Google Plus vs. Facebook Video Chat: teachers and education

Image by Sean MacEntee via FlickrI just recently was invited to Google+. Though I've heard a lot of hype about it and knowing how vulnerable Facebook really is, of course it makes me quiver at the fact that is all we need is yet another site like Facebook. But truthfully, I'm kinda surprised.

I hopped on this site and at first it don't look like much, That is until you start playing with all the buttons and features to it. I have come to find out that its not really a site at all. For all the Email lovers out there. You might want to know that is what this program or Google plus is. It's more like an email program that wraps up the people you invite for a more direct contact with each other in a fashion that is set up kinda like Facebook but then it is not the same. This I really like.

Circles. This makes a huge difference. Unlike Facebook your wall is your wall. The world cannot see what you've posted on there unless you allow all your Circles to and make it public. I love this feature. If you choose to only share with your Family. Or just your friends or just keep it private. That is up to you. It's your Wall.

Now there are still more features I'm playing with like the photos, Video chat which leads me to this article below. I totally agree. This would be great for schools, and it's something I've been trying to talk to Xbox about with Kinect. But, that's another story.
See the link below for the entire article.

http://techsavvyteacher.com/?p=529

It is a big summer so far in social networking.  Google Plus was released last week, and a lot of tech geeks agree that its circles and “handout” features are both useful and a potential game-changer for work groups and web workers, and in my opinion, online schools and distance learning programs.
Facebook also upped the ante today announcing Facebook Video Chat, backed by Skype technology (now a subsidiary of Microsoft).
As you might expect, these two technologies will face off in coming days and months in an endless stream of chatter comparing the two.  Is Google too late?  Is Facebook too powerful?  Will users adopt a new technology?  Will users keep up both?  All excellent questions.
For tech-savvy teachers, however, I think the answer is clear.  Google Plus is positioned to bring an easily adoptable, broad set of tools to face-to-face and virtual schools alike. Follow me down a path for a moment.

Circles: A Killer Education App

The Google Plus “circle” features adds something to social networking that make it a must-go-to for teachers or other professionals that want to separate their personal life and professional life without creating a number of different accounts to do so.  Being able to take your contacts and saying “these are family, share this stuff” and “these are colleagues or students, share this stuff” is an extremely powerful toolset for teachers and other professionals.  Is there potential for awkward moments if you aren’t careful?  Of course there is.  But for the tech-savvy, this is a big leap forward.
Facebook has list features that you can accomplish some of the same, but, Mark Zuckerburg today said that lists are for power users only, something that isn’t a new attitude from Facebook.

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Online Privacy… is there such a thing?

Now this is something I've been trying to help people understand for a very long time now. If you don't want the world to see all your information then don't post it. Don't upload it, Not even email in this case.
Check out the full article here.

Image via CrunchBase

clipped from www.ldjackson.net I’m sure we all agree that the company, and it’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, truly deserves all of it. They share/sell our information, all the while giving us new “privacy settings” in order to appease us. However, if one takes a close look at these settings, a person would quickly realize that they’re being “Zuckered”. That’s right, you are losing your privacy online! Now, that brings to mind an important question: Can you have true “online privacy”? My answer is a resounding NO! You see, those technologies are able to keep casual onlookers out… But anyone who is equipped with the proper tools can easily access your information behind those security measures. I have personally watched my brother a) Hack into a WPA2 protected network (it was ours), b) Look at information on all computers attached to that same network, and c) Actually read emails being sent from a computer on that network. Still think that you can keep your information safe online?

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Facebook founder and CEO responds to complaints, introduces new settings

Image via Wikipedia

I personally don't like to use facebook much. Though I do have a couple of accounts for different things I do on the net.
For the most part. I think people should know this. If your one of those that have privacy issues on the net. There is a simple fix to all that. Anything you do NOT want seen by everyone in the world. DO NOT Upload it to the internet.
Trust me, this will fix all of your problems.
If it's online anywhere. Be sure to know that anyone with any knowlegde will be able to see everything you have uploaded.
Same goes for your computer, Cell phones, anything that hooks up to wi-fi or Gps.
It really goes down to common sense.
Facebook is meant to share information. Even though many claim security this and that. It's all good to have. But any good hacker can still get in if they really wanted too.
Facebook response and I give them credit for do this.
Check it out.

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com Facebook has been growing quickly. It has become a community of more than 400 million people in just a few years. It's a challenge to keep that many people satisfied over time, so we move quickly to serve that community with new ways to connect with the social Web and each other. Sometimes we move too fast — and after listening to recent concerns, we're responding. The biggest message we have heard recently is that people want easier control over their information. Simply put, many of you thought our controls were too complex. Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls; but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark. Many people choose to make some of their information visible to everyone so people they know can find them on Facebook. We already offer controls to limit the visibility of that information and we intend to make them even stronger In the coming weeks, we will add privacy controls that are much simpler to use

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