Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg | AP Photo/Tony Avelar

By BARBARA ORTUTAY
AP Technology Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Facebook users carrying their smart phones will soon be able to "check in" to real-world locations such as bars, parks and live concerts as the social network makes its first foray into the location services craze.

"Where are you?" is joining "What's on your mind?" as Facebook lets its users declare their whereabouts to their friends and people nearby.

With the much-anticipated launch of Facebook Places late Wednesday, the world's largest social network joins a growing number of services that let users find coupons, earn quirky merit badges or simply share with friends where they are.

These location services from various startups, including Foursquare and Gowalla, have grow in popularity with the widespread availability of smart phones that have GPS and other means of determining the user's location.

Facebook's version initially works through the site's iPhone application; users will need to download a free update of the Facebook app. Owners of other touch-screen gadgets can get the feature through visiting touch.facebook.com on their mobile Web browser. Facebook says it will add Places to other smart phone apps later.

As with any new Facebook product, privacy issues figure front and center into Places, but this time the company appears to have erred on the side of caution.

"Following the flaps created by earlier launches, Facebook seems to be taking a more moderate approach to location sharing," said Jules Polonetsky, a former AOL executive who now co-chairs the Washington-based Future of Privacy Forum. "Just about everybody recognizes location as something that you want to be in control of."

By nature, check-ins are "opt in" - that is, you won't be forced to check in to a location if you don't want to. When you do, your check-ins will be shared with your friends by default, but not the broader public unless you decide to do so.

If you're out and about with friends, you'll be able to "tag" them using the (at) symbol, much the same way you can already tag them in your status updates. Your friend will then be notified that you have tagged them and can choose to check in too, or reject it.

A feature called "Here Now" lets anyone who has checked in to a place see who else has done the same. Other Facebook users who have checked in to the same location will be able to see you even if they are not your friends, but you can turn this feature off.
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By NINIEK KARMINI ,Associated Press

To understand the information revolution taking place in the world, one needs to get to the heart of the information, says Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook and former coordinator of My.Barackobama.com. With over 400 million active Facebook users and over 13 million people who came out to campaign and vote for Barack Obama, Hughes clearly knows the 'power of networking', which was his topic of discussion at the India Today Conclave 2010 here on Saturday.

To understand social networking, one has to understand what's happening online. Whether it is the telegraph, the telephone or the Internet, communication revolutions have changed possibilities for how information is distributed. What these revolutions mean for society, however, and how people and organisations adapt to this paradigm is important. Networking helps connect people with those they care about.

At Facebook for instance, you come and recreate your authentic identity, says Hughes. You use real names and meet real friends. You also control the information and who sees it. It is in that sense, a direct expression for who you are as a person. Fifty per cent of Facebook users log in daily; the average user has 130 friends. Every time a person adds a friend, shares photos or engages in some activity, it becomes a piece of information.


In 2007, Hughes signed up to work for the My Obama campaign. But "we were clear," he says, "that we did not want to use social networking just because it was cool." They were interested in getting votes, and buzz doesn't convert into votes. Most importantly it was about people, individuals who were the voice of the campaign, which instilled a sense of responsibility and ownership. The supporters of the campaign created tens of thousands of videos online about who they were and why they supported the campaign. Clearly it worked – they managed to raise $500 million online alone. Interestingly, an average donation was $100. That is the power of social networking and mass mobilizing.

The old paradigm was relying on newspapers for information for current information. Today it's relying on friends. That's the leading edge of the new revolution, says Hughes, underlining the realtime, anecdotal value of Facebook interactions. But, he says, institutions and brands like newspapers and magazines are becoming more, not less, important in this new age, primarily for their role as filters for society in general. Besides, opportunities for collaboration have increased.

It is also important to register how new technologies and gadgets are changing the way we live and work, says Hughes, pointing out how most of us are so engrossed in the changed environment that we fail to notice how it has changed us all.

Replying to a question on the use of Facebook by sexual offenders, Hughes says users must exercise the complete control an account gives its user.

We must choose our friends carefully, he says, just as in real life. On what he sees in the future for Facebook, he says people won't have to go to facebook.com; it may well become a part of the superstructure of the net and be reflected as a tool in most, if not all, websites. The other major change he foresees is that simplicity will become the new design trend.
Original link : www.conclave.intoday.in

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The United Arab Emirates is to suspend some Blackberry mobile services from October, the state news agency reports.

The move comes amid UAE concerns that data from the devices is immediately exported offshore and managed by a foreign organisation.

The UAE's telecoms regulator, TRA, said last week the devices could therefore pose a threat to national security.

It follows an alleged attempt last year by the state-run telecoms company to install spyware on Blackberry handsets.
Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM) has not yet commented on the latest UAE reports, which come amid a row dating back to 2007 about allowing TRA access to the code for RIM's encrypted networks so it can monitor email and other data.There are an estimated 500,000 Blackberry users in the UAE

'Intensified surveillance'?Some Blackberry services would be suspended from 11 October "until a solution compatible with local laws is reached", the state news agency quoted the TRA as saying."It's a final decision but we are continuing discussions with them," TRA Director General Mohammed al-Ghanem was quoted as telling Reuters news agency.

"Censorship has got nothing to do with this. What we are talking about is suspension due to the lack of compliance with UAE telecommunications regulations."

But the media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders told the BBC last week that while the UAE was playing a "technological leadership role in the Arab world", this was backed by "repressive laws" and a "general trend of intensified surveillance".

BBC Middle East business reporter Ben Thompson said the threat by the UAE was likely an attempt to wring concessions out of RIM, a Canadian company.

"Many here see this as little more than a power play from the UAE authorities - an attempt to force RIM to handover the security codes or face losing a lucrative market," he said.

India has also raised security concerns over Blackberry data services, saying they could be exploited by militants. Source : BBC News

By SARAH PEREZ

Source : www.nytimes.com