Linda Sherman

Social Media Tool Tips, Health and Well-Being Fitness Tips, Twitter Extensions

Opt Out Instant Personalization AND Block Mafia Wars

I am continuing to add information to what I consider an important tips guide. Most of my additions are at the bottom under Further on The Instant Personalization Topic.

As you may have noticed, every time Facebook makes a major change to their website, you need to go in and reset your privacy settings.

You need to OPT OUT of the new Facebook Instant Personalization under your Privacy Settings so 3rd parties cannot collect your personal data.
Go to Account-->Privacy Settings-->Applications & Websites

Uncheck allow in the box below. The default appears to be that it is checked.

Unclick_allow

For some of you, I believe it is newer Facebook users, the page will look like this screen below. Go to the bottom line that says Instant Pesronalization and choose edit setting

Opt_out_facebook_newer_folks
That takes you to a second page where you will ensure that allow selective partners to instantly personalize their features with my personal information when I arrive on their websites.

Opt_out_second_page_newer

Block Specific Applications

But now that you are looking at your privacy page - also note the Blocked Applications line (the third one down)

Why not block Mafia Wars, Farmville and whatever applications you find annoying from accessing your wall? That way, instead of having to remove from friends people who have fallen victim to these obsessions, you can just block them from posting their latest game blip to your wall.
Facebook Help tells you what to do.

Restrict_app_from_accessing_my

The link they provide here to "Applications's Profile page" only works if you have already given permission to an application. The link takes you to Application Settings - Recently Used.OR go to "account" and then "application settings".

This example from my profile is cleaned up - there were other applications there because I had used Facebook Connect to post comments on a few sites.
Aside from Recently Used - there are other choices in the drop down. Take a look.

Applications

The link for the application's profile page is as in the example below for Mafia Wars. Found at http://www.facebook.com/MafiaWars

Block_mafia_wars_application

Further on the Instant Personalization Topic:

The keynotes and other live streams April 21 at #F8 for Facebook 3rd party Developers were very informative. There are replays at http://www.facebook.com/f8

Very Important Article from one of my faves, Robert Scoble called Facebook's Ambitions where he notes that Facebook wants to own your digital fingerprints.

Thank you to Marsha Collier for this link from Bobbi Newman @Librarianbyday Protect Your Privacy Opt Out of Facebook New Instant Personalization - Yes You Have to Opt Out

Bobbi points out another necessary step from a different page of Facebook help with this quote from Facebook:

To prevent your friends from sharing any of your information with an instant personalization partner, block the application: Microsoft Docs.com, Pandora, Yelp.

This is the same process I taught you above for blocking Mafia Wars but the links are not as easy to find for Microsoft Docs, Yelp and Pandora application related pages.

Go to this link in Facebook Help

Go to this section towards the bottom of the page - this gives you the click throughs for the links:

The_links_you_need_to_block
Now click on each of the applications to block them so that your friends cannot share your personal information with those applications

Block Yelp

Block_yelp

Block Microsoft Docs

Block_docs

Block Pandora

Block_pandora

http://www.readwriteweb.com has several good articles on this topic up now AND a really nice implementation of the like button on at the bottom of each of their articles. I was just the 3,242nd liker of an article explaining why you should definintely opt out. This was followed by an article warning of knee jerk reactions and a nice three page one for publishers which I bookmarked to my Delicious because let's face it, a like on my facebook profile is still ephermeral.

April 26, I attended OCWordPress Meetup where there was a lively discussion on this topic. First of all on the best plug-in to get the Facebook Like button on your blog with FBLike being the choice of the day. Then on the implications of the Facebook Open Graph. Kicking it all off was an excellent presentation by Gahlord Dewald explaining the implications for semantic search. For those of us that chase SEO trends, this is a very important development in the world of search.

 

Are You Using GeoLocation Platforms Safely

Today LaLaWag posted an excellent article written by Melissa Jun Rowley called FourSquared and FourScared  Important interviews with Sarah J. Gim and Paige Craig illustrate the specific types of scams that can happen. 

I have a great interest in Geolocation platforms and have been striving to use them safely.  As a Social Media Marketing Consultant, I think it is important to understand these platforms to be able to make recommendations to my clients. There are also positives in using these services which I have mentioned elsewhere on this blog and will write more about in the future.

It is not necessary to list your phone number on any of these platforms. I don't.  It is also not necessary to post outside your Geolocator network to Twitter or Facebook.

I vet people I friend carefully on all the platforms I am on. For Geolocation platforms, the vetting goes up a notch. Usually I know them personally. If not, we are selected Facebook friends. Frankly, Twitter friends alone is not enough to convert to a Geolocation buddy.

I am on FourSquare, Gowalla and Whrrl. I have zero intention of turning on the geolocator function on for Twitter or any other public platform. 

There may still be issues even with all these precautions, based on the podcast from the geolocation panel at SXSWi that points out there are ways to access the data inside these services if someone is so skilled as to do so.

Whrrl has a special privacy level called "trusted friends". Here is what John Kim, head of product marketing for Whrrl had to say about privacy on Geolocators.

WordPress.org Security - You Need It

If you have not yet secured your WordPress.Org site, you should.

 
Brad Williams @williamsba presented this at Boston Wordcamp 2010.
 
If you are using an iPad or for any reason this presentation is not showing on your screen. You can find it at slideshare.com/williamsba/wordpress-security-2982527

Some other useful links:
February 12, 2012 Securi Security
September 21, 2009 Otto
June 30, 2009 Chris Coyier
June 8, 2008 Donncha O Caoimh

How to Bookmark with Delicious - Choose Your Tags Well

Set up an account
http://Delicious.com  “Join Now”
You will need a Yahoo account
If you don’t have one, set it up.Your user name becomes the URL of your Delicious. Example: http://delicous.com/LindaSherman
Note that it is best to create your Yahoo account on your own computer because of cookies that Yahoo leaves during setup.

Put a Bookmarklet on your tool bar
Drag the bookmarklet show on this page up to your tool bar
Be sure to choose the appropriate browser http://delicious.com/help/bookmarklets

In this example the final bookmark will go to this page when it is clicked: 
To create a bookmark, first I go to that page on my browser and click my Delicious bookmarklet

A new window opens up in my browser with the first two boxes filled in like this:
Line One = URL
Line Two = "Title tag" for the Article

First_page_bookmark

Now fill in the next two areas:
Line Three = Notes
Line Four = Tags

Tags
Tags need to be one word and are separated by spaces. Quotes do not work to pull two words together as one tag here.
So for instance "socialmedia" is one tag
Go back and look at your tags after you post your event. If you have accidentally created single tags which are really part of a phrase, you can edit them.
It is best to add common tags on Delicious (as appropriate). You can check here:

Bookmark_with_tags

And this is what the bookmark looks like
Final_bookmark

In regards to sharing your Delicious Bookmarks.
You can direct people to your page on Delicious such as 
or to a group of bookmarks collected by one tag such as my tag "howto"
Using consistent tags is important for this purpose

When you use "send" which is the last input box, Delicious sends a message, to email addresses, Twitter or your network on Delicious but it does not pull a specific URL for the bookmark. It gives your recipient the original URL and your base address on Delicious.

If there is a way to pull a specific URL for a bookmark on Delicious such as 
http://delicious.com/LindaSherman/name of the article I bookmarked
I am not finding it.

It IS possible to get a permalink of your bookmark on DIGG, Kirtsy and StumbleUpon.
For example, many thanks to Clement Yeung for http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/22wVse/itsdifferent4girls.com/

Use Dictation Software to Transcribe your Podcast or Video

My husband, Ray Gordon, is currently using Dragon technology based Mac Speech Dictate for his work because his accident injured his hand.  It works very well but as with any dictation tool, it still requires some touch up.

I originally wrote this post to let you know about an offer someone was making to transcribe your podcast for $5 - regardless of length.
 
Unfortunately, she has withdrawn that offer.
 
It is still worth exploring transcribing your podcast or video with dictation software.  This is advantageous for search.
 
If you find a service that does inexpensive transcription, overseas or otherwise, please let me know.
 

 

 
 

Facebook is About to Make it Easier to Make Your Page About Them

I've been telling my clients not to use the "fan" word for some time. The ideal scenario is to use a Facebook Fan Page like a "group". Make it about "we" instead of "me".  One great example is Bruce Sallan's Facebook Page: http://facebook.com/aDadsPointofView  In just four months, it is up to over 1500 members.  There are active discussion groups and interaction on the wall is excellent.

Facebook is about to make it easier for members to join your Facebook Page. Facebook users are already accustomed to giving a thumbs up "like" to things they like on Facebook. Now instead of having to declare that they are a "fan" of a brand,  organization or person, they can join a page by saying they like it. The language would change but the results would be the same. The Facebook Page icon is listed on the members profile. 

The move is apparently linked to a desire for getting more Facebook ads for Pages. Oh I'm sorry - are companies not supposed to monetize?  Does that make them evil? Is Facebook supposed to belong to "the people"? You will definitely see that reaction but whole families will continue using Facebook because it's still a great platform.

I very much LIKE this CNET analytical article on the move published today: Twitter Pokes at Facebook's Marketing Future April 1 by Caroline McCarthy
I'm glad to have discovered Caroline (apparently the last on my block).

Caroline_mccarthy

Also at:
Inside Facebook March 29 by Eric Elden
Yahoo News   March 30 by Barbara Ortutay

Tips on Choosing an Estate Probate Attorney

It's a common scenario: Someone who had named you as the executor of their estate has just died.  

You need to deal with contacting friends and relatives, the funeral, the obituary, paying bills, and other arrangements. 

What you do not need to decide in these first few days is which estate attorney to use.

If you are fortunate, the deceased has left a trust that makes distribution of the estate extremely simple and you need not read further. 

However, many older people resist establishing trusts because they feel they are losing control over their assets, even though they are not.  For this and other various reasons, there may just be a will - or worse no will at all. 

Your choice of estate attorney is therefore very important. 

You want someone who will:

1. Price their services fairly
2. Advise you in advance what to expect, how long it will take, what is required of you and how much it will cost

I would recommend getting a good estimate of the size of the estate before you contact an attorney.  For instance, in Florida the guideline for the attorney's fee is 3% of the estate's value at the time of death. 

In my case, immediately following news of my loss, a friend recommended an attorney that I had actually met once socially. She had not used him personally - as she was in a different city - but was trying to be helpful.

This attorney turned out to be a huge disappointment.

Because he was introduced through a friend - and we were going through the throes of a loss - I did not:
1. Do proper diligence in selecting an attorney by checking alternatives
2. Check the "fine print" of contract that I signed with him

In retrospect, there was no reason to rush into making this decision. Sure, I was reassured having someone to answer early questions (for which he charged for every minute).  You certainly should get the the estate bank account set up, but there is no reason this cannot wait a few weeks.  Of course, you cannot use the deceased's credit cards or spend any money in the estate in the interim. Just hang onto any incoming checks for deposit into the estate account. 

Our attorney created significant unnecessary costs as well as causing delays in processing the estate. In my case, there was a will specifying me as executor with clearly identified beneficiaries - so it should have been a straightforward matter. About six months into the process of clearing the estate (that ultimately stretched to almost a full year), we became pre-paid legal subscribers.  At about that time, a financial advisor for the deceased flagged one of our attorney's practices as very suspicious.  So we took advantage of a free hour of consultation with a Pre-Paid legal attorney to find out more.

How we wished we had been with Pre-Paid Legal at the time we were first searching for an estate attorney!  Ten months after hiring him, our lawyer abruptly resigned after we sent a letter questioning his bill.  He then sent us a bill for the time it took him to file a lien against our estate to get paid in full. Using Pre-Paid Legal, we were able to hire an appropriate attorney - at a reasonable and predictable fee - to finish the probate process and negotiate a settlement with the first attorney.

If you'd like to learn more, I recommend you talk to the very competent woman with whom I first signed up for Pre-Paid Legal, Kim Roberts. Or ask me more about my experiences with the service.

Linda-kim--rick-08-08-09
Kim Roberts with her husband, Rick at my husband Ray's birthday party August 8, 2009

Why the Senior in Your Life Will Love an iPhone

I gave my father an iPhone in January. He loves it.

Actually I gave him my hand me down 3G when I upgraded to a 3Gs.

I spent some time training him on it while I was with him in January. Ray took photographs of some important medical papers he has, including dietary restrictions, and we put them into the photo library on his iPhone.  They are there for easy reference when needed. My Dad learned how to touch the screen to expand those documents. 

I just spoke to my father and he said he blew the pharmacist away when he showed him details of his prescription on his iPhone. The information ensured that the prescription was filled correctly because there were two similar products and only one is the one correct for my father.
My Dad also loves the nice big screen for making calls. 
I loaded all his contacts into the address book on his Macbook and he knows how to sync now.  So his contacts are easily accessible on his phone. He can replay parts of visible voice mail as needed.
If things get messy on his address book or his dowloaded iPhone apps (which are synced to his phone through iTunes), I can always iChat with him, take control of his Mac and fix things.
I recently discovered that the 3Gs would be even better for him because of the cool, new voice control feature.  Next time.

Voice_control_on_the_iphone

 

I'll come back later to tell you about his favorite iPhone apps.
This is a photo I took of my Dad in March last year. 

Img_0091

Looking for examples of successful Facebook Fan Pages?

My clients are often looking for examples of successful Facebook Pages. Take a look at A Dads Point-of-VIew. 

This Facebook Page passed the 1,000 member mark in just 72 days.
The Page benefits from addressing vital topics on parenting as well as dating as a single parent and that the host, Bruce Sallan, is passionate about these subjects.
Top_page

There are more than 20 discussions going on the discussion page and good interaction on the wall.
Discussions

ow.ly - how to view without the @hootsuite iframe

People on Hootsuite love the extensive stats that ow.ly provides.

But most people reading ow.ly links on the web don't realize that there is a simple way to get rid of the ow.ly iframe so that they can navigate the linked website normally and pull the actual permalink for the article so that they can bookmark it etc.

Here it is:

"The ow.ly social bar can be closed via the x in the upper-right.
You can also choose to hide the ow.ly social bar completely for all ow.ly links you visit with your current computer/browser.
To do this, click the down-arrow next to the x close box, and then check the box that says 'never show me the ow.ly bar.'"

I do think that Hootsuite should explain more about each of these points - especially #4 to their users.

Hide_ow

Great article this morning by Brian Solis. I needed to remove the iframe to get the link to post to Delicious.  Thank you to @SimonMainwaring for spotting it.

Ow