Jetshing's Blog

Facebook’s privacy policy is a whopping 5,830 words long. As the New York Times recently pointed out, the Constitution of the United States is just 4,543. In recent months, Facebook has made revisions to its privacy policy that makes a growing amount of information public by default; users must opt out if they want to keep their information private, or share it only with a trusted group of friends. The changes have caused something of a backlash among both the user community and the technology industry, with some commentators questioning whether these changes are the thin end of the edge, and may even result in users leaving the social-networking site in their droves. Committing “Facebook suicide”, as it’s known, is a very drastic option. Facebook, to its credit, does allow … Read entire article »

Here are 10 fun pieces of Twitter trivia I discovered on my travels: 1. Twitter has its own DJ booth Located in the centre of the office’s “breakout” space, it’s the place where celebrities come and “guest mix”. The latest starlet was no other than Conan O’Brien, a US TV host and comedian, who then joined the host of other DJs and signed a cartoon version on himself on the Twitter wall of fame. 2. Tea time with Twitter DJing usually goes on during the company’s weekly “tea time” session on Friday afternoons. It may sound very English and proper– but tea has long been replaced with beer to the soundtrack of someone jamming. 3. Twitter’s office was once home to Bebo Michael Birch, the British-born entrepreneur who co-founded Bebo … Read entire article »

Google didn’t invent search, but the company has made it our prism for the internet. We don’t go to specific pages because instead we look for information. That means that any tweaking with the magic Google formula is always going to be significant, and the company has now begun the roll-out of some of the most significant changes in several years. There is, however, nothing much to frighten the horses: the company has tidied up … Read entire article »

The Google Goggles visual search application has been updated to include new features that enable it to recognise and translate words from one language to another. The search giant claims that the move could spell the end of tourists struggling with foreign menus. Google Goggles combines web search with the images from the high-quality cameras that now feature on most smartphones. So taking a picture of, say, Big Ben and pressing search allows users to … Read entire article »

Apple, which acquired Lala for $17 million in 2009, posted a message on the music-streaming service’s website announcing that Lala would shut down on May 31. Apple said it would not be accepting new users to the service, and that existing users would only be able to log on to the site until the end of the month. “In appreciation of your support over the last five years, you will receive a credit in the … Read entire article »