The Internet

Even as Facebook overtook MySpace as the social network of choice (right now), there was one thing MySpace had that Facebook users couldn’t beat - the ability to set your own URL for your page. While you could conceivably use myspace.com/yourname, the same option wasn’t available for your Facebook profile.

Until now.

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There’s a new Facebook phishing scheme on the loose, and victims are reporting that soon after logging in, their passwords are changed. According to TechCrunch, Facebook has already taken action to block the site and prevent the phishers from profiting from their ill-gotten gains. Still, this is a prime example of phishing, so it demonstrates the common signs of a scam:

• You’re redirected to a site different from the site you tried to visit originally
• You received the link from a friend, but it doesn’t sound like a message they would write
• You’re asked to provide your username and password in a way you haven’t been before

It shouldn’t be a huge surprise that Facebook changed their terms of service.  Well, maybe the terms of service themselves, but certainly not the way they did it.  Facebook has a history of taking shots and calling a do-over if users raise too much of a fuss (such as the privacy feature on its news feed).  So it’s keeping in line with past behavior when Facebook changes the way users grant permission to use their material, hear the anguished cries, and then back off.

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Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace reveal a lot of information about you.  For your friends, that’s a good way to keep in touch with each other.  For others, that’s a good source of details they can try to use against you.  Everybody has received scam or phishing emails by now, but enterprising folks have begun to mine data from social networking sites to use in these scams, as shown in this TechCrunch link (more…)

Is it too early to start talking about the Super Bowl yet?  If you’re a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Arizona Cardinals, or greasy and grilled foodstuffs, probably not.  Now that the participants have been finalized, you can start making plans for your Super Bowl party.  There are a few online tools to help you get your invitations and provisions organized: (more…)

If you’ve got multiple social media accounts, it might be hard to keep every account up-to-date when it comes to your status (and let’s face it, you’ll just feel all out of sorts if everything isn’t up-to-date).  There’s no magic button that will update both MySpace and Facebook at the same time, but you can set it up to update them all with one click by using an intermediary service: Twitter.

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Now that you’ve got your photo editors in place, you’ve got to find a place to put them so others can see them.  There are a staggering amount of choices here, but they break down into a few categories.

1. Photo hosting sites
2. Social networking sites
3. Blog sites (more…)

More and more of the computers I see and work on are showing up with the “Koobface” virus, courtesy of messages sent through Facebook accounts.  Facebook is recommending scanning infected computers to find and remove the virus and then resetting your Facebook password.

In the meantime, it’s best not to accept any offers to upgrade your Flash player unless you’re actually on Adobe’s site and are doing it yourself.  Otherwise, you’re asking for trouble.