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TheSocialNetworker Episode 29 – Twitter application security
I was recently bitten by an application I previously authorized against my Twitter account sending out some tweets I did not agree with. This prompted me to review my application security setting inside of Twitter. It opened my eyes into just how trusting we are, and shouldn’t be.
Thanks to Mozy Pro Online, our new sponsor at Spiked Studio. Sponsor: MozyPro Online Backup: Simple, Automatic & Secure Backup
In the video I walk you through where to check what applications have access to your Twitter account and what access rights you have given.
Launching new #SXSW annual event – the “Great Uninstall”
While flying back from SXSW I was drafting numerous blog posts to get my ideas down right away. I then drifted into seeing which 
applications needed to still have reviews written or performed and it took me down a dark road.
While at SXSW you are inundated with fancy QR codes, people handing out flyers and all say they are the hot new app. I am not one to not try each and every application at least once. I like to see what they do exactly the same, different and if they will have sticking power. I dedicate a page on Android and iOS, then a folder on BlackBerry. What I have is a crap load of applications.
So this year I want every to participate in the Great Uninstall, with a request. I want you to comment here all of the applications you refused to load from SXSW and what you have uninstalled.
We will make this an annual event. A very light pseudo survey of what apps make it out of the launch grind. I will start reviewing applications and why I kept or removed them. I write or screencam honestly each time. I find features I like, ones I am confused by and ones that just do not make sense. Place some of those comments as well.
If you decide to write your own posting, just make a comment with the link back, no issue. I am trying to find some logic into the sheer number of applications that people attempt to run and then watch as you settle back into just a few.
I am not slighting any one platform here. I am going across each and every one with removal in my eyes. I am weighing how useful they were onsite, here outside of SXSW and long term possibilities. If they make the round one cut, I will perform one more in a few weeks based on if I use it again or not (after this first run) and then make final selections.
In the end I hope to remove even some older ones I never use, add some new and streamline my productivity even more with the final set.
Book review: Best iPad Apps by Peter Meyers
When I first got this book, Best iPad Apps: The Guide for Discriminating 
Downloaders by Peter Meyers (O’Reilly published), I was sure that so many things had changed and applications created, there was not much I would get from this book with over 200 pages. I was wrong, plain and simple. Amazon has this book on sale right now for $13.29 or in the iBooks store for $9.99.
The book itself is broken into sections, with colored page edges for quick sorting of each main category:
- At Work
- At Leisure
- Creative Corner
- At Play
- At Home
- Out and About
- For Your Health
Each main section then had subsections with the best of application for each category well defined. The logo, description, reasoning, costs and image were included. Some of subsections even had honorable mentions when the competition was close.
By just over 50 pages in I had numerous apps downloading already from the iTunes store. It became clear that with the sheer number of applications in the store, you cannot find them all. Reviews are always all over the place, with a few complaints able to simply change your mind.
So why would you choose this book over the numerous web articles always showing the Top 10 iPad Apps? I wondered that as well. Now I get it. The book goes category by category. Web listings seem to have the same ones over and over. You never get a good feel for what is out there and how deep the catalog is in capabilities.
Much like we do with all of the social media screencasts here and Twitter application reviews on EverythingTwitter, the author of the book claims to have personally tested thousands of applications to make this catalog.
The book was done in extremely high quality coloring and screenshots. The layout is landscape mode, making it easy to hold pages open as you read and search on your iPad.
A couple notes I wanted to make. Sure, there is so many games for the ipad. But there is also great busienss value and I was shocked to see the awesome amount of content in health and wellness I would have never even thought about. Some of the HD content is amazing to have right in your hand. Also, the index in the back matches the table of contents, so nothing was gained there.
Overall, an excellent book for those looking to find applications already tested and ready to go. The price at the time of writing is shown, but check for yourself before saying it it too much as I found a few on sale or discounted now.
I recommend Best iPad Apps: The Guide for Discriminating Downloaders by Peter Meyers.
(Yes, the above links are affiliate links on Amazon as usual)
Ping me here, there and … wait, Apple branded Ping?
We use the term ping almost daily with friends. Ping me on Twitter, Skype, instant messaging services and more. Apple today threw a nice uppercut by starting their social music network embedded in iTunes and calling it Ping. Sure there was Ping.FM that allowed you to broadcast your status to multiple social services, just not many people knew about them.
Thanks to ReadWriteWeb for the image source and announcement review
But, everyone is learning Apple and by taking ownership of the word Ping, they take ownership of a niche in social networking. Numerous sites have tried building a form of social networking around music sharing to limited spread and results. Apple is able to enable everyone, as in 160 million users in 23 countries, at once that uses iTunes software to encourage participation and capture information on your sharing.
This in turn gives them better marketing potential towards you and increases the likely result in you buying from Genius or a recommendation. Now your music, TV, applications and more may be shared publicly or with select groups of friends. If you pay particular attention to a friend’s music stream, Apple can pick up on that and start pushing you to buy the same music. Watch a show a friend recommends, soon you get ads about renting an episode.
So how much of your personal music tastes, choices of applications and shows watched will you share? Are you using other services already to do this and will you change?
