Digsby Updates Facebook

Digsby, the multi-network IM and social media tool has been updated with tighter Facebook integration and added support for MySpace IM. This is good, but the really great news is that dotSyntax has also removed the confusion mess of crapware nags from their installer.

The new installer now gives you an option to install the ‘Digsby Toolbar’ and asks if you want to contribute unused CPU cycles to sponsored research. While all of the adware/sponsor programs used in the old Digsby installer were optional, the new installer makes opting out easier and more obvious — a real plus considering that most users don’t really read the fine print during installation.

What’s New?

MySpace users can now use Digsby to connect to their contacts using MySpace IM, without opening a browser. And yes, in spite of the fact that MySpace seems to have fallen off the face of the planet from a press standpoint, there are still 70 million users, making it over 3x bigger than Twitter.

The real meat of the changes are in Digsby’s Facebook integration. Now you can fully interact with your Facebook Newsfeed right from Digsby. You can post your status updates, comment on friend’s activity, “like” status updates and browse photos. And of course, you can use Digsby to connect with your Facebook contacts via Facebook Chat. It’s a great way to stay connected, even when you don’t have Facebook open.

Download Digsby

Facebook Pages Can Tweet

Truth, as they say, is stranger than fiction. Facebook has produced an app that will automatically send Facebook Page updates to Twitter, allowing businesses, organizations, bands — anyone with a Facebook Page — to have posts automatically generate a tweet to their Twitter followers. The details were posted on the Facebook blog by Michael Gummelt — the summer intern who developed this app.

If you administer a Facebook Page, you can set up Twitter updates by visiting http://www.facebook.com/twitter/. You’ll be asked to configure what kinds of new posts will trigger Twitter updates.

Note that this new feature doesn’t apply to Facebook user pages. So, for example, I can’t automatically send Twitter updates for new posts to my personal Facebook wall, but the BigBlueBall Facebook page can.

The fact that Facebook is announcing this feature is interesting, since many of the features they’ve been implementing are designed to compete head-on with Twitter.

Digsby Passes 1 Million Users

Today dotSyntax announced that their popular multi-network desktop application Digsby has surpassed a major milestone: 1 million users. The desktop client integrates instant messaging, Facebook, Twitter, text messaging and email into a single desktop client, making it an attractive choice for people connected to multiple networks and social media sites.

Steve Shapiro, president of dotSyntax said, “We built Digsby to simplify people’s lives so they can focus less on signing in and more on staying connected. Our rapid growth shows the utility people find in Digsby and why it’s become the preferred platform for high efficiency digital communication.”

To fuel growth to the next million users, dotSyntax also announced the launch of an affiliate program. The program is designed to encourage people to spread the word about Digsby, and will pay affiliates up to $1.00 for every new Digsby user they sign-up.

Here at BigBlueBall, we helped break the news about Digsby when it first emerged on the scene and I’ve been a big fan. The desktop application is currently only available for Windows. Versions for Mac OS X and Linux have been promised, and you can sign-up here to be notified as soon as they are available.

Download Digsby.

Microsoft Releases Facebook for Windows Mobile

Image credit: Mobility Minded

Microsoft has released a free Facebook application that gives Windows Mobile 6 users a way to stay connected on the popular social network. 

MobilityMinded has a great walkthrough of all the features, with screens. 

The only glaring omissions from this app are the lack of Facebook chat and the ability to view comments to photos.

The Bottom Line

This app isn’t perfect, but it’s good. If you use Facebook and have a Windows Mobile 6 device, it’s worth checking out. 

You can download Facebook for Windows Mobile 6 here.

Thanks to jkOnTheRun for the heads up!

AIM 6.9 Gets Social

AOL today officially released AIM 6.9 for Windows, introducing new features that integrate AIM with other social networks, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. This new version of the venerable instant messaging program acknowledges and embraces the fact that people aren’t just on a single social network — they have a presence across many networks — and keeping up-to-date with your friends, family and associates shouldn’t require you to visit a dozen different web sites. The real social network transcends any single brand.

AIM remains free to use, supported by advertising that appears in the buddy list and chat windows. AIM 6.9 requires Windows 2000 or newer, 512 MB RAM for enhanced IM functionality, Flash and IE 6 or newer. You can download it here.

Alternate versions for Mac, Linux and web-based IM are still available, but haven’t been upgraded to match the functionality of their Windows counterpart. 

Do you use AIM? Will you upgrade?

Social Network Wars

With Myspace, Facebook and other social networks all vying for attention, what can the average Joe do to maintain his sanity? This week’s Sunday Funny is a video that wouldn’t be funny if it weren’t so true: Social Network Wars. 

Read more

Digsby

Digsby is a multi-protocol instant messaging program that adds social networking and email notification integration. Digsby’s IM support is extensive. Digsby connects to AIM, WLM (MSN), Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, Jabber and Facebook Chat.

Social network support includes Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and LinkedIn, giving you the ability to update your status and get live updates from your contacts.

And Digsby gives you email notifications for Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, AOL, IMAP and POP3 mail accounts. If you need to connect to multiple networks, Digsby is worth a closer look.

Background

Digsby began as Steve Shapiro’s school project as he worked on his MBA at Rochester Institute of Technology. The project grew to a team of developers, now operating as dotSyntax LLC. After two years of development, Digsby was first released in a private beta in February 2008, and to the public in March 2008. Since that time, Digsby has quickly grown to become one of the most popular multi-protocol IM programs on Windows.

Customization

One of Digsby’s great features is the ability to personalize the look. You can create or download new skins to change the entire look of Digsby.  You can switch the chat theme, load custom emoticon and sound sets.

Requirements

Currently Digsby is only available on Windows (XP or Vista), but Mac OS X and Linux versions have been promised.

Installation Notes

In late 2008, the Digsby installer was changed to include a number of “utilities” of dubious value. Most of these additional utilities are adware supported. Installation of these additional programs is fortunately optional, but be cautious to read each installation screen carefully and choose decline for these “extras.”

Useful Links

• Digsby – official site
• Digsby Blog – official Digsby company blog
• Digsby Forums – official Digsby support forums
• Digsbies.org – fan site with a feature wish list, skins, conversation themes, emoticon  and sound sets
• irc://irc.freenode.net/digsby – IRC chat with the digsbies; frequented by the developers
• Digsby Widget – embed this on your blog and visitors can chat directly with you

Yahoo Pingbox Now on Facebook

Yahoo! Pingbox, their embeddable IM application for web pages, is now available for Facebook. You can add a Pingbox to your Facebook profile and visitors will be able to IM you without downloading or even signing on to Yahoo! Messenger. And if you use Yahoo! Messenger, you can receive IMs from your Pingbox even when you are not signed into Facebook. 

This new Facebook application has the same customization tools available in other Pingbox versions. You can personalize your greetings, change the look and optionally require visitors to give themselves a nickname before they IM you.

Adding the  Pingbox application to your Facebook profile works differently than adding it to other websites. For Facebook, you visit the Yahoo! Messenger Pingbox application page in Facebook. 

Useful Links

• Pingbox now available for Facebook – Yahoo Messenger Blog
• Yahoo! Pingbox 
• Yahoo! Pingbox for Facebook

Meebo Adds Facebook Chat

Several months ago, Meebo added an “unofficial” connection to Facebook chat. Backwards engineering Facebook’s chat system proved unstable, and it was later pulled. Well, after working through official channels with Facebook and their API, Meebo has officially added Facebook Chat integration once again.

Facebook chat integration requires that you have a Facebook account (of course) but allows you to connect and chat even when you’re not signed into the Facebook website.

With the addition of Facebook, Meebo now supports a total of ten IM networks:

• Meebo chat rooms
• AIM/AOL Instant Messenger
• Yahoo! Messenger
• MySpace
• Windows Live Messenger (MSN Messenger)
• Google Talk
• ICQ
• Jabber
• Flixter
• and now, Facebook

You can take it for a spin yourself at www.meebo.com.

Hackers target MySpace

Security firm Fortify Software is warning that hackers are turning their attention towards popular social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace.

Criminal hackers now view social networking sites as their best target for attacks, according to Rob Rachwald, director of product marketing at Fortify Software.

Part of the reason is that such sites are designed to be usable by “unsophisticated” consumers, meaning that the barrier to entry for attacks is potentially lower as users are more likely to click on a link that leads to malware.

“A buffer overflow enabled hackers to exploit the Aurigma ActiveX image uploading software used by Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites,” said Rachwald.

“The bad news is that this exploit is being used in a hacker toolkit currently being offered for download on several Chinese language sites, meaning that novices have been able to stage these attacks, and not just professional hackers.”

Yet another reason to hate the zillions of apps and invites.

Source: ITNews

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