I have managed to get my work colleagues at NVI to join my team, and we are called “NVI Stache Engine Optimizers“.

If you would like to sponsor my moustache and donate to a worthy cause, coz c’mon guys! its our greatest fear!!! Click on the link below and lend science a helping hand to get us out of this one.

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/823126/

I will be posting pictures of my moustache as it comes along, and you can gradually watch me turn in to my creepy uncle!!!

I work in a mixed pc/mac environment using an online task and project management tool, which offers some rudimentary milestone scheduling features, and we use Exchange 2003 for our email and calendaring. I know, its old, and its almost deprecated, but until we upgrade, its what we have. But even if we upgrade it doesn’t solve the problem.

The problem is in open standards adoption of CalDav on Windows/Outlook, and the Mac’s implementation of exchange calendars in iCal and Entourage/Outlook for mac.

Windows and Outlook

In Outlook for Windows, unless your using exchange, there is very little you can do out of the box to get a could synchronized shared calendar solution. Sure you can use google calendar with a plugin, but thats not really ideal now is it.

Mac and iCal

iCal is great and I love it, and use it extensively with MobileMe. I have a whole bunch of calendars synched with my iPhone for scheduling on the go, and i cant live without it.

What gets my goat is that it doesn’t support older versions of exchange. It also frustrates me when sending and accepting meeting requests to pc’s. Its either outlook on windows cant read or open them, or it doesn’t get my meeting request replies. I don’t know if this problem is solved with a newer exchange server or not, but at the moment, is killing me.

Mac and Outlook

I’ve played around with Office 2011 Outlook beta, and i love it. I love how similar to Outlook on PC, and its spectacular. My beef comes down again to the fact it doesn’t support older versions of exchange, and again it doesn’t support CalDav. So i cant get my google or MobileMe calendars on it. Which cripples it severely for me.

I know this is a bit of a rant at the state of things, but it doesn’t seem like there is any planned future updates for some applications to improve this. iCal for mac may get an update soon in the next Mac OS X update that might solve this. I doubt Outlook on Windows will start supporting CalDav anytime soon, coz they would have already. As for Outlook for mac, turns out they left out that feature on purpose because they wanted to concentrate on exchange functionality first. So it maybe an added feature in future update. But until then, i cant use it much.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions on getting a working Mac/Windows shared calendaring experience going smoothly?

My 1st annoyance was the keyboard. Its a great keyboard but I found that if you didn’t have the Apple case/kick-stand, it was really hard to type on it. When  holding it in portrait mode, it was awkward to type long messages with both my thumbs as I held it in my hands, and landscape mode just was a pain as it challenged my thumbs reach.

It was very pleasant to sit on the balcony in the mornings and go through all my news in Google Reader. The touch navigation was a dream and it really made reading the news an immersive experience. Viewing and sharing pictures was also very immersive. Navigating photos and showing them to friends was definitely a more enjoyable experience than showcasing them on a laptop, as I could pass it around and they can interact with it, as if a real set of photos.

Prolonged use of the iPad, though, was a bit of a mixed bag. Trying to hold it for long periods of time, while watching a movie or tv show put a lot of strain on the hands and arms. Laying in bed and kicking back to watch a 1hour TV show proved a lil frustrating as leaning it on my thighs left it at an awkward viewing angle, and holding it was just not fun. Again, this out have been a different experience if I had the $40 Apple iPad case. I think that the case should have come standard with the iPad as it would have solved a lot of physical usability issues, but I guess Apple knew this and decided to sell it separately because of its necessity.

I was quite disappointed that a lot of the apps I used on a regular basis from large companies was not updated for the iPad (Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, MobileMe Gallery, Skype) and a few required me to buy a whole new version of the app at full price (Things). I understand that if they did develop an iPad app, it would have an updated UI and a very different experience, but a lot of apps have been ported over very easily and quickly by other developers and they’ve done a great job at iPad specific versions (Evernote, Dropbox,WordPress). I guess the wait is for the iPad version of iOS4.

I had the wifi only version, and only being able to use it at home or the office, I thought that its usefulness is tied to a data connection. Most apps are tied to the net and if you dont have connectivity, the iPad really isn’t much use.

All in all, the iPad is a great device. Its performance was impressive, the UI was solid and the feel and sturdiness of the device was great. At the moment though, until a few of my favourite apps are ported over, and iOS4 comes out giving it multi-tasking and a few other features, it feels more like a fun toy and not something I will use on a regular basis. I found my self reverting to my Macbook Pro to do a lot of tasks, as I am a heaving multi-tasker. iOS4′s new features are going to be a welcome upgrade and I will look in to it as soon as it comes out, probably a 3G version.

Do you have an iPad, and how long did it take you to get used to it? Do you have the Apple Case? How does the keyboard feel for you?

I’m one of those people who is pretty much accessible on most of the available channels, to the point where some friends panic when I don’t answer the phone after a few attempts, or get frumpy when I don’t email or instant message back promptly.

I have to say, it’s becoming quite the chore to manage all of these channels, but you find a way to filter the noise, keep things sane with good tools and habits.

What happens though, when you encounter someone who isn’t as connected? Those who find cell phones intrusive and can’t stand text messaging. They don’t get the point of Twitter ( I sometimes don’t really), and Facebook is just too open and scary with too much information for their taste. How do you communicate with those who aren’t connected?

How do you handle people who are hard to reach? I just try and try again!!!

My departure meant I had to return the trusty MacBook that’s chugged along with my for about 2 years, leaving me with no portable companion. It left me with questions on how to fill this void and would I dare to venture for something new.

That same day was the Friday where the iPad made it’s debut in Montreal. I was very tempted to queue up with the masses for one, but thought I would hold out for a minute and think it through.

But right now I’m travelling to Mexico city and all I got to hold me through is my iPod touch. Meanwhile every airport terminal I land in, on my awefully long 2 connection flight, I see people happily enjoying their iPad.

I always saw the iPad as toy I would get to satiate my need for new technology. But my conversations with some around the airport leads me to believe that it’s very practical for travelling, and a very useful tool!

The question is, can I buy an iPad as my main mode of computing, or will I have to get me a new MacBook pro? Or am I gonna get both. Hmmmm!

For you out there, do you have an iPad and how do you feel about it’s utility? Can you use it as your main device?

I recently decided to take a different approach to meeting people by not adding them as friends on Facebook until I feel like I’m really friends with them. Sounds simple, right?

It was hard to resist the urge of finding out more about a person when their lives are not served to you on a silver platter. You find yourself googling them, checking if they are on twitter and what not, and then just surrendering to just giving them a call and going out for a coffee or beer.

From then on, something happens. You actually start to make a real connection that is not overpowered by assumptions of who that person is based on their shared media. You are actually getting to know them. Sharing stories and experiences with each other, in your own words and expressions, not a slideshow of pictures with no narrative, or a series of status updates that have no context.

The only drawback is not being able to share things online with those non-network friends. Inviting them to events reverts back to email, text messages and phone calls. Sharing interesting or funny video clips needs you to enter their email address, etc. All the things that were time consuming about the web that social media made quick and easy, are gone.

I’m going to stick with it, but I do know that at some point, i’m going to have to bring them in to the fold,. But by holding back, at least I know that I can really call them a friend.

When do you add a friend on Facebook? Do you wait a while before you add them, or do you do it immediately?

Engagement

Creating an environment that attracts users and keeps them is one hell of a task, and continuously engaging your users is not small feat. You have to create a culture of sharing, collaboration, and reciprocation that makes the user want to participate in what you developed, and pull in others in to the fun.

Social engagement needs to involve actions that builds on a users social connections, and something that will appeal to a circle of friends. The hook is the quick and easy action that is viral and has high visibility to social graph. The line is the engaging actions that bring in your social connections and continues to connect them. And the sinker is community that brings more people together one way or another.

Communicate

Communication, communication, communication is to social media what location, location, location is to business. Communication with your users is one of the most important aspects of social media. What do I mean by communication? Meaningful dialog with your users through blog post commentary, forums and discussion boards, Twitter and support channels.

Communication has to be a two way street, where you can personally talk to your users. Now you might be tempted to talk about your product, how people use it, and give them tips and tricks on how to utilize it better. Thats a great start, but the key is to find out what your users want to talk about and not what you want to talk about. This is where you have to get more personal with your users and learn from them. And here is the segway to the next point …

Learn

Learning from your users is the only way to iteratively develop and enhance your product and user experience. Users can be very vocal about what they want and what they like, but you need to build a dialog of trust that brings out the constructive criticism to you. It’s important to be able to track feedback, themes in constructive criticism and be able to prioritize and respond appropriately.

What you will learn is that they way your application is used, can be very different from what you intended it to be. Learning and understanding how your users are thinking differently about what you’ve built will get you farther in finding news was to engage than any other way.

How do you continually engage with your users, and what tools do you utilize to learn form your users?

Well first off, it all depends on what the purpose of the application is, and who is the intended audience. You might be developing a game that is based on a user’s friends for engagement, or you just need to delegate the authentication system to ease registration. There are many reasons to develop within, or break out of the box, so lets look at the pros and cons, and some of the reasons you might do it either way.

Within Facebook: iFrame/FBML

Facebook has over 300 million users. It is a great source of users, who visit more than once a day and spend good amount of their internet surfing time on the social network. Most applications built within Facebook look to take a slice of that time, by further enhancing the social experience. Multiplayer games, sharing and collaborative applications are great examples.These applications tend to be short attention span applications, with very simple interfaces and involve quick actions a user can do in between browsing their friend shared lives.

Facebook also gives you direct access to its user base, through many of the hooks it has created in its platform. This is great for viral growth through notifications, status updates, news feed posts and invitations. Its very easy to get the word out to the rest of your users friends from within.

When it comes to FBML/FBJS (Facebook’s own markup language and javascript) or developing in an iFrame, I definitely prefer iFrames. Facebooks development language, though it makes for more of an immersive user experience, is slow and very limited. iFrames give you the flexibility to use any javascript framework you desire, and the speed of your code optimized on your server.

Breaking outside the box: Using Facebook Connect

Sometimes, the Facebook user base isn’t what your looking for. If you have  a very feature rich application, then it may be best to be a standalone application. Your users will be away from the distractions of Facebook notifications, email and chat, and can take the time to soak in your app. With Facebook Connect, you can allow your users to register easily with their Facebook credentials, and import all the contacts and information, but without the Facebook chrome and distractions.

Other than Facebook connect, there are many API based social networks and authentications systems available these days, each with its own niche features and following. Sometimes you want to be able to appeal to the broadest set of users, by making your social application integrated to more than one. Facebook for its social connections, Twitter for its status updates, LinkedIn for its professional contacts, and maybe Four Square for location based services. In this case, it would be best if your social application was outside of the eco-system and free to explore all avenues it needs.

Personal experience

In my personal experience, I tend to see Facebook as a place to develop small , fun and easy to user, viral applications that will grow like wild fire, but will have a short life span. When I set out to try and build a feature rich application, with unique niche features that need many integration points to other web API services, I try and build outside of Facebook but still leveraging it with Facebook Connect. Giving my users the flexibility with multiple authentications systems, and multiple social sharing avenues.

How do you set out to develop your next social based web application? Any suggestions on how to leverage the millions of users on all the social networks with API’s?

2009 has been plagued by security and privacy concerns, from Facebook’s Terms of Use scandal and its recent privacy settings changes, to applications built on the Facebook platform that abused user information, and exposed email, username’s and password a la RockYou. Social API’s have allowed for amazing things in the past couple of years, but has also seen some wide spread abuse of what can done with them. Social media advertising companies using your demographic information and photos to target your friends for more clicks has been rampant and Facebook has taken action. There have also been many applications that done worse. As a developer on Facebook, I am sometimes surprised at what can be done with the information available to me, when user’s click on the accept button and hand me their life on a silver platter.

User’s have been too free with their information which got them in hot water every so often. Accepting all those apps is fun, and one hell of a time waster when you need one, but you never know who the developers are, and what are they doing with your information. Even though application invites are a thing of the past, and almost no one accepts them anymore, developers have been crafty to get users to add their latest fun quiz or personality test.

The worst part is that users are too free with their information between themselves, and the public. They try setting their privacy and closing their profiles, but even if users did heighten their privacy settings to their most paranoidlevels, it seems like it still doesn’t take much to expose their details. A study by the security company Sophos, revealed that users accepted friend invites on Facebook from people they didn’t know all too often. And all too often its being taken advantage of by not just advertisers and developers.

Companies are exploiting people’s openness with their information for their own purposes. The case of the Quebec woman suffering from depression who got her health insurance payments stopped because she posted photos of herself on the beach and in a party. Her doctors recommended she take some time off and try to have a good time to help her depression. Her insurance company was investigating her, and managed to get within a few degrees of separation in her social graph, to see what she’s been up to,

How do I protect my privacy?

So what now? What do we do? Well for one, be a little more careful with our information. Here are some tips:

• Don’t accept random friend requests from people you don’t know, or dont have an association with you. Check their mutual friends list.
• Sensitive information can be used for identity theft. Set your security settings to not display your email address, date of birth, home town and phone numbers publicly.
• Hide information from friends of friends, because you never know who your friends are friends with!
• Created lists that have different privacy levels. There is some information, photos, videos of yourself you want to show your friends, but not your co-workers or boss. Or just don’t post them on social media networks at all.

Sophos has a great video that explains what Facebook’s new privacy settings mean, and how to go about insuring your saftey.

If thats all not enough, and all this has you freaked out, well you can try and remove yourself completely from social networks using a service called Web 2.0 Suicide Machine. The site lets you purge all your connections, friendships as well as photos, videos and identity from Facebook, Myspace, Twitter  and Linkedin. Check out the video for more details.

Note: Web 2.0 Suicide Machine has recently been blocked by Facebook and slapped it with a Cease and Desist letter,

“kindly asking us to stop our service and remove all Facebook profile pictures we collected for the memorial pages and anything else which could be associated with Facebook from our website”

At the end of the day, it wise to know that privacy is something that one needs to take on actively, and be aware of its implications, not just you, but for everyone around you. Lots of research has been conducted recently on the subject privacy and its impact on our behaviours, and its implications on people around us.

What do you think of the matter? How do you protect your privacy on social networks and online communities?