Facebook Chat has been a bit slow to catch on. Since it's been relegated to being opened from the web in a Facebook Tab, it hasn't been able to compete with chat services that have their own dedicated clients, like AIM, MSN and Yahoo. Although some third-party apps - like Adium - have made the extra effort to support Facebook Chat, it's not widespread. That's about to change, though, when Facebook adopts XMPP and becomes compatible with tons of existing chat apps.

XMPP is most famous as the protocol behind Google Talk. That means any chat program that currently includes Google Talk will be able to include Facebook Chat too. Facebook, like Google, is starting out in the chat market with the advantage of huge pre-existing contact lists - for Google, it was your Gmail contacts, and for Facebook it's, well, Facebook. If you've ever wished you could just automatically add all of your Facebook buddies to your favorite IM program, you're in for a treat.

[via GigaOM]

You might have seen the various petitions on Facebook to add a "dislike" feature to the site, to complement the "like" option in the News Feed. Well, Facebook hasn't listened. However, if you're a Firefox user, you can add a thumbs-down feature to FB with (what else?) a Facebook Dislike add-on.

It sounds kind of silly to keep track of your own dislikes, but it turns out that the extension feeds them into a database, so they'll be visible to anyone else who has it installed. The dislikes blend in seamlessly with the Facebook News Feed, appearing right below regular likes. It looks as if the members of those pro-dislike Facebook groups should be downloading Firefox and checking this extension out.

[via CNET]

Do you hate having to remember different passwords for every site you sign up for? Google sympathizes. They're working on a way to let you keep far fewer passwords in your life on the web. It's actually something that sites like Plaxo and Facebook already do: allowing you to register for a site by sharing information from an existing account (like your Gmail, for example).

The information never gets stored by the new site you're signing up for, so using your existing credentials is both convenient and secure. Plus, you don't get one of those annoying email messages asking you to confirm your account. (Is it just me, or do those things get marked as spam most of the time, anyway?)

Google's working on some code that will let companies offer this service - it's called "hybrid onboarding," technically - to their users. It's not going to have an immediate impact, but I hope this will cause more sites to get on board with hybrid onboarding and ditch the annoying signup processes and endless passwords.

[via AppScout]

Distraction is the enemy of focus. If you work at a computer all day, the possibilities for distraction are limitless. One way to stay focused is to use the technique of a firmly regimented working period followed by a short break period that I first came across at Merlin Mann's 43 Folders site. His technique suggested using 10 minutes of work followed by 2 minutes of rest, but the recently popular Pomodoro Technique suggests using 25 and 5. Whatever periods you use, the cross-platform Adobe Air based Focus Booster application is just the timer you need to keep you on task.

Focus Booster is a tiny timer that allows you to set a work and rest period, then away you go. You can focus entirely upon your work knowing that a rest period is coming soon, and you can check out your Facebook / Twitter / blog comments / whatever it is you fancy when the time comes.

I hate making resumes.

If you're like me, you'll probably appreciate any tool that helps make creating a resume easier. Ceevee is just such a tool.

Ceevee is an online resume builder that allows you to fill in specific fields, and it spits out a very nicely designed resume for publication on the web or print. You have a choice of three themes, which are all essentially the same but with different typefaces.

Modern (the default) uses a sans-serif font, Classic uses a serif font, and Plain Text uses a monospaced font, though it still has formatting.

Once you've created your CeeVee, you can share it on your website by embedding code that will also show a CeeVee icon. If you make it public, you can also share your CeeVee using Twitter and Facebook.

[via WebWorkerDaily]

The number of gadgets for Windows 7, both made by Microsoft and third-party developers, has skyrocketed. Only a few months ago there was little choice and almost nothing worth calling home about -- but today, you're spoilt for choice! What you have here are a bunch of the most useful (or interesting) gadgets usable with your shiny-new OS, Windows 7.

Note: If you're going to be installing third-party gadgets, you'll be faced with a confirmation dialogue before they can install:
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Facebook's making some big changes around its application platform, particularly concerning how much access apps have to a user's activity stream and notifications. If you're a Facebook user who hates app spam, that's good news for you. It's terrible news for developers, though, because getting their links in front of you is how they spread virally and pick up more users.

This doesn't mean that apps won't be able to communicate with their users. They're getting put back into the sidebar, and that (virtually useless) boxes tab is going away. App and Game notifications will be handled by a new sidebar dashboard, moving them out of your stream once and for all.

Email will also figure more prominently in the user-developer relationship, with developers getting the option to ask users for their email addresses and send notifications that way.

Facebook isn't mincing words about what it's trying to do, here. In the official blog post announcing the changes, they come right out and say they're trying to cut down on spam: "Application communication in channels like notifications and requests aren't effectively serving their original purpose. There is a significant opportunity to improve the user experience and reduce spam by replacing them with better features and moving most communication to the stream and Inbox."

Take that, Farmville!

[via TechCrunch]

There's a lot to love about the Pandora streaming music service. If you put together just the right combination of musical ingredients, you've got the modern-day equivalent of the perfect mixtape. Sending your brilliant Pandora station to a friend or 2 (or 200!) just got easier, with the addition of Facebook and Twitter sharing.

Until now, the only option for sharing your streaming radio stations was email. That feature is still around, including personalized "Station Gifting," which is a bit like a Pandora e-card. Twitter and Facebook sharing work with single songs or whole stations, and they place a link (along with any comments you want to add) into your public feed. Unfortunately, you still can't use these features to share with an individual friend via direct message, so you'll have to stick to email sharing for that.

[via CNET]

If you didn't ask to have your Facebook password reset, think twice before opening an email that looks like it's from Facebook's support team. A lot of these fake password-reset emails have been going out lately, and the attachments they contain can take over your computer and add it to the Bredolab botnet, according to ZDnet.

Your first clue that these emails are sketchy is that they contain a zipped .exe file, which is a horribly insecure and inefficient way to send an account password. Although the mail looks like it comes from support@facebook.com, the address is just spoofed to fool you. The botnet behind this attack, Bredolab, is reportedly involved in some large-scale spamming and identity theft activities, so don't risk letting your computer become part of it.

[via ZDNet]

Well, at least they're honest about what they do. A new iPhone app called Stalqer helps you locate your friends, even if they're not signed up for your favorite location-based service - like Google Latitude, Foursquare or Loopt. Users who opt-in to Stalqer ping the service with their location every time their phones check for email, which gives nearly real-time updates on the iPhone (which can't keep an application like FourSquare open in the background). That part is only slightly creepy. The creepier part is that Stalqer tracks friends who aren't even using the service.

By pulling info from friends' Facebook locations, the app can give you a general idea of where people are. It can't yet read status messages and wall posts to look for location info, but it reported does a fair good job of finding people without that capability. The app does have SOME privacy features: it won't let you track people who you haven't added as contacts in your phone's address book. That's pretty easy to get around, though: just add the person you're looking for.

As far as what information you share through Stalqer, you can control how precisely you're located and also turn reporting on and off. If you only want to show some friends which city you're in, and not the street address, you can create a group and change your privacy settings to allow for that. It sounds like Stalqer is trying to build the kind of app that everyone wishes exists, but nobody admits they want. Where do I sign up?

[via CNET]

UPDATE: To clarify, following someone on Stalqer requires you to be Facebook friends with that person, which is something they'd have to approve.

Well, that's that then.

Gone are the days when you actually did stuff.

Forget actually getting work done in the office.

You've turned your last steak in CafeWorld and milked your last cow in FarmVille -- because ladies and gentlemen, Sid Meier's Civilization will soon be available on the world's largest social network: Facebook. (In fact there's already a Facebook group that you can join for up-to-date news!)

I don't expect this to appeal to all of you -- in fact, those of you under 20 probably haven't even heard of the Civ franchise, but for those of you that have played it, you'll understand the awesomeness of this release.

I leave you with Overlord Meier's own words:
"Civilization Network will allow you to join together with your friends to create the world's most powerful, richest, smartest, or just plain coolest civilization."

[via CNET and Gamasutra]

At long last, after what seems like an eternity compared to the usually-rapid pace that most social networks evolve at, Flickr has implemented people-tagging. The functionality that most consider a defining characteristic of Facebook is now available on Flickr.

We've all been there: waking up on a Saturday morning, rolling out of bed, last night's drunkenly-debauched memories slowly swimming back into focus through your rheumy, sleep-encrusted eyes. You stagger into the kitchen or your study -- maybe there's a nice cup of coffee waiting for you. You sit down at your laptop -- or turn on your iPhone -- and check your mail.

There's the usual spam, the banal good-luck chain-letters and perhaps news that your copy of Windows 7 has just been dispatched. And then you see it.

'John Doe has tagged a photo of you on Facebook!'

Suddenly you find yourself plunged back into your memories of the night before. Desperately you poke and prod at the memory, praying the holiest damn prayer you've ever prayed, hoping that you didn't do something you'd later regret... something you'd later see on your computer screen... something your mother should never, ever see...

Quickly you un-tag yourself, cursing your friend, his family and his loved ones, praying you've done it quickly enough to avoid disaster.

And now ...? And now it can happen to you on both your social networks!

But wait! No! Flickr has gone one step further than Facebook! With Flickr you block people from tagging you in photos! With Flickr you can specify that only friends or family can tag you -- or no one at all!

The only real problem of course is that people don't often use Flickr for 'wild night out' photos -- that's usually reserved for Facebook. But would it be too crazy to suggest that Flickr could tie into the Facebook API and tag your Facebook friends on Flickr? Or will Facebook simply turn around and enable similar privacy options on tagging?

[via TechCrunch]

With all of the redesigning to focus Facebook on your News Feed, one classic Facebook feature got lost in the shuffle. What happened to Groups? Facebook must have noticed that Groups had become virtually useless, because they've just taken some steps to upgrade the feature back to first-class citizen status. Groups now have walls, just like Profiles and Pages, and group activity now has a place in the News Feed.

Although Groups now look extremely to Pages, they still serve two distinct purposes. Pages are for broadcasting information one-way to fans, and Groups are for interaction amongst members. The new discussions tab on each group's page emphasizes the collaborative aspect of Groups. It's nice to see a great feature back from the dead, and doing a lot more than cluttering up your profile.

[via AppScout]

With so much hype about real-time as the future of search, it makes sense that the major players in search would make moves to partner up with real-time networks like Facebook and Twitter. What's surprising is that the first big move is coming from Microsoft Bing, and not from Google. At today's Web 2.0 summit, Bing announced deals with Twitter and Facebook, which will allow Bing to start searching those sites' status updates. The Twitter search was demonstrated at the conference, and you should be able to play with it later today at bing.com/twitter. The Facebook product isn't due out until later, but it will give Bing access to all Facebook's public status updates.

Bing showed off some impressive features of its Twitter search product at the conference, including filtering of duplicate tweets and adult content. It also expands bit.ly URLs, so you know where those shortlinks lead. Unlike Twitter's own search, Bing's product attempts to deliver not just the most recent tweets, but the most relevant.

Apparently, both Twitter and Facebook have been talking to Google as well, but Bing is first to make a deal. The two deals are separate and non-exclusive, meaning that Twitter and Facebook aren't getting into bed together (yet) and that there's still room for Google to make a play like the one Microsoft just pulled off.

[via CNET]

News just in: iPhone users are three times more likely to Tweet or Facebook their sexual antics than BlackBerry users.

I'll just put into words what you're all thinking: what a big frackin' surprise. Apple users more vapid and self-centered than other-brand gadgeteers? Say it ain't so!

In fact, stereotypical Apple users are a classic example of modern-day 'Napoleon complex' (or 'short man syndrome' as you might know it by). Their gadgets -- their white, creamy, curvy, brushed-aluminium gadgets -- are compensating for something else. In this case, a lackluster sex life: 'Yeh, totally jst gve her some juice, lol.'

Anyway, moving on, back to the news rather than what we already know. This new report from Retrevo finds that 36% of all under-35 year olds update their Facebook wall or Twitter accounts post-coitally. Perhaps unsurprisingly, men are twice as likely as women to take part in this godawful practice.

I guess we should just be grateful that the report focused on what happens after rather than during... After all, we know someone paid to have the Passion app rate their performance between the sheets.

[via CNet]