Facebook users, get ready.  Since Facebook’s number of members has skyrocketed well past MySpace, and other social networking sites, regional networks are becoming obsolete.  Regional networks have opened up a slew of privacy issues.  I have fallen victim myself, not realizing that my entire regional network of Washington DC could see my profile.  My fiancé’s former “friend” decided to start cyber-stalking me after he turned her down for a relationship and started dating me.  This went on for quite some time right under my nose!  It wasn’t until I mistakenly let her best friend and her family move in with us that I was advised of the cyber stalking.  Seriously, be careful who you tell what to because when y’all fight, it all comes out!  Though I still have my regional network, I’ve locked everything off to friends only.  Really, who knows who is in your “regional network?”

In the next few weeks, we’ll be seeing some changes and messages from Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg.  He’s promised to let us fine tune our privacy settings so that we can control exactly who sees what.  This is a great thing!  Now, perhaps you can add your co-workers or, dare I say it, even your boss to your friends list and keep them separate from your friends who post photos of you passed out drunk with Sharpie on your face! 

Of course, some people are speculating that this might be getting people into trouble… If you’re creepin’ around on your girl, you’re gonna get caught!  Let me forewarn you on that one.  The moment you forget to log out of Facebook on your way to the bathroom and she sees that she’s been blocked from photos of you and that other girl who was supposedly just a “family friend” at last week’s get together, slobbering all over each other… Let’s just say it’s going to be bad… and I can’t wait! 

So please, use the new privacy tools responsibly.  I love the idea, but I’d hate to see it go haywire.  With that said, Mom, I’m still not adding you on Facebook.

**AMBER ALERT** 3 YR OLD GIRL WAS TAKEN BY A MAN DRIVING A NEWER SILVER TRUCK IN WASHINGTON, DC LIC. PLATE #72B381. KEEP IT GOIN! 

I’m willing to bet you have received this via text, seen it on Twitter, or Facebook and MySpace status updates.  It’s a fake AMBER Alert made by some cruel person.  The details never even existed.  Sometimes the age changes, the year, make and model of the vehicle are different, and the city and state is almost always relevant to those people it’s targeting at the given time.   What I notice almost always stays the same, is the license plate number.  Another variation I’ve seen is 98B351.

I found it odd when I first received this as a text, because I have signed up at wirelessamberalerts.org so that I know when local children are missing.  I didn’t receive any such text from them so I googled the license plate number for more information.  My suspicion was correct.  This was a fake AMBER Alert.  It angered me that anyone would waste our time looking for someone who had never been missing.  People jumped at spreading the news wanting to help out.  This is where the scenario gets sticky.  I call these people out and let them know that the forwarded message is a fraud and they immediately become defensive stating they just wanted to help and that it was better to be safe than sorry.   These people seemed pretty offended that I notified them of their ignorance.  Oh well.

 I have a problem with this.  I have seen this fake alert go out in many different ways over a long period of time.  I have never seen a legit AMBER Alert be forwarded by anyone.  Not even once.  People are so willing to waste their time on a bogus AMBER Alert but won’t even take the time to register for Wireless AMBER Alerts.  If we only put a fraction of the time and effort into spreading real AMBER Alerts as we do phony alerts, I’m willing to bet we could find most any child missing, if still alive.  So please, stop crying wolf over nothing when the real wolves are out there preying on young children every minute of the day.

To learn more about what you can do to help, please visit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

It’s no surprise to me that Facebook has mimicked MySpace in creating a diet version of their website.  Facebook Lite is now live, offering Facebook users an experience without all of the bells and whistles their regular Facebook has.  Facebook maintains that this is an effort to allow access to their website from slow internet connections and the fact that they’ve been testing the website in India makes that claim sound pretty accurate.  However, the lite version does more than just load at a faster speed.  Facebook became famous partly because of the absence of clutter.  This appeals to many people who just want to stay in touch with friends and not play Mafia Wars and Farmville.  I’ve heard a lot of people reluctant to join Facebook, or even use it because it seemed too complicated and they had just gotten comfortable with MySpace.  For loyal Twitter users who refuse to use the likes of Facebook and MySpace again, it could draw them back. 

But back to the whole premise of Facebook Lite.  Yes, I have the Facebook app on my iPhone; however, if I am sent an email stating someone commented on my status, I often just click the link which takes me directly to that comment so that I don’t have to go on a wild goose chase searching for the damn thing.  I like this feature, but Facebook bogs down my iPhone and sometimes even kills the browser altogether.  Trying to navigate through settings can be a nightmare.  The same thing goes for MySpace.  However, I am able to access the non-mobile version of Twitter without killing myself in the process.  I do hope that both MySpace and Facebook start sending their notification emails with links to the Lite and mobile versions so that I may choose which one I want to go to.  MySpace makes it damn near impossible to log into the regular web version from my phone, constantly telling me I need to log in over and over again.  Facebook has refused to log me in at times as well, but at least Facebook will take me to the comment whereas MySpace sends me directly to the page where I need to choose between the regular version and the mobile version, thus negating the purpose of clicking the link in the first place. 

I’m a regular user of Facebook and I don’t have any plans to switch to Facebook Lite, but I like it as an option for those who aren’t social media savvy and for those who have slow connections.  I may even decide to use it on my iPhone but the new version of the Facebook App has proved to be a big upgrade.  If they include the link on their notification emails, I’m sure I’ll be back.

Also, I just created a new page, so add me on Facebook.

I had briefly mentioned Loopt in a previous blog about my iPhone addiction.  Loopt is an app for the iPhone that allows you to update status messages which can be linked to Facebook and Twitter, and let other uses know where you’re located at the given time of update.  However, for 2 weeks, you can test the new background Loopt where the application will run constantly, allowing other users to see when you’re on the move.  However, after the first 2 weeks, Loopt will start showing up on your AT&T bill as a $3.99 charge.  I’d recommend you be very aware of who you give this access too, because as I mentioned before, this is a stalker’s dream!  If you should perhaps decide to let your friends know every move you make, the application will alert you if you have a friend that is close by so you can meet up for a Venti Mocha Frapp at Starbucks – which by the way, Loopt can help you find!

Loopt is available on most major carriers, and on various phones.  There are some non-invasive ads on the app which Loopt is currently working to make location based.  I’m very indecisive yet highly suggestible when it comes to dining out so I feel that these advertisements would actually help me if I was hungry!  It looks like a pretty functional idea, but I don’t see it going very far with a $3.99 monthly price tag.  However, I’m sure Loopt won’t be $3.99 for very long if they acquire some solid advertising deals.  When they recognize the power of advertisement and stop charging the users monthly fees, I think this app could become very popular.  GPS social media at its finest.  Also, don’t worry about your battery life, as the entire app isn’t actually running in the background.  I see this technology going far with the iPhone.

A Civil Lawsuit in California was filed alleging Facebook violates California and online privacy laws by relaying user information to third parties and engaging in data mining and harvesting without full disclosure to the users.

Facebook has had some privacy issues in the past.  Let’s say you’re having some emotional trouble, and decide to buy a self-help book on Amazon.  After all, who wants to walk into Borders and have people witness your purchase of Faking It: How to Seem Like a Better Person Without Actually Improving Yourself?  Plus, we all know books on Amazon are cheaper.  Great.  Now your entire Facebook friends list can see your purchase in their News Feed.  Well, this happened to many people in late 2007.  In addition, those who were not Facebook members still had their information sent to Facebook for “research purposes” by use of the controversial Beacon advertising system.  Amazon is not the only culprit in bed with Facebook.  There’s an entire orgy of privacy violations that included Blockbuster, Fandango, and Overstock.  If you wanted to surprise your honey with that necklace that Overstock hottie, Sabine Ehrenfeld was wearing, too late!  Now she knows, thanks to her News Feed!  Here’s to hoping your honey is your spouse as well.  That could open up an entirely different can of worms.

I wonder if Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook is a stalker – a stalker with a dream to one day know every move everyone he knows makes.  Behold: Facebook.  Well, now that we’ve all joined Facebook and have come accustomed to airing our lives, including dirty laundry (and I am no exception) out to the world, we’ve all become nosy addicts.  I’m sure there’s some guy eating Cheetos in his basement on a bean bag chair who is diligently refreshing is News Feed for days on end in hopes it says So-and-So is now single.  Score!  If you think that’s a joke, have one of your female friends change their relationship status as a joke and just watch as all of her secret admirers come out of the woodwork.  Actually, that’s probably a bad idea.  No need to ruin relationships once her boyfriend finds out the guy who’s “like a brother to her” has been awaiting the day she is single so he can profess his undying love and affection for her.

If this happened to you or someone you know, I’d love to hear the story.

According to ComScore, Facebook had 87.7 million unique visitors in the month of July, increasing their visitor count by about 10.7 million from the month of June whereas MySpace’s unique visitor count went down by 168k totalling 68.3 million, and Twitter only went up by 1.1 million unique visitors, totalling 21.2 million in the month of July.  That’s a mouth full but it shows the progress of Facebook.  Twitter is growing like a weed, just not compared to Facebook’s monopoly on the Social Networking sites.

I see my friends making status comments saying they’re not even sure why people still use MySpace.  However, I see benefits of both.  MySpace offers customization, and after all, it was the first social networking site to really go big.  Back before that, we were stuck with sites like Friendster and FaceTheJury.  To find old school buddies, we had to sign up at Classmates.com and pay their outrageous fees on a monthly basis.  I guess that’s why I have a bit of a loyalty to MySpace.  I also use it to keep in touch with acquaintances that I might want to network with at a later time.  Facebook seems so much more personal, but I love the fact that I don’t have to show every person every side of me.  Now, my aunts can add me on Facebook without me being worried they’ll lose all respect for me when they realize some of the things that come out of my mouth, or in this case, fingertips would make a sailor blush.  All I have to do is block them from status comments!  This also works with the people who like to leave inappropriate comments in my status messages as well.  It’s a win/win for me.

As for Twitter, I’m still trying to get the hang of updating it.  I like to use it for when I’m out and I take a picture of something with my iPhone.  I am using it for blog updates too.  It’s a great little resource but it will never trump the likes of Facebook and MySpace no matter how hard it tries.  It does well for what it is, but if it changed its entire concept of micro-blogging, it just wouldn’t be Twitter.

So, it’s not surprising to me that Facebook is doing so much better than the rest.  Now, if I could just stop getting stupid app requests that I have to keep blocking, we’d all be good.

Kermit the Frog claimed it’s not easy being green but in today’s age, more and more companies are producing bio-friendly products.  One of those companies is Samsung.  The Samsung Reclaim is made from a corn derived bioplastic.  Even the box is made from recycled material and the phone has an alert to let you know when to unplug it from the power source so as to not waste electricity.  To top it off, Sprint will be donating $2 from every sale to Nature Conservancy.  It comes in blue and green and is a very economical purchase at just $50.  The phone has a full QWERTY slide out keyboard perfect for constant texters and a good idea for the tween market who are pushing out thousands upon thousands of texts per month.  It has the capability to connect to popular social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter; however, it only has a WAP browser.  It uses a 2 megapixel camera capable of recording video.  I imagine this would also be a good phone for the technologically deficient people out there, like my parents, who have trouble with multi-tap texting and have no desire or use for a smart phone.  It’s far less complicated than a lot of mobile phones out there.

This is the first edition of the Samsung Reclaim and rumor has it that it will only get better as time goes.  Future editions will be configured with full web browsing, touch screens at less than double the cost of this first generation Reclaim.  I look forward to more cellular phone makers following suit and producing eco-friendly cellular phones.  Samsung is a brand I definitely trust and I hope this phone does well on the market.  The Samsung Reclaim will be available at Sprint stores starting August 16th.

I got the iPhone 3G about a month after it was released. I was a 3 year long user of the Blackberry and was still using my Blackberry 7100G. I never thought I’d do away with my Crackberry. It was my lifeline. I found though, after purchasing the iPhone that the only thing I really missed about the Blackberry was BB Messenger. I’ve since gotten over this. My iPhone is with me at all times and has even been the cause of drama in my relationship and work! I’ve gotten so much better about it, though. My Gmail goes straight to my iPhone. I use the MySpace and Facebook apps religiously. My home page includes a direct link to CNN, my YouTube, LiveJournal, Twitterific, and WeatherBug apps. I swear by Crash Kart when I’m trying to get my fiance’s children to settle down. For football season (Go Bucs!) I love using Pro Football. I’ve recently developed an addiction to Storm8 strategy games. I use MMS Rescue which I love (the 30% of the time it actually works). When I’m really bored, other games like Wurdle, Word Warp, and Flood-It! are favorites of mine. I have not called a movie theater ever since I downloaded Now Playing. Then there are the really cool music apps Pandora, the internet radio and Shazam, the app that let’s you put the microphone up to a song playing and it tells you what song it is and by what artist! Most recently, I’ve downloaded Loopt – a stalkerish Facebook linked app but I haven’t been able to use it yet.

The ease of use of the iPhone is so simplistic, my 3 year old, soon-to-be-stepson, Stevie, and 5 year old soon-to-be-stepdaughter, Skyler love playing with it, and taking pictures. Granted, they’re not the best photographers in the world, but they try. I honestly don’t know what I would do without my iPhone. I’d go through some serious withdrawal, perhaps foaming at the mouth and having seizures. It is so much worse than my Blackberry addiction by far. I still love RIM, but until they can compete with the web browsing of the iPhone, I won’t be coming back! Besides, it’s the 1st Apple product I’ve been able to afford since my parents got me an Apple IIC at a yard sale when I was a little kid. Unfortunately, all I could really play on that thing was Strip Poker and I’m not sure my parents even knew that those pixelated boobies were on there. I’m sure I had some other games, but for some reason unbeknownst to me, that’s the one that stands out in my mind.

I know with the new software, there are so many new apps that I’m just dying to try out. Does anyone have any apps they can recommend to me and the rest of the world? Please comment and let me know!

Back in the days of AOL profiles when no one really knew who we were, there wasn’t much issue with Internet Privacy.  I’m not referring to unsecure sites asking for your credit card number, but sites like MySpace, Facebook and the like.  It seems everyone under 30, and even some senior citizens have at least one profile of the two major Social Networking Sites.  These sites show your personal lives laid out in a neat little page for all, or few to see.  They tell where you work, where you live, phone numbers, etc.  Facebook, a stalker’s dream even tells you when someone is going through relationship problems.  My favorite is “it’s complicated.” 

Part of me really enjoys the attention I receive from friends commenting on what I’m doing that day, my vacation, and new photos.  These are people I would otherwise probably not talk to ever again if I hadn’t found them searching for old friends and classmates.  I was never much of a social butterfly, and these sites allow me to socialize without being in a crowded room of people where I would likely have a panic attack and try desperately to fade into the background. 

Then there are those I don’t know all that well.  Friends I met via internet forums, through other friends, and maybe a few that fell in the cracks whom I don’t even know from Adam – all able to see where I’m going this weekend, and how dirty my floors are from the photos of my pit bull puppy, Lily.  How much do I really want them to know?

I pick and choose who gets to see what.  I’ll never let most of you into my private LiveJournal, and even if you try to send me a friend request on my Facebook, I can promise you I will undoubtedly not accept.  These are places reserved for my closest friends, family.  Perhaps I will create a separate MySpace and Facebook profile if any of you request me to do so.  Until then, I’d like some of who I am to remain private.

The problem with letting strangers in is that you will inevitably get “haters.”  Most people don’t tell you their skeletons but in the past, I’ve let it all out, freely.  It bit me in the rear very quickly.  I was young and I suppose I was seeking attention; however, I didn’t estimate how much negative attention I would actually get.  I let people get to me and wore my emotions on my sleeve for all to see.  Clearly, a rookie mistake.  I withdrew to avoid the attention and after all was said and done, years went by and the negative attention almost ceases to exist.  This time around, I’ve got other plans.

Some people are afraid of internet predators and psycho stalkers.  Yeah, I’ve had my share of stalkers.  I even dated one.  Those psycho stalkers are somebody’s next-door neighbor.  Just because you met them on the internet doesn’t make them any more psycho. 

So, my question to the readers (however few I may have at this point) is: How secure do you feel having your personal business strewn all over the internet?  Would you be afraid if your boss or your mother Googled you?  What do you do to separate the internet from everyday reality, or has the internet become your reality?