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While Tal Ater was working on his Green Any Site Facebook application, he stumbled across a javascript object called Video Chat. This object had properties that were referential to Skype’s video chat features, pointing to potential video integration between the two sites in the future. While the application wasn’t there every time Tal loaded the page, he thinks that Facebook could be “bucket testing” the feature. The object also tests for plugin functionality using the Skype SDK, which further points to a collaboration between the two popular online services. Tal has helpfully provided…

I could say it feels like only yesterday I was introducing you guys to Diaspora, but that would very much be a lie. Honestly, it feels more like it’s been 13 years. For those of you just joining us, Diaspora is the ‘privacy-aware’ social network that debuted in concept several months ago, amidst the zenith of Facebook’s privacy woes. And it seemed like perfect timing; with everyone getting their hate on for Facebook and its alleged disregard for user privacy, most people agreed it was time for a change. Diaspora seemed like mana from heaven, offering true privacy and the ability to exact complete…

Honestly, it should come as no surprise that Facebook isn’t exactly a snuggly blanket of impenetrable security when it comes to feeling safe on the internet. Perpetually beset with accusations of compromising users’ privacy, Facebook has spent much of its time in the last several months repairing its relationship with its users. But maybe privacy isn’t all we should be worried about. According to security firm BitDefender, approximately 20% of Facebook users’ news feeds are infected with malware. Delicious. BitDefender says it gathered the data via an app called Safego, installed by 14,000…

Criticisms of online services as terrible, soul-destroying corruptions of a once pristine glorious past have become so common now, they’re essentially like people complaining about the weather. Facebook will ruin everything! Twitter is breaking our capacity to think! Like most new platforms with a lot of hype behind them, Foursquare has been subject to this ever-present criticism. A lot of people are baffled by the idea of a service that lets you ‘check in’ to places and get badges for doing so. Most people object to it as narcissistic. Some see it as pointless. Some game nerds don’t like the…

I remove people from Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks on a daily basis — not by choice, but because there is too much information — but I never thought of the consequences. I always just assumed that there is an understanding between people in the digital age. But one day changed everything for me: I had removed someone who didn’t take it so lightly, and he made me feel guilt and pain that I had not felt since high school. What was I becoming? He was nice to me. He engaged me in conversation, retweeted articles that I posted, and joined in on conversations that really got me thinking. It…

Now this is an odd bug, if I’ve ever heard of one. Apparently, thousands of female Facebook users have been attempting to log on, only to find their accounts deactivated. Spooky. And this has been going on for a few days, too. Said Facebook user Valerie L to Huffington Post of the bug: “It said my Gmail address was not associated with any Facebook account.” How… suspicious, considering the feud between Google and Facebook of late. “I just tried to get onto my Facebook account with my Gmail email address,” adds Marian B. “[It's] the only one I have used since I got on Facebook …and it said I could not.”…

Now that Facebook have announced their new messaging system, the reactions are pouring in: it has reinvented messaging; it’s trying to kill NYC start-up GroupMe; and of course, it might kill GMail. But whether or not Facebook’s ‘Project Titan’ messaging revamp will kill anything is unclear. As with any new product – especially with Facebook – how people outside the tech world react is key. But even if it’s a spectacular failure, Facebook’s new system is an attempt to fix what’s broken about electronic communication. While email, IM and texting were all boons when they were invented, they’ve…

According to TechCrunch, Facebook has sent out invitations to a media event on November 15th, where Mark & Friends will reveal ‘Project Titan’ – what is expected to be a web-based email client, allowing users to register @facebook.com email addresses. Apparently, TechCrunch says that Project Titan is internally referred to as the ‘Gmail killer’. And the plot thickens, and Facebook and Google continue to be grouchy at each other, and the world continues to turn. Honestly, would you want an @facebook email account? Is that more, or less cheap-sounding than Hotmail?…

Surely you’ve had that roommate. You know the one. The one that leaves passive-aggressive notes on the fridge about how nice it would be if someone would do the dishes, and stuff. The worst, right? Google is that roommate. Perhaps threatened by Facebook being… well, being Facebook, Google has posted a new alert to users attempting to import their contact data. Check it out. Ouch. ‘Trap my contacts’? Can we go over a couple of things, Google? Firstly, er… Facebook DOES let you export your data. In fact, with a single click, you can download your entire profile. If you ask me, that counts as ‘control…

Starting very soon, you won’t be able to import all of your Gmail contacts in one shot into your Facebook account. Looks like Google is a little miffed at Facebook for not making tools available to let the information flow both ways; Google wants the ability to import Facebook friends and use other Facebook data as it wants to, like Facebook can now use Google’s data. Facebook will not be the only company to get the axe from the mighty Google; any company that does not let information flow both ways will be denied access to account information. “We have decided to change our approach slightly to reflect…