Sep 232011
 

Malware continues to be a minimal threat to most Mac users, but that doesn’t mean attackers aren’t constantly trying to come up with new ways to steal information or turn users’ machines into botnet drones. The latter appears to be the case with a new Mac trojan posing as a PDF file, discovered by security researchers at F-Secure.

via Mac trojan poses as PDF to open botnet backdoor.

Sep 232011
 

 

 

All your e-books are belong to us. That sums up Amazon’s Library Lending service pretty well. Get ready to borrow all the free e-books your Kindle (or Kindle app) can handle, because the service is live, as of today.

Going to the library is something of a trip, or adventure, depending on how you look at it. Our generation doesn’t go to library because we have the Internet and we read most of our books on e-readers or through e-book apps on tablets, smartphones and laptops.

Back in April, Amazon unveiled its plan to allow Kindle and Kindle apps to borrow books from libraries. The only downside was having to actually go to a physical library.

That’s no more. Borrowing an e-book from a local library requires only a visit to its website and a working library card.

via Borrowing Kindle e-books at over 11,000 libraries begins today | DVICE.

Sep 232011
 

 

The applications that grew the most on our emerging list by monthly active users this week included some love quizzes, the German Phrases app, a few Page tab apps, video, greeting cards and more. The apps on our list grew from between 147,600 and 613,900 MAU, based on AppData, our data tracking service covering traffic growth for apps on Facebook. We define “emerging” applications as those that ended with between 100,000 and 1 million MAU in the past week.

via Love, Phrases, Page Tabs, Videos, Cards and More on This Week’s Top 20 Emerging Facebook Apps by MAU.

Sep 232011
 

 

 

In the last of our .net Awards 2011 profiles, we showcase the 10 websites of the year that you have nominated. They all are rich in visual flair and imagination but which one really pushed the boundaries of the web this year?

Over the last weeks we’ve profiled eight categories in the .net Awards 2011. Today it’s the turn of the big one: site of the year.

via .net Awards 2011: the 10 sites of the year | Feature | .net magazine.

Sep 232011
 

 

 

Over the last few weeks, we’ve gathered together some great resources and information on constructing amazing user interfaces. Here, we’ll take a closer look at 10 beautiful interfaces — five for the web and five for mobile — that you can use as reference points in your own design.

via 10 Excellent User Interface Designs to Learn From.

Sep 222011
 

If you have even a vague recollection of the era that these ads represent, it’s well worth clicking through these pages. Come for the 8x CD-ROM Drive for $149 and the 33,600 bps internal modem from $139, stay for the Apple inkjet printer for a staggering $379 and the Sega Genesis, which was apparently some ancient gaming device, for an equally staggering $122. All this and more, in the gallery below.

via Best Buy ad from 15 years ago reminds us how far we’ve come | DVICE.

Sep 222011
 

 

 

In case your jaw has not been hitting the floor enough lately, here is an exquisite photograph of the Milky Way seemingly wedged into a mountainside of Nepal:

via The Milky Way from the top of the world | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine.

Sep 222011
 

 

 

Users part of the initial roll out of the news feed redesign announced yesterday are also receiving several other unannounced changes to Facebook’s interface. These include an expansion of the character limit on posts from 500 to 5,000, a rollout of the floating navigation bar we saw tested last week, the ability to edit bookmarks in the home page’s left navigation bar, and a more convenient way to leave birthday greetings. Over the last few days Facebook has also buried the poke button within a drop down menu, and removed the ability to accompany a friend request with a message.

By launching these interface alterations now rather than amongst other sweeping updates at the f8 developer conference on Thursday, Facebook may be able to reduce the shock to users. The timing will also help the site keep attention focused on Platform-related updates that directly impact developers. Unfortunately, the combination of so many changes with the prompts necessary to explain them gives the home page a foreign look that may turn off some users.

via Facebook Increases Character Limit on Posts to 5000, Rolls Out Floating Navigation Bar and More Amid Unrest.

Sep 222011
 

Facebook has made two significant changes to how users interact with Pages. Now, users don’t need to have Liked a Page to be able to post on a Page’s wall or comment on its updates. This allows more users to join conversations, which could add more perspectives to discussions but also dilute them with unrelated comments, or drown them with complaints.

via Facebook Allows Users to Comment on Pages Without Liking Them, Adds Friend Activity Tab to Pages.

Sep 222011
 

 

 

The company did some internal research and found that users, especially younger ones, were afraid to “Like” because of the implied endorsement. Less Liking, or sharing, means less interesting content on Facebook and fewer posts about what these users are doing.

Facebook’s bet is that more people will click a button that says they’ve “Listened” to a song or “Watched” a video, rather than simply liking it. That’s why Facebook will be rolling out “Watched,” “Listened” and “Read” buttons, as has been previously reported. But at Facebook’s f8 conference, the company will give developers the power to create their own actions.

via How Facebook Will Fix Its Like Button Problem.