Open Source Apostle

Is Facebook the AOL (”America On Line”) of the 21st Century? Is Facebook intended to be a sandbox in which one can manage to entertain onesself, without venturing into the great beyond?

I only got on Facebook so I could monitor what my daughter was doing, as she insisted upon using it to connect with her friends. And the tipping factor might have been that her former tap teacher (who she just loves!) is on it after moving far away.

Of course, once exposed to any type of technology, the OSApostle must “figure it out!” So what are my impressions, besides wariness about security concerns?

Facebook in many respects is the AOL of the 21st Century. It seems like much of it is set up to keep people within the Facebook site, even as they view external materials such as blogs and other linked items. The first presentation of any “Link” item is within a frame, with the home still being the Facebook site. Even though one can, after a few clicks, get to the native page; but the default is to keep you on Facebook. The Social RSS application, which can show blog feeds on one’s FB page, also kindly offer to “subscribe” you to the feed — again in a FB-hosted feed reader. (Click on the Blog Name to go directly to feed, where Firefox will offer subscription options. … And if you go to read the article, at least in some settings, you can be take directly to the Blog, and subscribe there via other feed readers, including the commendable ones built into Firefox.)

There is indeed a bewildering array of “Applications.” (All these have their own privacy settings and policies. Aaaargh!!!) If you are using these, you are still on Facebook.

The most frustrating “captive” element, however, is the messaging facility. Do I really want to have to go to Facebook to read my email, when there are many superior programs or web-based solutions available?

As I look at things presently, I notice that the ads are not too thick. That is good, but it makes one wonder how profitable? Perhaps the things like “gifts” for sale help maintain profitability? … Of course, the other not-so-good ways people make money with web properties are:

1. aggregate and sell information
2. sell the whole operation

The first of these seems presently to have some protections in place. But should the second occur, … all bets are off! Of course, then there’s always the “delete” button! (Should it ever come to this, it’s probably best to delete all content before you “Deactivate Account.”)

I’ll continue to experiment with Facebook a bit, but I’m not going to live in the sandbox.

I just looked into Intellectual property concerns regarding Facebook. Before I link posts or or Blog feed there, I want to know: Do I own what I write?

You’d think that it would be obvious that if you write something and post it somewhere, you own it. But it’s not so clear. Many of the sites at least claim a license to “use and display that content” (per Facebook FAQ). Others may actually attempt to assume ownership! Nevertheless, whatever the specific policy, these sites are not charities. They will seek to make some profit, at least by using the attraction presented by your material and that of others to draw more eyes to hosted ads.

Digging deeper in the specific case of Facebook, their “Terms” as of May 1, 2009 at least recognize your ownership of what you post, though warning of the risk that once it’s out of the bag, others may keep copies, etc. and Facebook is not responsible for this.
1. For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (”IP content”), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (”IP License”). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account (except to the extent your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it).

I do appreciate that they cede rights once I delete it!

Also of interest are Facebook’s Privacy policies. Per their warnings, you may want to pay attention to your privacy settings.

Most of Facebook’s information about Intellectual Property and Privacy seems to focus on protecting them from liability for anything a user may choose to do, such as posting copyrighted materials or harassing another user. … It make me wonder if the bill collectors abusing the system might be in violation of Facebook’s policies! Of course, if the sleazeball debt collector “chick” were using her real name it might be legit. But posting anything of questionable veracity or with intent to harass is certainly a violation — of Facebook’s policy as well as of law! There might be some protection in that, though legal recourse could be expensive.

Of course, one needs to keep aware of what would changes might occur in Facebook policies should they be acquired.

Security provisions for Facebook “Applications” might also be something to look out for. Check those privacy settings and terms. It still seems to me that the Facebook interface is a bit kludgy with regard to finding and controlling all of these settings. It is worth a little time to explore it if you intend to make much use of Facebook.

I had been meaning to post some reflections on Facebook and security, among other things. I am inherently cautious about what one should put “out there” in cyberspace.

Then I saw this article on Alternet, and thought it deserved immediate special mention:
Is Your Newest Facebook Friend a Sleazeball Debt Collector? The Alternet article has a lot to say about the debt collection and debt settlement industries in general, as well as some particulars about abuse of social media.

One new scheme is to have an attractive young lady ask to become your “friend,” so that those behind the facade may gain access to all the juicy personal information you post on Facebook. Then they can know of other ways to contact you, what you are up to — maybe even when you are home or not at home. (Burglars prefer the later.) The part most relevant to Facebook points to another article: Debt Collectors Using Cute Chicks On Facebook As Bait.

The Alternet article tells how debt collectors have used Facebook or other social media sites to post embarrassing information — and not always truthful information. There are several lawsuits now in the works from people who have been victims of this abuse.

So, please be careful what you put on social media sites. Think about when it is more appropriate to use personal email to communicate. (And you might even think of using encryption!)

Currently for those who have paid the big bucks for MS Word/ MS Office, there are two ODF converter projects. You need the ODF converter to be able to read and write the ISO standard document formats. Despite Microsoft’s efforts to force their competing OOXML “standard” upon the world, ODF is preferred. Think of a world where one could use the word processor, spreadsheet, or presentation application of your choice, and seamlessly exchange data with anyone!

Since I do not run MS Word, I cannot personally vouch for how these ODF converters compare. There are some reviews out there: some like Sun’s plugin, others the Sourceforge effort. (Let me know what you think!)

These projects may be found:

Sun ODF Plugin for Microsoft Office (recommended as overall best option)
latest version is indicated in “Spotlight — ODF Plugin X.x for Microsoft Office Released” on this page:
http://www.sun.com/software/star/odf_plugin/
download link is on “Get It” tab.

Sourceforge OpenXML/ODF Translator Add-in for Office
http://odf-converter.sourceforge.net/index.html
(N.B. This one requires some rigamarole where you have to save newly opened ODF as DOCX before you can resave it as ODF! Must be because MS is involved! This might be a reason to try the Sun plugin first?)

I encourage all Microsoft Word users to install one of these plugins, and use the ODF format for sharing files with other users. … Of course, if you don’t want to hassle with MS Office, just use OpenOffice.org, or another option!

NOTE: On April 28, 2009, Microsoft released service pack 2 for Microsoft Office 2007. This now includes support for ODF text documents and spreadsheets, featured prominently on the ‘Save As’ menu. One can also configure Office applications to use ODF as the default format for new documents. …

For Spreadsheets especially, there still are some big issues with MS’s implementation(1). There are also concerns for word processing documents (2), so you might want to use one of the above solutions for a while, until Microsoft catches up with the world. Given the alleged technical capacity of Microsoft engineers, compared with some of the others compared in the first article link, it almost seems deliberate! (A summary of the state of affairs, from Jeremy Allison, one of the lead developers on the Samba Team.)

updated May 20, 2009

Rosa is going to be in the Nutcracker again this year, in two roles: as a Soldier, and as a Lead Angel. (She has switched allegiances this year from the Mouse King to the Toy Kingdom!)

Check the links for For more info on BalletMet, and for Nutcracker Information and Tickets.

Below is something from BalletMet for you to play with!

I’ve noticed that whenever a Hotmail user replies or forwards a previous message, everything is concatenated so as to give a message without line returns and other formatting features in the PLAINTEXT part of message. The message is then duplicated in HTML. Apparently there is some bug, or non-standard practice in Hotmail (now a.k.a. Windows Live Mail).

I practice and recommend that everyone use plaintext as much as possible, as it lacks certain vulnerabilities that can be slipped into HTML messages, including web beacons (1 pixel pictures that help spammers verify an email address), malicious java code, and other nuisances. Because of these things I turn off the HTML view by default, and only enable it when needed, when I am sure I can trust the sender. (You might notice some of that spam and phishing mail shows up only in HTML.)

If you use Hotmail, please use plain text, so the rest of use don’t get the infamous Hotmail “run on sentences.”

Hotmail users may choose Plain Text thusly:

Per message:
• In the New Message window click the formatting tab that will say one of the following: “Rich text,” “Edit in HTML,” or “Plain text.” Choose Plain Text.
  
  

  Hotmail - Choose plaintext per message

By default (recommended):
• It used to work this way: To make that permanent, in your Live Mail window go to Tools – Options – Send and activate the Plain text default button. … Anyone got the answer?

Doing one of these will save me from the Hotmail Annoyance, save space in the mailboxes of your correspondents (as well as your own), and encourage safer email practices.

NOTE: Someone replied and informed me that apparently Hotmail has changed their interface. I have changed the “Per message” information above to reflect that. I have not been able to find how to set default to plain text. Have you? Let me know!

I have also learned that there is a downloadable conventional program – a successor to Outlook Express of sorts. This does not apply to that.

Recently my local library has added a CML Catalog Search plugin “powertool” that allows one to add a search of the library catalog to the search box. In Firefox this installs automatically via a script on the Power Tools page. (It is presently termed a “beta,” and does a basic search, seeming mostly on words in the title.)

Should you want to use this in Konqueror:

Right-click on the icon at left of Konqueror search bar, choose “Select Search Engines,” and add a new search engine. Call it “Columbus Metropolitan Library” (or “CML Catalog” or whatever you’d like), with the following parameters:

• Search URI: http://catalog.columbuslibrary.org/?q=\{@}

• URI shortcut: cml … OR whatever you’d like

Be sure to check the boxes to left of your new item and “Enable Web Shortcuts” at top left.

You should now find a choice to search the Columbus Metropolitan Library Catalog in your search box.

You can also search by entering cml:search_term in the address box.

Another gem from the Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast. The football version of what is going on in education right now.

For all educators in and out of the education system:

1. All teams must make the state playoffs and all MUST win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable. If after two years they have not won the championship their footballs and equipment will be taken away UNTIL they do win the championship.
2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time, even if they do not have the same conditions or opportunities to practice on their own. NO exceptions will be made for lack of interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities of themselves or their parents. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL!
3. Talented players will be asked to workout on their own, without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren’t interested in football, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don’t like football.
4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 11th game. This will create a New Age of Sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimum goals. If no child gets ahead, then no child gets left behind. If parents do not like this new law, they are encouraged to vote for vouchers and support private schools that can screen out the non-athletes and prevent their children from having to go to school with bad football players.

I found this in the Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast

“Not on the Test” satirizes the American education system’s renewed focus on rote teaching.

Tom Chapin, a Grammy Award-winning musician perhaps best known for children’s music, has released a new song titled “Not on the Test.” The song satirizes the American education system’s renewed focus on rote teaching, in which tests have become the sole reason to teach and learn. Music, art, drama and sports were what kept Chapin engaged in school. In addition, these subjects make the teacher’s (and the student’s) job easier and infinitely more rewarding. Unfortunately, they are also what have been cut from curriculums across the country as Chapin explains lightheartedly in song.

Chapin’s web site for “Not on the Test” has helpful links and information, including audio, video, lyrics, and art. Tom Chapin’s Official Web Site also features “Not on the Test.”

As one concerned that budget cuts will eviscerate a good education, I resonate and recommend.

I am testing the Subscribe2 plugin for WordPress … more info

ver. 4.1 corrects the problems below! The re-publishing trick still applies, though. Pages or Posts that are simply re-edited and saved will not generate a notifier email. To have an email sent, one must save as draft, and then re-publish.

Presently it seems that ver 4.0 of the plugin (in WP 2.3.1) sends a message with blanks for the TITLE and POST content when a page is edited. Subscribe2 works fine when publishing a new page, or when re-publishing an existing page.

• The trick then for editing a page is to save it as “draft,” then re-publish when all edits are completed!
• Unresolved issue: When creating or editing any page, it will generate an extra email with blanks – but at least a proper one will be sent in addition for a new or re-published page!

These fields also work fine when dealing with a new post. … Edits of existing posts, however, generate no email (even when timestamp is changed)!

BUT! … As with pages, one can employ the same trick: save the post as draft, then republish, and a notifier email will be sent!

N.B. For wordPress in general: “Private” Pages are equivalent to Drafts. “Private” Posts can be seen only by registered users who are logged in.