Random Thoughts

Apparently Apple pulled a "controversial" support document form their website the other day. What was the controversy? Apple suggested its users run anti-virus software.

Many suspect the document was pulled so that Apple could continue to mock PC users for getting viruses without someone pointing out the fact that there are effective Mac viruses in existence and that they can hurt your computer.

OMG, there are computer viruses?! Holy shit, I had no idea! God forbid that Apple clients actually protect themselves.

This is sort of like saying "Your body has an immune system so you don't ever need to take any medicine."



Source: http://consumerist.com/5102004/apple-pulls-anti+virus-advice-due-to-bad-pr

"I was going to blog about this a long time ago, but I found a recent post on the Inside Facebook blog that pushed me to do this one. What a lot of people don't know is that when you search for someone's name in Google, their Facebook page will most likely be in the top 10-20 results. Before today, clicking on someone's Facebook profile result would give you their name, picture, network and avatars of five of their friends. My parents, when they are bored, use this to see who I'm friends with, but for you, employers and other observers may judge you based on the picture of your friends.

"Public search listings - present

"Right now, when you view someone's Facebook page that you don't know, you will get the below image, which consists of all the same options, with the addition of Fan Pages. From Facebook's point-of-view, this will increase the PageRank of peoples profiles substantially, which drives more traffic to Facebook (selfish eh?). From the personal branding perspective, this means more of your brand will be revealed to the world, without your control.

"Public search listings - future

"Instead of developing a mock-up of what I think the future entails, I think it's pretty obvious. Although, there are countless privacy setting on Facebook, your public search listing will start to unearth more of your private information, such as your friends' names, email address, and websites. I don't think you will be able to escape this, as Facebook has tremendous leverage over your data. One of my friends quit Facebook recently because people tagged her Halloween pictures, which were viewable to her coworkers."

From: http://personalbrandingblog.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/your-personal-brand-is-public-on-facebook-period/ <-Read the full article!

So, for those of you that were not paying attention, this means that your potential employers will now be able to see what your fan pages are and what your friends look like. This means if you post a stupid or obscene profile pic you are not only hurting yourself, but also your friends whose public search listing shows your face.

Also, if you are a fan of Facebook pages like "Boobs" or "Dick" guess what? Those will show up on your public search listing and may very well be the first thing that employers see when they Google you.

Finally, when you get hired and join the network of your company, your boss can see those photos of you as a slutty barmaid or dressed up as a box of condoms.

Having fun yet?

NOTE: You can exert slightly more control over your privacy and search setting through this page: http://www.facebook.com/privacy/?view=search

You can also see what pages you follow on the info tab of your profile page.