Facebook’s Open Graph – The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, it is pretty difficult to avoid buzz on Facebook’s latest development.  Last week’s news announcing Facebook’s Open Graph has garnered a slew of both criticism and praise.   Some describe this personalization of the web as leaving us “socially naked.”  Others love the idea of a customizable online experience.  Upon reading some of the industry’s leading blogs and newsletters, I’ve summed up some of the feedback on Facebook’s new technology:

The Internet – open and free

What a pleasure it was to sit back with a cup of coffee last Saturday and open the morning paper. Yes, the print version for those of us still inclined to relax comfortably and read in a chair, or even in bed. Washington’s own Jay Inslee, in Congress representing the 1st District, emphasized in his Times editorial page special that ” the Internet has become the core of our social and business lives.” What does Congressman Inslee know about the Internet? Well, he has a background in fighting the scourge of media consolidation and sponsored the first net-neutrality legislation. Jay has provided local opportunities for discussing numerous actions on telecommunication legislation and continued to champion rulings which bring localism to the forefront in what is now such a key phrase, broadband deployment.

The 411 on Akismet

After talking about Akismet briefly in class the other day, I was curious to learn more. A quick search revealed the name is short for Automattic Kismet. Automattic, Inc. is a startup “from a handfull of people passionate about making the web a better place.” The group’s favorite definition of kismet, according to their FAQ page, is “the magnetic attractive force that actualizes the playing out of karma; often used in the positive sense.”

Below are a few Qs and As from Akismet’s website that I found helpful.

Firebug

The above screenshot is a Firefox plug-in that makes putting together your blog a little easier. I was desperately trying to fix something in my blog last week, so I asked the software engineer at work for help. He was pleased when he looked down at the lower right-hand side of the browser on my computer and noticed a small bug icon.

“Click that,” he said.

Surprised at having never before noticed said bug icon (‘my computer’ is actually my boyfriend’s, who must have installed it), I clicked on it. A tab popped up showing the code of the page. He had me open my blog, then right click on the area that needed help. The tab showed the location of the code for that area, and I was able to go into my blog and quickly fix it.

Anyhow, just a tool that I’ve found really helpful in getting a better feel for HTML. It’s found at http://getfirebug.com/.