Finally, Voice Chat for Facebook

Vivox Voice Plugin

Voice Chat is coming to Facebook in the next few weeks - finally!

Boston based company Vivox are currently beta testing Facebook Voice chat service.  The company who provide high quality voice services to Eve Online and Second Life are offering a plugin which will allow you to have high quality voice chats with friends.

Users will be able to have one to one chats or even group conversations (like Skype) but the audio is integrated seamlessly to Facebook. 
Vivox are also offering 3rd party developers to integrate the product into their Facebook applications – watch bandwidths go through the roof!

Now…anyone for integrated video chat??

Socialonics

Facebook Lite

Facebook have released the english only version of  Facebook Lite . This is a cut down version of Facebook with applications removed, ads removed and several other bandwidth heavy functions removed.

The move was to support users who may not have high bandwidth access to the web – modem users, slow 3g users (Threee network?).

The look and feel of the interface is sure to attract new users who may find the existing website “busy” and quite confusing.

Go give it a try in another tab or window in your browser – Facebook Lite

The New ‘Social’ Order …aka the End of Control

The New ‘Social’ Order …aka the End of Control – Drax

The mobile phone is becoming ubiquitous even in repressive regimes, an essential tool of everyday life, almost impossible to police, almost impossible to stop without shutting down the entire communications network. It works both ways, those employees of government agencies are dependent on their mobile technologies especially in crisis situations when the rule of law slips, they need instructions, quick access to the decision makers.

A Techno Achilles Heel ?

A real time example of the new ‘Social’ Order last few days and Right Now is the twitter feed from Tehran,  go to Twitter search for the hashkey #Tehran and the global call to set ones timezone and location to Tehran to overload the security apparatus with data, from those on the ground and those participating in a struggle electronically. Iran security is hunting for bloggers using location/timezone… a typical tweet..

Pls RT set ur tzone to 3.5 hrs + & location to tehran &tweet help protect the people on the ground by making them harder to id..

So what you say…

Well if I was a commander or co-ordinator of an anti government unit I could have my cadre set their  device updates to on – through them I can learn about the level of physical conflict,  for example in Tehran south earlier today (Fallah st.) I may be able to see some sporadic feed via www.livestream.com.

I can issue instructions, I am a participant, my location has become irrelevant, my technology is relatively low tech, added to that the intel from my non combatants, all now de facto participants, the intelligence at my disposal  could tip the balance in a few key micro battles.

Before you know it we have a NoGo Zone for government troops, police, militia… not the winning of a war but a very important psychological step.

Welcome To The Dinosaurs Picnic

Statistics from United Nations agency, the International Telecommunications union reveal exciting levels of compound growth in mobile phone penetration in developing countries.  Projecting these rates of growth forward a reasonable hypothesis is to predict a build up in the momentum for change. The alternative, tight control on communications at the expense of national freedom, creativity, business interaction, networking – all essential ingredients for success in this essentially capitalist world.

The conclusion and message to repressive regimes worldwide – eat drink and be merry AND

“Welcome to the dinosaurs picnic”.

Drax – Socialonics – Ireland

Facebook Group Scam – Updated

Socialonics has identified a scam currently on the Facebook Groups - 
Facebook is going to clear facebook accounts if ..  This group has currently scared 52,000+ users into joining for fear of deletion!

Confused? Not sure? Some facts may help you realise that this IS A SCAM. 

“Well it has the Facebook logo on it…” – Anyone can put a Facebook logo up on a group…..it will be deleted but ONLY when Facebook have identified a breach of use of their logo.

“…Facebook team is well aware that Facebook is getting too over populated due to the fact registrations have increased 50% since February 15 2008. At there signing in database, it shows that more than a quarter of the members of Facebook hasn’t log in their accounts in over a month.” – Facebook most certainly will not clear a quarter off their accounts for a start. They have over 200 million users – do you beleive they would delete 50 MILLION accounts?

The SCARE – “Facebook is clearing their entire data base and deleting users of who have not joined this group and invited all their friends. If you are one of the following people, you will get your user account wiped and would have to re add all your friends.” – This is laughable as if you were one of the supposed “accounts who have not logged in…” then you couldnt possibly get to read this!
The fact that they also add “not joined this group and invited all their friends..”  well, thats the guarantee that its not Facebook. 
Facebook dont tell users to “add their friends…OR ELSE“

Also remember that should Facebook need to announce something of importance, they will do it by pushing the announcement on to your Homepage on login at the top of your screen!
I feel sorry for the 52,000+ users who will now find their accounts being spammed. If you have joined this group…unjoin it ASAP.

Mikm

UPDATE:
Facebook have now removed the offending group. Well done to the FB Police, swift decisive action!

Its all about numbers……

When you first talk to people about Facebook, their usual reaction is “oh isnt that a kids network?” or “why would you want to have 100 friends…..”. The thing people fail to recognise about social networks is how the numbers add up remarkably quickly and can provide a huge audience for viral rich media and applications, which in turn can broadcast your message or product quickly around the world, with minimum effort on your behalf!

Lets take an example of the Facebook network.

You have a user who has 100 friends. Each of his friends have 100 friends. That gives a potential viral audience of 10,000 people.
Now given that each of the friends’ friends have 100 friends………10,000 x 100 = 1,000,000 of potential audience for applications or viral media to spread through. Thats 1 million people through 4 levels  of friends.

The use of social network services in an entreprise context presents the potential of having a major impact on the world of business and work .

Social networks connect people at low cost; this can be beneficial for entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to expand their contact base. These networks often act as a customer relationship management tool for companies selling products and services. Companies can also use social networks for advertising in the form of banners and text ads. Since businesses operate globally, social networks can make it easier to keep in touch with contacts around the world.

With numbers of friends and fans, groups and public profile that can be accessed from a small original friends/fan base…the opportunity for business and entreprenuers is exponential.