» Techie Talk

Blocking Those Pesky Apps (on Facebook)

tlawrence — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:41:20 +0000

As Facebook becomes more popular and more applications (games) are added to the Facebook world, there are bound to be some things that don’t interest you. I’ve already seen a number of groups pop up with names such as “I don’t care about your farm”, “I don’t care about your Mafia”, etc.

Basically, people are starting to get annoyed by all the posts and requests they see on their Facebook accounts every day. Hopefully, this two-step process will help to alleviate those annoyances so you can see more of what you want and not the stuff you could care less about.

Step 1 – Hide the Culprit From Your Feeds

When you see one of these annoying posts in your feed, roll your cursor over the post. A “hide” button appears in the upper-right. Click it!

At this point, you can hide the user if you choose, but we’re looking for the second option, hiding the posts from the app. Click the middle option.

If you ever change your mind and would like to see posts from this app again, click the Edit Options link on your feed. This link is currently located at the bottom of your feed on the right side.

Step 2 – Block the Culprit

Blocking posts from other people is only half the battle. Now we need to block the app altogether. Go the main page of the application. For this article I chose Fishville (never played it…just using it as an example.)

See the “Block Application”‘ link down at the bottom, under the application name? Click it!

Click the confirmation message that appears to confirm your choice. That’s it! You should be all set!

You will notice in the confirmation message it mentions this will not prevent you from seeing the application if other people have it installed…that’s why we did step 1, to hide those posts from other people.

Hope this helps to make your Facebooking a little less annoying.

Firefox 3 Bookmarks Not Working?

tlawrence — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:17:29 +0000

Lately, I’ve been having some problems with my bookmarks in Firefox 3 (FF3).

I can’t do anything with my bookmarks, including adding, deleting, editing, or even moving them from one folder to another. I love FF and all, but this issue has got to go!

So I decided to take a look online and realized I’m not the only one having this problem. Just do a Google search on “can’t delete bookmarks in firefox 3″. I came up with about 365,000 results…yeah, I think there’s a problem here. But first, let me explain how FF3 is different than previous versions of FF.

The Old School Way

In previous versions of FF, bookmarks were simply stored in the file bookmarks.html, end of story. One file…easy to backup and easy to replace if corrupted. This also allowed for easy transfer of bookmarks between PCs. Just copy over the one file and you were all set!

The New Technology

FF3 uses a new type of bookmarking system which brings up an all-too-familiar question, where are FF3 bookmarks stored and saved? Bookmarks, and the history for that matter, are now stored in the database file places.sqlite. This database allows you to add tags to your bookmarks in FF3 as well as allowing the browser to handle requests more quickly. The only problem is the headaches it creates (two for me).

WTF is JSON?

Along with the new database, you may see a folder called bookmarkbackups containing several JSON (Javascript Object Notation) files. These files serve as backups in case your database is lost or corrupted. You can import these backups of your bookmarks through the Organize Bookmarks functionality in FF. This is not the primary location where FF3 bookmarks are stored.

There are ways to view the bookmarks in your database by using add-ons such as the SQLite Manager, but I’m not going to get into that right now. I don’t need to see the same bookmarks in the database that I can see in the browser. I just wanted to mention that there are ways to view the content of the database.

So How Do I Fix My Bookmarks?

Ok, on to the reason I posted this article…a straight-forward and quick method to fix bookmark issues. I actually didn’t even know I had a problem until I tried moving an existing bookmark to another folder. It looked like it moved, but when I restarted FF3, it went back to its original location. Upon further investigation, I realized I couldn’t edit, delete, or even add a new bookmark!

First thing you want to do is type about:config in the URL field.

This will bring up a long list of preferences for your browser. I wouldn’t recommend changing these unless you know what you’re doing. Think of it like the Registry in Windows…don’t touch unless you know what you’re doing. We want to filter this list so it only shows what we’re looking for. Type browser.places in the Filter field. The list will update automatically.

A much shorter list now! The values for each preference may be slightly different than above, don’t worry about it. The next thing you want to do is right-click each of these values and select Reset.

After selecting Reset for each preference, close your browser and restart it. You should be all set! It worked like a gem for me. Hopefully, it does the same for you!

Have a good one!

Twitter Shortcuts

tlawrence — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:58:25 +0000

Being somewhat of a newbie to the Twitter scene, I keep seeing posts and articles about Twitter shortcuts that make tweeting easier. Here’s a consolidated list of shortcuts I’ve come up with. Check back from time-to-time. As I learn new things in Twitter, I’ll be adding to the list!

@username + message – reply to another tweeter

D username +message – private (direct) message to tweeter

RT @username – retweet

GET username – grabs the last tweet of the tweeter (appears in a dropdown overlay)

WHOIS username – check out a tweeter’s information

FAV username – add last tweet from tweeter to your favorites

NUDGE username – reminds a tweeter to update by asking what they’re doing

STATS – returns your number of followers, how many your following, and bio info

INVITE phone number – sends an SMS invite to a mobile phone

From your phone…

ON – turns ALL phone notifications on

OFF – turns ALL phone notifications off

STOP, QUIT – stops all message to your phone immediately

ON username – turns on notifications for a specific tweeter on your phone. NOTE: Using this from your phone only stops notifications to the place the command comes from; you’ll still collect the tweeter’’s updates on the web.

OFF username – turns off notifications for a specific tweeter on your phone. NOTE: Using this from your phone only stops notifications to the place the command comes from; you’ll still collect the tweeter’’s updates on the web.

FOLLOW username – follow a tweeter on your phone. Using follow/leave username from your phone is the same as using on/off username

LEAVE username – stop following a tweeter on your phone. Using follow/leave username from your phone is the same as using on/off username

Most of these commands you can find at the Twitter Support site, but I like to have my own handy list available.

Programmable Tattoos

tlawrence — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:02:20 +0000

I came across an interesting link on Slashdot about programmable tattoos. One of the ideas is to use nanobots that can rearrange themselves to spell out words, numbers, possibly even animations, all at the tap of a finger.

I found the article rather interesting. We’ve gotten to the point where just about everyone has a phone, Blackberry, or some other personal device to keep track of phone numbers, appointments, or whatever. Why not take the device out of the equation and use your actual palm to store and/or display this information? You wouldn’t have to worry about losing your devices, worry about them being stolen, or forgotten (not that ANYONE would ever forget their cell phone. Excuse the pun, but it would all be in the palm of your hand!

Another method mentioned is the use of digital tattoos with a low-power wireless personal area network (WPAN) to sync up data with a Wi-Fi PDA. As an example, the article shows an expressive icon (emoticon) on an individual’s cheek to indicate that person’s emotional state. Maybe this will be the next fad? The article even mentions renting out your face to Nike during the local basketball game.

I’m sure this technology is still years away from being perfected or used in the public mainstream, but I think the idea is intriguing, like something you would read in a sci-fi novel.

It’s Twitter Time!

tlawrence — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:59:59 +0000

Well, today I took the plunge and joined the millions (according to Twitter stats) of people who use Twitter. I thought I’d give it a test spin to see what all the hype is about.

The idea of Twitter is simple enough….frequent answers to the question, “What are you doing?” Personally, it sounds to me like another status update thing-a-ma-gig like on Facebook. I don’t really use that status update too much either, so what’s the point of having another one to update?

Well, after doing a little research, I found a list of other uses for Twitter that might come in handy for some people…

Personal Branding. Twitter is a social media platform you can use to build your personal brand. It has the primary benefit of developing a casual persona and establishes you as a social personality that is connected and approachable. As Twitter adoption increases, new users will be drawn towards well established Twitter personas.

Get Feedback. Need an alternative perspective on how a website looks or the right course of action to take? Blast out a message asking for advice and you’ll receive replies from other users. This collective intelligence can be used as fodder for articles or projects.

Hire People. Need a good logo designer, marketer or programmer? Send out a message asking for recommendations. This is a very quick and easy way to hire freelancers or even companies based on familiar recommendations.

Read News. Twitter users often link to useful sites or articles and can be a source of scoops and alternative news. You can also subscribe to Twitter feeds for specific websites/conferences, which allows you to receive and view content quickly. This is very useful for active social news participants.

Make New Friends. Like any other social network, Twitter has a built-in function for you to befriend and track the messages of other users. This is an easy way for you connect with people outside of your usual circle. Make an effort to add active users you find interesting. A Twitter acquaintance can be developed into a long lasting friendship.

Network for benefits. Twitter can be used as a socializing platform for you to interact with other like-minded people, especially those in the same industry. It can be used to establish consistent and deeper relationships for future benefits such as testimonials or peer recommendations.

Use it as a ToDo list. Use Twitter to record down what you need to do while you are away from the computer. Mark the tweet as a favorite to file it for referencing. Another alternative is to use an Online task management service that is synced with Twitter.

Business Management. Twitter can be used as a company intranet that connects employees to one another. Workers can liaise with each other when working on group projects. Particularly useful when certain workers go out often in the field. Updates could be set to private for security reasons.

Take Notes. Twitter provides you with an easy way to record important ideas or concepts you want to explore further. Include links relevant to ideas you want to explore. Note taking can also be done offline via mobile applications.

Provide Live coverage. Twitter’s message size limit prevents detailed coverage of events but it can allow you to provide real-time commentary which may help to spark further discussion or interest on the event as other Twitter users spread the message. Very useful for citizen journalism.

(I’d like to thank the people at doshdosh.com for this partial list of uses. You can find more by visiting their website.)

I’m going to give Twitter a trial run for a while and see how it goes! If anyone out there is using twitter, be sure to add me to your following by visiting the about page on this site or visit my twitter page at http://twitter.com/tlawrence36