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Why Not Diaspora?

By Christine Hall on March 10, 2014 |

Internet and

Why Not Diaspora?Diaspora logo

“Why we don’t all switch to Diaspora I will never understand.”

My friend Ross made this remark on Facebook Thursday as introduction to a link to a petition by Demand Progress, a progressive political action site. The petition addresses Facebook and privacy issues, making some rather disturbing accusations. Although the text is short on siting sources, the accusations still ring true. The claim is that every time something is typed into a comment box but then not posted, Facebook keeps a record.

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The Reddit – SourceForge Lynch MobReddit logo

The Reddit – SourceForge Lynch Mob

By Christine Hall on November 20, 2013 |

Business, Internet, News and

It was like Cooks Source all over again, just without the catchphrase “But honestly Monica.”

It’s been all over the web for the last week or two that the photo imaging program GIMP, a FOSS crown jewel, has dropped SourceForge as a download site. Although the GIMP folks had been a little concerned over some advertisements on SourceForge, the real reason appears to be DevShare, which bundles third party offers with open source downloads for install on Windows machines.

Last Thursday, in an attempt at damage control, the folks at SourceForge explained the DevShare program in some detail:

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingThe Reddit – SourceForge Lynch Mob

The Importance of Free Websites

By Christine Hall on November 15, 2013 |

Internet, and Web Apps

On October 26th, ten year old Charlie Thompson went to a Halloween party at a friends house in rural New York state. The weather was reasonably mild, so much of the party took place outside. At some point the children began playing a game of hide and seek. Charlie and another boy found a wooden board that Charlie thought would be a perfect place to hide. He lifted the board and knelt on another board that was underneath.

The board on which he knelt was old and rotten. Unbeknownst to Charlie and his friend, it was also covering an old abandoned well. Under his weight it immediately broke, hitting him on the forehead and knocking him unconscious. He fell straight down into the well, which was eighteen feet deep. His friend immediately ran to get help.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
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Our Coverage of ‘All Things Open’All Things Open

Our Coverage of ‘All Things Open’

By Christine Hall on October 21, 2013 |

Site News and

The All Things Open conference is this Wednesday and Thursday and I’m looking forward to being there.

Although Raleigh, where the conference is happening, is only an hour and a half from my home, I haven’t been there since the mid-nineties. That would’ve been back when I was living and hanging-out in Chapel Hill, the southwestern point of the region called the Triangle which includes Raleigh and Durham as it’s other two points. Chapel Hill is an über cool blend of students from the University of North Carolina and old hippie-leftie types–perfect for an old devotee of Leary and Ram Dass like myself. Alas, as much as I’d like, I won’t have time nor money to visit my old stomping grounds. I’ll be in the area to work and get back home. No playing or partying will be on the agenda for this trip. Oh well…

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
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SecureDrop’s Free Install, Oracle Spreads FUD & More…SecureDrop logo

SecureDrop’s Free Install, Oracle Spreads FUD & More…

By FOSS Force on October 18, 2013 |

Desktops, Internet, News, and Software

FOSS Week in Review

Google wants to put your face on ads

We’ve always wanted to like Google. We want to believe them when they chant their informal motto, “Don’t be evil,” as if it were a mantra. We believe they have good intentions, just as we believe that Mark Zuckerberg is clueless when it comes to the privacy rights of Facebook’s users. We also believe it’s much too easy to convince oneself that wrong is right.

The latest news concerning Google puts Google+ in the same camp as Facebook when it comes to user privacy issues. Here at FOSS Force, we first heard about a change in Google’s privacy policy on Monday in an article posted by the BBC. It seems the search and advertising giant has modified its policy to allow it to soon pull endorsements from its user base for advertising purposes.

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Facebook Gives ‘Social Fixer’ UltimatumSocial Fixer graphic

Facebook Gives ‘Social Fixer’ Ultimatum

By Christine Hall on October 7, 2013 |

Browsers, Business, Internet, News and

Things aren’t going well for Matt Kruse, the developer of the über-popular Social Fixer browser extension which gives users control over how their Facebook pages and news feeds appear to them. It works within the browser and doesn’t affect the experience of anyone on Facebook other than the user. With it, status updates can be tabbed, items can be filtered, and it allows hiding or blocking sponsored stories and other advertising that runs through the news feed.

The last we heard, about three weeks ago, Zuckerberg’s people had taken down Social Fixer‘s popular Facebook page, a place for users to testify for the app and seek help and for Mr. Kruse to make announcements about updates and so forth. FB was claiming it removed the page due to reports of spamming, but was offering no way for him to plead his case.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
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Redmond’s Used iPads, Spy Wars Escalate & More…

Redmond’s Used iPads, Spy Wars Escalate & More…

By FOSS Force on September 20, 2013 |

Business, Hardware, Internet, News, Politics, and Software

FOSS Week in Review

Court rules on Facebook privacy

If an employee makes a post on Facebook using a privacy setting that excludes the boss from seeing it, that post is off limits to the employer. Unless, that is, the poster has a turncoat friend who willingly supplies the post to the employer with no prodding to do so. That’s evidently the gist of a ruling handed down in August, as reported by PCWorld on Sunday.

The case involved Deborah Ehling, who was suspended by Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corp. (MONOC) after she posted on Facebook in June of 2009 a response to news that a white supremacist had opened fire and killed a guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

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Facebook Permanately Deletes Social Fixer’s PageSocial Fixer's Matt Kruse

Facebook Permanately Deletes Social Fixer’s Page

By Christine Hall on September 12, 2013 |

Browsers, Internet, News and

More bad news for Matt Kruse, the developer of the popular Social Fixer plugin that gives users some control on how their Facebook displays on their computer, as well as giving them some special features.

I told you on September 3rd that the plugin’s Facebook page had been removed without warning. At that time, Mr. Kruse was in the process of “appealing” Facebook’s decision–if that’s the proper word. While the social site did offer-up a button to click to request that Facebook reconsider their opinion, that was it. No text box to plead one’s case was offered.

As of yesterday, the page has been completely removed for violating “community standards.”

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingFacebook Permanately Deletes Social Fixer’s Page
Social Fixer’s Facebook Page RemovedSocial Fixer's Facebook graphic

Social Fixer’s Facebook Page Removed

By Christine Hall on September 3, 2013 |

Browsers, Internet, News and

Beginning yesterday, users of Social Fixer have been greeted by an announcement when they log onto Facebook, informing them that the popular browser extension’s Facebook page has been removed without warning.

Social Fixer, a plugin that works with most browsers, allows users to change how their Facebook newsfeed and other pages are displayed and how they operate. Although very popular, the extension has always been a thorn in Facebook’s side. It’s not surprising that Zuckerberg and his minions would now find even less to like about the plugin, since Wall Street has been prodding them to get serious about monetizing the massive amount of traffic that flows through the social network.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingSocial Fixer’s Facebook Page Removed
MIT Reviews Aaron Swartz, Google’s 100 Million Takedowns & More…DMCA

MIT Reviews Aaron Swartz, Google’s 100 Million Takedowns & More…

By FOSS Force on August 2, 2013 |

Business, Copyright, Hardware, Internet, Media, Mobile, News, Patents, Politics, Security and

FOSS Week in Review

USPTO shoots down Apple patent

There seems to be more than enough tit-for-tat to go around in the ongoing patent battle between Apple and Samsung. If we wanted to be snarky, we’d say we haven’t seen this much legal maneuvering since the last days of the Beatles and the “sue me, sue you blues.”

Continue readingMIT Reviews Aaron Swartz, Google’s 100 Million Takedowns & More…
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