Valve Plans Limited Beta Test for Steam on Linux, Only 1,000 Users Invited

 interface, Tech News  334 Responses »
Sep 282012
 

Gabe Newell now famously referred to Windows 8 as a “catastrophe for everyone in the PC space,” which could work out great for Linux users. Based in part on fears that Microsoft will erect a walled garden around Windows 8 and lock out developers who don’t want to play the Windows Store game, Valve has been hard at work trying to port Steam over to Linux, and the first beta run will kick off in October.

The private beta is only open to 1,000 users, so it’s a pretty exclusive club if you can manage to get in.

MORE: Maximum PC | Valve Plans Limited Beta Test for Steam on Linux, Only 1,000 Users Invited.

 

How to put all your data on the Web—without storing it in the cloud

 interface, Internet News, Tech News  468 Responses »
Sep 282012
 

Local alternatives to Dropbox are worth looking into for those concerned about the security risks of uploading data to a cloud storage provider. We recently profiled AeroFS, which integrates a Dropbox-style folder into your file system and syncs it across computers. While it works quite well, the service is still in a limited beta, does not yet enable mobile or Web-based access, and isnt the only useful approach to building a “personal cloud.”

Another approach a lot of users might find interesting makes every file on your desktop, including those in external hard drives, available to any other computer, smartphone, or tablet. Luckily, this is quite easy these days—even if youve never set up a server, typed a line of code, or learned what NAS stands for.

For the purposes of this article, well look at two services: Tonido and PocketCloud. We chose them because they are cross-platform on both desktop and mobile, friendly to non-techie types, and provide their core services for free without requiring any hardware other than your desktop. At the end, well also briefly discuss some other options for secure file sharing.

Tonido and PocketCloud both keep your data on your own machines, never uploading files to their own servers except in one limited case involving PocketCloud.

MORE: How to put all your data on the Web—without storing it in the cloud | Ars Technica.

 

Facebook Groups get Dropbox integration for more flexible file sharing

 interface, Internet News  392 Responses »
Sep 272012
 

Facebook and Dropbox today announce the integration of the cloud storage service to allow users to easily share Dropbox files with people in their Facebook Groups.

Now when users select “Add File” from the Groups publisher, they will have an option to choose a file from Dropbox. The first time users do this, they will have to connect their Dropbox and Facebook accounts, if they have not done so already. Then, any document, photo or video file they share will show up on the group’s wall and can be viewed on a smartphone or tablet. Group members can like or comment on file posts, just as they can with other group posts. When users make edits to files they’ve shared, the group will get an update automatically.

Group members are able to see a user’s post with the link to the file but do not have access to the rest of the person’s Dropbox. Dropbox creates a unique token used only in that link, however, group members can copy the link and share the file elsewhere.

MORE: Facebook Groups get Dropbox integration for more flexible file sharing.

 

Facebook Bug Creates Wall Posts That Can Never Be Deleted

 interface, Internet News  105 Responses »
Sep 272012
 

A recently found Facebook bug lets you to post un-deletable messages to friends’ walls.

Here’s how it works: Once you’ve blocked a person on Facebook, he or she can no longer see content you’ve posted on the social network, including posts you’ve made to their own wall. Since the content is no longer visible, it can’t be deleted. The only way either party can see the post again is if the block is removed.

In a way, Facebook lets you know that’s going to happen when you block someone in the first place: “Blocking means you won’t be able to see or contact each other on Facebook,” reads a message that pops up when you decide to block someone (see screenshot below). However, it’s a one-sided agreement: The person being blocked isn’t notified, and all of the content you’ve previously posted on their wall remains intact but invisible to both of you.

MORE: Facebook Bug Creates Wall Posts That Can Never Be Deleted.

 

Gallery of the Day: Odd emoticons that defy understanding

 interface  185 Responses »
Sep 262012
 

Last week, an expert explained some of the more challenging faces, but what about all of those strange one-offs that stray far from the typical smiley/frowny faces we all know?

Let’s take a look at some of the most bizarre emoticons ever. How many of them do you recognize?

 

 

 

 

MORE: Gallery of the Day: Odd emoticons that defy understanding | DVICE.

 

How To Set Up Your Own Facebook House Rules

 interface, Your Brand  464 Responses »
Sep 262012
 

Why should you have Facebook House Rules? Because:

Imagine that Facebook is like a playground, where your brand can regularly connect with people and build strong relationships. As you know not everyone plays fair, and each Fan Page has its bullies posting negative or abusive comments; that’s why it’s crucial to publish ‘House Rules’ that will clearly state the purpose of your Facebook Page and identify inappropriate content that can (and probably should) be removed.

Deleting posts is definitely not an advised social network practice, but there are exceptions as to when it’s acceptable.

When fans post discriminatory comments or posts, Facebook’s of­ficial terms of use will always have the last word. As an Admin, you can encourage a healthier community with your own guidelines. Not only is it good to have these guidelines, it’s becoming necessary with all the irrelevant conversations taking over the social network, so you need to provide your fans with a space for constructive dialogue that will engage them with your brand.

House Rules are usually included in the ‘About’ section, on the company’s website, or they also often appear in the page’s tabs or notes, but before you present your audience with a bunch of restrictions, check out the following basic tips:

MORE:  How To Set Up Your Own Facebook House Rules – Socialbakers.

 

Google Warns, 6 in 10 Will Leave Your Mobile-Unfriendly Site

 interface, Internet News, Marketing, Web Design  244 Responses »
Sep 262012
 

DudaMobile in February reported that nearly 20% of visits to small business sites led to an immediate call to the business e.g. with click-to-call, with some local businesses skewing much higher e.g., pizzerias at 32%, car services at 27.8%. But businesses have to earn that call with a mobile-friendly site that puts that phone number above the fold and in eyeshot. Google concludes from the new study that non-mobile friendly sites actually damage a company’s reputation: 36% of respondents said they felt like they’ve wasted their time by visiting those sites, and 52% of users said that a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company.

MORE: Google Warns, 6 in 10 Will Leave Your Mobile-Unfriendly Site – MarketingVOX.

 

The End of Orkut : Why Google will never succeed in Social Media [graph]

 interface, Internet News  198 Responses »
Sep 252012
 

Once a media darling Orkut has been steadily  going downfall and following the MySpace way  has  seen the numbers of its daily visitors dwindle nearly 86% over the last year, suggesting that it  the Google powered Social Network is all ready to be bought over or sold to the largest bidder. Either way this once confirms what “ most of us “  already know ..Google ‘s experiments in social media has been more than a disaster. After shutting down more than 10 social products over the last   4 years

MORE:  Online Marketing Trends: The End of Orkut : Why Google will never succeed in Social Media.

 

Referrals to Facebook Spike 1000% After Twitter Cuts Off LinkedIn [CHART]

 interface, Internet News  308 Responses »
Sep 202012
 

After severing ties with LinkedIn, Twitter inadvertently helped opponent Facebook snag 1000% more page referrals from the professional social network.

PageLever, an analytics tool for Facebook pages, points to Twitter’s June 29 decision to stop syncing updates with LinkedIn as an explanation for the spike.

“The spike happened because without Twitter, there is now a significantly lower volume of content in the LinkedIn News Feed, and therefore less competition for clicks and attention,” Brendan Irvine-Broque, PageLever’s director of growth, tells Mashable in an email. “So any non-Twitter content (including links to Facebook Pages and Page Posts) is performing much better than before.”

Irvine-Broque adds that the spike happened “immediately after the change.”

MORE:  Referrals to Facebook Spike 1000% After Twitter Cuts Off LinkedIn [CHART].

 

How to Scale Embedded Media in Responsive Designs

 interface, Web Design  252 Responses »
Sep 202012
 

Swedish web developer Anders Andersen recently tackled the problem of responsive embeds and came up with a solution that works with both YouTube and Vimeo movies. Andersen’s solution is to wrap any embed code, whether it’s an actual embed tag or an iframe, with an extra div and then scale that div. Naturally you’ll need to strip any fixed dimensions out of the YouTube or other embed code for this to work.

For the full details and the CSS that makes it work, be sure to read Andersen’s whole post.

The core of Andersen’s method lies in the CSS, which uses this handy trick to preserve the intrinsic ratio of the video even as its container element scales down.

Andersen has tested this technique with YouTube, Vimeo and SlideShare embeds, though it may work with others as well.

MORE:  How to Scale Embedded Media in Responsive Designs | Webmonkey | Wired.com.

 

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