stories. All your apps. In a new way to express who you are.”

Huh? I guess Facebook is about expression, in the same way as any other form of communication is about expression. But I don’t have any stories on Facebook. I don’t use many apps. And the apps I use certainly aren’t meant to be an expression of who I am.

“Here are all the years of my life, right here.” (made in reference to his timeline).

Uh-oh. I wish I could see the advertising data they’ll take from that. Which is, let’s face it, the most important feature of Timeline.

Look, seeing people’s lives throughout time is kind of nifty. But is it why I’m on Facebook? No. I don’t want this to be my profile. It doesn’t do anything for me. Do. Not. Want.

I Don’t Like The Dueling Walls

Here’s my biggest design issue with Timeline.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve been taught, like almost everyone else in the western world, that items to be read are scanned from left to right and from top to bottom.

Timeline starts out with one big column that has a lot of information, and that’s fine. But below that are two columns of information that at first seem to be spat out almost at random. Soon you’ll realize that there are very small arrows on each area of information pointing to a dot on the timeline, and you’re supposed to parse information by jumping box to box in a sort of diagonal zig-zag pattern. Also, the two upper most boxes of information on the right side – well, they’re not actually part of the timeline. The designers just couldn’t figure out where else they could put them.

What I find strangest about this is the fact that it’s entirely unnecessary. A list of single items can be chronological. Wall posts are already organized in that way, more or less. The only reason for this annoying two-column format, so far as I can tell, is so that you can see it’s a timeline. Ooooooh. Fancy.

Fortunately, some intrepid developers are already making extensions that reformat the page so that there is just one column. But really – Facebook? What are you thinking?

I Don’t Like The Privacy Concerns

Timeline is yet again asking users to put in more information about themselves. Ostensibly it helps users express themselves – but it certainly doesn’t hurt Facebook’s bottom line. In doing so, the company is also asking people to provide more information to strangers and friends. That is information users may not want to have visible.

Yes, there are tools that can be used to make sure information remains private. There are ways to remove content. The burden of privacy is, however, consistently placed on the user. In the eyes of Facebook, there doesn’t seem to be any assumption of privacy. It’s all out there – unless you say otherwise.

I’m not sure why we should trust Facebook, either. They’re a company that is on the verge of an IPO (it may have happened by the time you read this) and despite the success of the site, they are as a business still young and still unproven. What happens when someone else is in charge? What happens if the IPO flops and Facebook’s investors start asking for them to make big bucks, no matter what? The pressure for profit has time and time again caused companies to take actions that were unsafe, immoral and sometimes illegal. We shouldn’t expect Facebook to be any different.

I Don’t Have A Choice

Timeline is out there.  You may have already noticed it lurking on the pages of friends. Perhaps you’ve been taken by it already. But even if you run – you can’t hide. Timeline is coming, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Why? Why can’t I stop it?

That’s a hypothetical question, of course. I know why. It’s because Timeline is designed from the ground up as a way to make Facebook money. Increased app integration and increased data collection translates to more opportunities for profit. Making it optional doesn’t make sense – at least not to the accounting department.

I get that, but it doesn’t make the change any easier for me.

Conclusion

The new Timeline feature may be what turns me off from Facebook. Though I have a Google+ account, I don’t use it as my primary social networking tool. That may soon change.

What say you? Am I off the reservation, or are you feeling the pain of change as well? Let us know in the comments.

• Full HD video-calling
• Support for Facebook audio and video-calling (beta)
• Group screen sharing
• Hide offline Facebook contacts
• Push to Talk
• Skype updater service
• Bing Bar integration

Even before this update, Skype was already integrated with Facebook and allowed you to chat with friends, read status updates and more, all through Skype. The new version introduces audio and video-calling with Facebook friends, even if said friends are not even using Skype. All you have to do is connect your Skype with Facebook on the Facebook tab, choose a friend, and initiate a video call. You friend will be able to pick up and talk to you straight from Facebook.

The new version also includes updates such as push to talk, full HD video-calling (for certain cameras and certain connections only), and a Bing bar integration, as could be expected. So far, the new update doesn’t present itself to you automatically, and Skype’s update feature might tell you you’re using the latest version already (this happened to me with version 5.5), but you can download this latest version here and tell Skype what you think about it.

What do you think of Skype’s integration with Facebook? Do you like the fact that it’s getting tighter and tighter?

Source: Skype Blog

The game can be played in multiplayer mode, against other users, or in solo mode. The goal is to answer space-related questions correctly, and as fast as possible, and earn as many points and badges as you possibly can. The first time you play, you will have to choose an avatar and a name, and will then be faced with 10 multiple-choice questions about the space program, the solar system, aeronautics and more.

The first round is played against two other players; for each correct answer, you’re awarded 100 points, and if you were the fastest to answer, you get an additional 20-points bonus. The winner of the round advances to a bonus round, which includes one question, and can earn you up to 1,500 additional points. If you answer the bonus question correctly, you get a badge. You can also use the points you earn to buy more badges, so look out for those bonus points.

According to NASA, they’re “hoping Space Race Blastoff opens up NASA’s history and research to a wide new audience of people accustomed to using social media”, and they “chose to make the game available through Facebook to take advantage of the social media site’s large audience and enable players to compete against others”.

The game is surprisingly fun to play, the question repository is large, and the whole thing is somewhat reminiscent to the ancient Cosmic Consensus. Go ahead and try it out. And don’t forget to let us know it the comments what you think!

Source: NASA

With a bit of skill, imagination and the right tools, you can easily create your own custom wall posts and fake profiles. Have a look at what is possible and how to make it happen.

John Lennon

This fake Facebook profile documents the inception and rise of the Beatles, until the death of their manager Brian Epstein in 1967. Click the link above to see the full profile.

Ben Franklin

Benjamin Franklin’s fake wall explores some highlights of his career, such as writing the Declaration of Independence or inventing Daylight Saving Time. This is actually a fun way to learn about real history!

Martin Luther

This wall follows Martin Luther from a visit to Rome to the idea of translating the Bible from Greek to German.

The above Facebook walls were created using MyFakeWall, see details below.

Lebron James

Creating an entire profile is quite an effort. For a quick joke, you can use a different web tool to set up a fake a wall post. Here is an example of Lebron James with comments from Kobe Bryant, Delonte West, and Michael Jordan.

MacBeth

The MacBeth series of wall posts goes through the entire play. So this is not only suitable to teaching history, but also works for classic literature and culture.

Mario

Our favorite Italian plumber Mario is always good for a joke. How many times have you made him save the princess and did Luigi’s help really matter?

The three Facebook wall posts above were created using The Wall Machine.

The Wall Machine

The Wall Machine is the tool of choice to create a fun wall post conversation. Conveniently, you can connect using your Facebook account and get started right away with a post filled with placeholders.

Every item of the post can be customized. You can also create a sequence of posts with events or friendship and relationship statuses in between. More details can be seen in the demonstration video below.

The Wall Machine was also reviewed for the MakeUseOf Directory.

At the time of writing this article, MyFakeWall had very slow page loading times and although the tool as such appeared to work, uploading photos took longer than my span of patience. This is too bad because unlike The Wall Machine, it lets you create a Facebook wall, complete with profile information, pictures, and friends and the results as demonstrated above are of high quality and very convincing. If you are interested in the tool nevertheless, please see MyFakeWall on the MakeUseOf Directory.

By the way, if you are looking to report a fake profile located on the real Facebook, check out the Fake Profiles page. In this context, please see the following articles to protect yourself from Facebook scams, frauds, viruses, stalkers, and other issues:

• 5 Tips & Tricks To Avoid Facebook Phishing Scams
• 5 Ways Your Facebook Log-In Password Can Get Stolen
• How To Protect Yourself From The Facebook Stalkers Out There
• How To Protect Yourself From Facebook Video Virus, Scams & Pranks
• The (Very) Unofficial Facebook Privacy Guide

So did you ever create a funny fake Facebook wall? Please share it with us!

What makes this update something special is that it is one of the first applications that allow users to plug things into the past on their Facebook Timeline. For example, if you had a photo of you as a baby from 1986, you could scan it into ShoeBox and post it, and it would show on your Timeline as occurring in 1986. Normally, the picture would show as the date you uploaded it, which breaks the Timeline feel and makes it a non accurate representation of your life.

In addition to going back in time, this update also allows you to tag photos from the application. They also elected to use Facebook’s Photos API, which forces users to manually add the date to pictures, but allows the photos to be posted in a bigger, more beautiful format.

This is an example of what makes Timeline cool. It shows that when done right, an app that works with Timeline can really enhance the users social experience, and not just say what movie you want to see or what song you just listened to. I hope other developers take a cue from ShoeBox and make a strong creative use of the Timeline.

iTunes Link

Source: Techcrunch

The following 5 most popular stand-up comedians are collated based on the number of “Likes” they have received on Facebook.

5: Russell Peters: 676,130 Likes

Starting stand-up in his teens, Canadian Russell Peters is of Anglo-Indian origin and as a result his material regularly features humour based on his upbringing. As a Catholic with English heritage he’s perfectly placed to lampoon all manner of racial and religious prejudices and the results are often hilarious.

Like all of the other comics in this list, Peters has done a bit of movie acting as well as releasing various DVDs. Most notably he has appeared in Source Code and New Year’s Eve in 2011.

Russell Peters

4: Chelsea Handler: 1,862,222 Likes

(Warning: adult material)

There is a good chance that Ms Handler’s popularity is as much to do with her stunning good looks as her comic ability, but there’s also a very strong possibility that the majority of her Facebook fans are women.

Put simply, Chelsea tells dirty jokes, from a woman’s point of view. More likeable than Sarah Silverman, she’s managed to corner the market in vibrator/sex toy gags and her shows are regularly packed out by an audience of women of all ages. She also acts and hosts her own talk show, Chelsea Lately on the E! channel.

Chelsea Handler

3: Michael McIntyre: 2,361,923 Likes

The hugely popular British comic is the slightly effete son of a successful comedy scriptwriter (Canadian Ray Cameron). Michael McIntyre has had a successful run in stand-up in the UK since 2008, going on to host his own live stand-up showcase on BBC television and performing sell-out gigs at some of Britain’s biggest venues. He’s also been a judge on Britain’s Got Talent and famously pulled out of a corporate gig for a debt collection company due to the poor treatment he had received while in financial hardship several years earlier.

McIntyre’s style – which can be observed on his various record breaking DVDs – is a combination of skipping across the stage and laughing at himself, with his material basically observational gags on his mundanely suburban life. It’s all in the delivery.

Michael McIntyre

2: Dane Cook: 4,141,694 Likes

It should come as no surprise that Dane Cook is popular; he has a grungy Wolverine look, great attitude and excellent material.  He’s been performing to massive audiences since around 2000 and has appeared in a long line of films such as Mystery Men, Employee of the Month, Good Luck Chuck, Dan in Real Life and My Best Friend’s Girl.

However he’s no stranger to controversy, having been on the receiving end of every comedian’s worst fear – accusations of plagiarism. Joe Rogan is among the comics to express anger at Cook for misappropriating their routines.

Despite this, however, Dane Cook enjoys a loyal following, many of whom have hit the Facebook “Like” button.

Dane Cook

1: George Lopez: 6,235,403 Likes

The American comedian, actor, and talk show host spreads his abilities far and wide which might explain how he hits the number one spot of most liked comic on Facebook.

With a sitcom and stand-up career running parallel to a talk show, it’s hardly surprising that the comic – whose routine regularly features material on Mexican American culture – is the most popular in this list. Lopez has of course made a few films, notably The Spy Next Door with Jackie Chan and Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

Surely there is more to the George Lopez phenomenon? Well, he also seems to be a pretty decent guy, so that probably helps (along with the “Likes” he gets from the Spanish-language Facebook).

George Lopez

So what do you think? Are these stand-up comedians hugely overrated? Who would be your number one?

New timeline applications that let you showcase your activities can be found in a Facebook directory, but there’s a few privacy things you should know before you get started. Start by checking your Facebook timeline privacy settings and other privacy controls generally. Then when you add applications, ensure you know exactly who can see your activities and where those activities will be seen online by using the following guide.

1. Use Friends Lists To Filter Which Timeline Apps People See

Friends lists in Facebook are the default way by which you can manage your privacy and filter the information people see about you. At MakeUseOf we’ve gone into great detail on many occasion as to how and why you should create Friends lists, in particular for your privacy using the timeline. Check out the Facebook Privacy Guide for a more comprehensive overview.

An example of why this is important could be a jogging application such as Nike or a travel site like TripAdvisor. Which of your Facebook friends should know your favourite daily jogging routes? Which friends should know when you’re away from your home for travel? Surely not all of them! Don’t compromise your physical safety with a timeline application accidentally. Would you be embarrassed if your workmates saw which films you watch? Filter them out.

2. You Give Application Approval Once Only

When you click on the application from the Facebook timeline application directory, you’ll often be taken to the application website and asked to log in. Then you’re directed to the application approval page from there.

You only need to approve the application once to ensure your information is shared in many different places. This makes it easy to set up, but it might come as a surprise to some. If you already use the application, you’ll need to re-approve use to enable the timeline application, but the custom sharing settings you’ve previously set for that application will be maintained.

3. Know That Your Activity Is Shared Internet-Wide

So, you’ve approved the application for Company X. Now your activity can be seen in your Timeline Application section, in the News feed and in the ticker. It can also be seen on Company X’s website by default because you’ve allowed that access too.

4. You Can Change Settings Using Your Activity Log

If you need to change your privacy settings for any application it can be done using the application settings or via the timeline’s activity log.

5. Every Song/Movie/Book/Recipe Is shared

These applications will share every little thing you do, unless you can specify privacy options with the application itself. If you’re listening to music on Spotify all day, those tracks will show up individually in the ticker and in a bundle on the news feed and your timeline. That’s a lot of ticker updates (not that many people mind)!

And what if you occasionally listen to or watch something a little embarrassing in a live streaming application like Hulu or Spotify? Make sure you’ve enabled some sort of private mode first or it will be seen by everyone on Facebook who can view that application. If it’s a possibility, maybe consider protecting yourself against this by limiting whoever can see that application in the first place to just close friends. Your friends might still laugh at you down the pub, but at least you won’t break your grandmother’s heart or lose your job.

What worries you about Facebook’s timeline application privacy? Have you seen teenagers or non-savvy types accidentally exposing themselves to risk? What did they do?

For those who are unfamiliar, Aviary is a suite of web-based media editing apps that’s been under development for several years. It offers a suite of tools free of charge to anyone who wishes to use them and is one of the best free web-based media editing suites currently available – at least in my opinion.

The Facebook app, unlike the full set of free tools, can only edit images. Opening the app brings up a display of recent photos, but you can also browse by album or upload a new photo.

Once a photo has been loaded, you can edit it in a number of ways including crop, brightness, contrast and color saturation. You can add text, apply effects or slap on some stickers. The overall functionality is roughly on par with Picnik, the free web-based image editor that Google will be shutting down in April.

Aviary’s timing is excellent, as Picnik was one of the most popular image editors on Facebook. This new app could fill in a gap left by the exit of that service. In fact, the developers are actively soliciting feedback from Picnik users on their blog.

Source: The Aviary Blog

Sure, a lot of you are artistic as it is, and were designing their own beautiful websites long before Facebook came around, but for many people, Facebook is their official face on the web, and as such they try to make it as appealing and unique as possible. Some people even go out of their way to design something special, just for that huge central Timeline photo. But what if you’re not a designer? That’s what services like CoverCanvas are for.

CoverCanvas

CoverCanvas is a very simple web app which helps you create some interesting Facebook timeline covers which make your Facebook profile stand out. It uses pre-made designs and your profile pictures from Facebook. It’s basically a Facebook app, and requires authorization and access to your Facebook account, like any other app.

What it doesn’t require is any sort of sign up or setting up process. Simply click on “Get Started” and you’re on your way!

Designing A Cover

After you authorize the app to access your Facebook account, it will automatically pull all your profile pictures to use in creating covers. Unfortunately, you can’t use any of your other photos with the apps, only your profile pictures, so we’ll have to make do with these.

First, you get to choose what kind of cover you want to create. Under Custom Covers, you’ll find Photos And Name, Your Name and Your Photos. With these you can create a cover which includes either some photos and your name, only your name on a unique design or only your photos. For each one of these options, there are numerous different designs to choose from, which you can browse using the top bar.

Like I said, there are lots of designs to choose from here, and you can create covers with all kinds of different feels to them. Here is an example for a Photos and Name cover I created.

This is one of the “photos only” covers I created. There are many different designs here too.

And this is one of the “name only” designs you can create. As you can see, not all of them are that serious.

If you’d like to create something different, and not use your profile pictures, you can choose from the wide array of Static Covers. These are divided into categories such as Art, Love, Food and Drink, Movies, Superheroes and Cars. Most categories are also divided into sub-categories, which helps you zoom in on what you’re really interested in. Here is a food themed cover I created.

You can also create something with a darker feel, if you prefer. The number of options is not huge, but it should definitely appeal to a wide variety of different tastes.

Since most of us have a lot of profile pictures, you may want to see different designs with different pictures. You can’t tell CoverCanvas which photos to use, but you can click on “Remix Photos” again and again, and see the different designs with different photos each time.

When you’re satisfied with a design, click on “Make My Cover”. This will upload your new cover to Facebook and will automatically transfer you to your profile page where you can put the new cover to use.

Placing Your New Facebook Timeline Cover On Your Profile

So now you’ve been redirected to your profile page on Facebook, and you want to use your new cover. How do you do it? If you don’t already have a cover, you’ll see a “Add a Cover” button where the cover goes. If you already have a cover, the button will read “Change Cover”. Click the button, and from the dropdown menu choose “Choose from Photos”.

CoverCanvas will create a special album for you, where it will store all the covers you create, but the most recent covers will be available through Recent Uploads, without having to access any album.

If you can’t find the design you want, click on “View Albums” and choose the CoverCanvas album. You will find your design there.

You can now preview what the new design will look like on your page. Facebook will offer the option to drag the image around, but since the design was made specifically for this area, it’s already in its exact size and there’s nothing to move around. If you like it, click on “Save Changes”.

And there you have it. A unique, personal design for your Timeline profile, that people are just that much more likely to remember.

Note that CoverCanvas, like many other apps, will post a status update for you when you upload a new canvas through the service. The post includes the new canvas (so don’t upload ones you’re not sure you want people to see) and a link to the website. It looks like this.

Bottom Line

All in all, CoverCanvas is a great way to personalize your new Facebook Timeline profile. You can create many different designs, and switch them around whenever you feel like it. That way, you’ll never get bored with your cover, even if you use the same pictures over and over again.

Do you know of some more services which help you create your own customized design for Timeline? Did you create a cool design with CoverCanvas? Share in the comments!

As you can see in the screenshot from Sophos, this specific scam advertises “One Free Amazon.com Gift Card (limited time only)“. The link comes with one of several Amazon icons, one of which implies that the offered gift card is for the outrageous amount of $500. If this is not suspicious enough, the link also states that “Amazon is currently giving away gift cards to all Facebook users” and urges you to click it to get yours.

According to Sophos, if you do click the link, you will be asked to first share it with all your friends, and then be redirected to another webpage where you will be tempted with some premium rates mobile phone service, and will also be asked to complete a service. All of this will serve the people behind this scam nicely, as it will bring hits to various webpages, and may cause some people to part with some money. But there will not be a gift card in sight.

$500 from Amazon sure is tempting, so if you’ve fallen for this or if you’ve seen this post on a friend’s wall, be sure to erase, unlike and evoke any permission from apps you don’t know. To remove apps from your Facebook account, go to Privacy Settings, scroll all the way down to Apps and Websites and click on Edit Settings. You can then remove apps from Apps you use by clicking Edit Settings again.

What do you think about scams like this? Should it be Facebook’s responsibility to get rid of them, or should people simply be more alert?

Source: Sophos Naked Security