Category Archives for News & Updates

Matt Bacak Hits Facebook’s 5000 Friend Limit

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In just a few short weeks, Matt Bacak has crossed the Facebook finish line with 5,000 Friends. By putting his own Internet marketing strategies into action, “The Powerful Promoter” has managed to break the social media networking barrier. Unfortunately for those Internet marketers who want to get connected to Bacak through Facebook, they’re too late.
At first, I took on the quest for 5,000 Facebook Friends as a fun challenge. The more I got into it, however, the more I realized that I could leverage the game to my advantage

Suwanee, GA (PRWEB) October 13, 2008 — “The Powerful Promoter,” Matt Bacak, is pleased to announce that he has made the Facebook record books. In record-setting pace, he has garnered 5,000 Friends on the top social media networking site. Because Facebook sets this figure as the limit for its members, Bacak has taken his networking endeavor as far as he possibly can. Known throughout the Internet marketing community as “The Powerful Promoter,” Bacak’s Facebook Friends’ list includes a who’s who of the Internet marketing industry’s elite. Jealous Internet marketers who would like to see who Bacak is connected with can do so by visiting his Facebook profile online at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=675977989. Continue Reading »

Facebook, LinkedIn: Meet the boss!

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A new website being launched next week is promising to do for business networking what Facebook has for making social links.

MeettheBoss.com, which goes live on September 8, is being heralded by the web’s designers as a site which will change the way executives communicate forever.

The membership of MeettheBoss.com, being called a “dream rolodex,” will feature CIOs, CEOs and other senior executives from the likes of ABN Amro, Barclays, HBOS, Goldman Sachs and Visa.

Weekly interviews with industry leaders will be webcast on the site’s dedicated channel. These will be combined with live, moderated discussion groups, video conferencing, IM and secure e-mail.

The designers of MeettheBoss.com claim it is the only financial services networking tool to combine quick and secure video calls with IM, e-mail and SMS between members on one, simple interface: their profile page.

Austin Adams, former CIO for JPMorgan Chase, said: “Every one of us as CIOs can be much more effective as individuals and as leaders if we take what I call a progressive/aggressive stance to dialogue with other CIOs.”

Users will be able to select an executive, read their bio information and extensive career notes, and in two clicks members can be on a video call to discuss common challenges.

There is no cost to joining and membership is by application only. MeettheBoss.com is strictly for financial services executives to ensure a truly secure, open environment where they can learn from each other.

Spencer Green, founder of MeettheBoss.com said: “We are really excited by the take-up on membership, which we will close at 50,000. We currently have 20,000 members through invitation only; the next 30,000 will be through application.”

Every week there will be video interviews with the top thought- and industry leaders, including Martin Davis, CIO for Wachovia, Kim Fournais, Co-CEO of Saxo Bank, and Peter Leukert, CIO at Commerzbank.

“We are seeing that this platform is exactly what the industry has been crying out for. The feedback has been incredible,” added Green.

That ‘Friend’ May Be a Worm

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If, by chance, you’ve received a message from a “friend” in the last few days saying that you’ve been caught on tape, it’s not true. Unless you’re Paris Hilton.

But no, she’s been tossing a dwarf. Okay, not really, but those are just two of the scams Facebook and MySpace users have been hit with recently.

The malicious software attempts to lure users in with messages ranging from “You’ve been catched on hidden cam” to the one about Hilton tossing a dwarf on the street. The messages contain a link that takes unsuspecting users to a Web page that looks like YouTube. There the page tells visitors that to view the video, they need to click on another link to download and install updated software. Those who fall for the scam are actually installing malicious software.

The worm, called Koobface, turns compromised computers into “zombie” machines that can be used in other types of online attacks. The malicious software may also include keylogger software, which can record a computer user’s keystrokes — and potentially grab passwords when they are entered on a computer.

Alexander Gostev, senior virus analyst at computer security firm Kaspersky Lab, said in a statement that this type of attack could be a successful one for hackers. “Users are very trusting of messages left by ‘friends’ on social networking sites. So the likelihood of a user clicking on a link like this is very high,” he said.

Facebook has also been alerting users to a hoax message claiming that the site is overpopulated and that some accounts soon will be deleted.

Facebook’s security page offers a few common-sense suggestions for those worried about security. (”If a link or a message seems weird, don’t click on it,” is one tip.) The company is still investigating the malware attack, according to a spokesman.

According to research firm Cloudmark, users of social networking sites are reporting a rise in spam. An average of 64 spam attacks have been reported over the last year, and 37 percent of users have noticed an increase in the last six months in unwanted messages.

Olympics king Michael Phelps gets ready to conquer FaceBook

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As you have no doubt heard by now, swimmer Michael Phelps won his eighth Olympic gold medal in the Beijing games over the weekend, bringing his career total to 14 – the most ever for an Olympian.

All the attention that comes with all that bullion has certainly made Phelps the friend to have on FaceBook. He told Bob Costas on Saturday night that he has something like 7,600 new friend requests, according to the Baltimore Sun’s Medium Well sports blog.

His fan page has also exploded in recent days, with 859,387 FaceBookers having signed up at the time of this posting.

Given this excitement, it’s fair to say it may be difficult for Phelps to maintain much of a private life over the next few months – or even years. Check out ScientificAmerican.com’s coverage of security and privacy issues in our new In-Depth Report to see how your own privacy is being protected – and threatened.

You may also be wondering why Phelps is so good at swimming. Could it be those size 14 feet or his long torso and short arms? Or might it really just be hard training and a will to win?

Facebook’s Most Famously Friended Centenarian

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Is she? Could be. And more power to Ivy Bean, we say. More friends, too. She’s nearly got 5k as of 5PM EST. Much to do with the publicity the frisbee-wielding Olympian has received, we suspect. She was featured on NPR’s Morning Edition this Friday, followed by a spot in the Daily Mail, and subsequently, Silicon Alley Insider. This weekend the sporty and Web-enabled centenarian can check off Mashable, too.

This is light news at best, not like the technical heavies we trumpet most every week. But Ms. Bean’s 15 minutes have indeed arrived, as they say, and since she’s nabbing much props from the Facebook congnoscenti, we’ll go ahead and bow to the great dame as well. 

Not much in the way of deets about the networker. She’s 102 years young. She’s over in Bradford, England. She was given a Facebook group all her own, titled “Oldest Person on Facebook.” And, well, it seems she’s only looking to add to her friends list at the moment, it seems. Typical Facebooker, eh? Apparently that policy is working to her favor anyway.

 Really, though. Consider how you’d like your profile to show if/when you’ve reached 102. Peace and quiet, and some polite conversation with folks close by, right? Most definitely.

Anywho, for old time’s “Add-as-Friend” sake, we’d say be the kind lads and gals you are and give Englishwoman a click and a hello.