We know, we know, Facebook has had so many changes lately it’s hard to keep up with them all. If you are a casual user, there are plenty of new features to explore. You may see some changes in accessing some of your games, or notice different content on some business pages, but generally you’re good to go.

However, it gets trickier if you’re a business owner who has developed Facebook apps. Starting October 1st, apps that run on Facebook must be hosted from a secure server. Facebook is requiring this to help protect the privacy of its users. What does it mean to you? If you don’t have a SSL certificate for your app’s site domain, your app will not show up on Facebook anymore – meaning your fans won’t see it!

Don’t worry, we’re here to help. If you host your application with us, we can get a SSL certificate set up for your domain. If you use a different host, they’ll be able to help you. Either way, you’ll just need to provide some specific information that verifies you are the owner of the site, and you’ll likely have to pay a small amount to buy the certification from the company that provides it. The most commonly known certificate provider is VeriSign, but there are plenty to choose from, with a variety of features and prices.

If we can help you, let us know. In the meantime, enjoy the latest features on Facebook… we will be back soon to guide you through more of the interesting changes that are happening there — stay tuned!

Exploring the Buddypress Add-on for WordPress to turn our blog into a social community.

http://buddypress.org/

I’m not a big fan of Internet Explorer (which is probably as nice as I can say it).  With its lack of support for new technologies, various inconsistencies with other browsers and it’s own versions, and somewhat unstable rendering/processing of web pages, it’s no wonder Firefox, Safari, and Chrome are quickly luring Internet Explorer’s users away.  However, there’s still a segment of users out there that use Internet Explorer for a few reasons:  it’s what they’re used to, they have no need to upgrade/use another browser, their IT department scoffs at anything new/not paid for, or there’s still a game out there running on ActiveX and they can’t part with.  Support for this segment of users has hindered new development in web technologies for years, and has resulted in countless hacks and workarounds to get Internet Explorer on the same page as other browsers.

As HTML5 and faster Javascript engines become common place, it’s becoming increasingly tempting for developers to want to abandon Internet Explorer users and simply provide them with an upgrade path away from Microsoft.  However, there might just be a compromise that lets developers use the newest technologies, while still keeping Internet Explorer users within their comfort zone.  This compromise is Google Chrome Frame.  This new Google project aims to take the Google Chrome browser, and place it inside the Internet Explorer shell as a plugin.  Much like how Flash works within Internet Explorer, so does Chrome Frame.  If a user installs Chrome Frame (which is very simple and didn’t require a restart for IE8), they can view the web as if nothing was different.  However, if they visit a page that requires newer technologies, a developer can put a <meta /> tag in the page that triggers Chrome Frame.  The user will not notice any difference in the way the browser works (other than new features and faster rendering/processing).

This could just be the best solution for newer sites that wish to take advantage of new technologies Internet Explorer will be slow to adopt (if they even adopt the new technologies at all).  New features such as the <audio /> and <canvas /> tags will make the web much more friendly and consistent to develop for.  A faster, more modern Javascript engine means new APIs such as Geocoding and better user interface features such as animations and drag and drop support.  With these new features already starting to show up in Google Chrome, why wait for Internet Explorer to catch up, when they’re just a plugin away.

Good news web developers…IE6′s time has finally come. According to this article on CNN, IE6, although a decent browser when it was released 8 YEARS AGO, is now a huge stumbling block to the web’s evolution (no secret there). It’s estimated that as many as 25% of web users are still using IE6, slowing down the web and creating headaches for web developers.

However, there is a growing movement on the web to kill the dinosaur once and for all. This site provides a snippet of code that will encourage users to upgrade their browsers for betting online experience. That’s all well and good to persuade average Joe internet user, but what about the many companies out there who use corporate applications written specifically for IE6? Do they represent the “death” of the death of IE6?

We recently buttoned up a pretty cool project for Black Magic Auto Care Products to highlight their sponsorship of Bullrun 2009. In case you’re wondering, Bullrun is an annual, seven-day, cross-country road trip featuring a rowdy, celeb-studded cast of characters and some of the hottest, most exclusive automobiles on the planet.

As part of their sponsorship efforts, Black Magic entered a customized, Ford F-150 SVT Raptor driven by the guys at Garage 419 into the rally to get in on the action and get extra mileage (pun intended) out of their participation.

To put rally fans in the passenger seat with the Black Magic team, we built a custom microsite with flash features for daily updates, race tracking and even a custom YouTube Channel. Through daily blog posts, an up-to-the-minute Twitter feed, maps, photos and videos, Black Magic fans were able to live the experience of an exclusive and world-renowned automotive event and interact directly with the brand in an engaging and authentic way. Check out our portfolio for more information or visit the site to see things for yourself!

No one will cry and no one will mourn the death of IE6 (other than the developers perhaps). Talks of reducing browser support and yanking the cord out of the wall have been happening since the launch of IE7. Now, with IE8 released and several other browsers to choose from…the time has come.

Web giants YouTube and Digg are the most recent sites to cut IE6 support, according to a recent Tech Crunch article.

Since the beginning of time, Google has grown accustomed to handily disposing of its search engine rivals and competitors, but are those days finally coming to an end? Has Google finally met its match?

Next up in the contenders’ corner – Microsoft’s Bing. Check out a few reviews of Bing and a short video that illustrates how it feels it may knock off the Champ.

http://www.reuters.com/article/bigMoney/idUS183638463920090529

http://www.decisionengine.com/Default.html

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 6 months (which may not have been a bad idea for some industries; cut overhead at least) you’ve heard of the new social networking website Twitter. Twitter simply asks the question “what are you doing?” and then chronologically tracks status updates.

Many are singing (or tweeting) praises for the simplicity and ease of using twitter to connect with friends, and the proof of the pudding is in the traffic. Twitter has grown to 8 million users in the U.S., doubling in size in the past 4 months!

Facebook evens seems to have taken a page from twitters book with a recent redesign to highlight what were formerly known as status updates. However, 94% of facebook users dislike the new design. Oops.

I’m not completely sold on Twitter just yet. Maybe I’m a cynic, but it seems like an old product in a shiny new wrapper. I could have updated my status on instant messenger, facebook, linkedin, or blogger and it would essentially accomplish the same thing. I could communicate with friends and generate followers just the same on any of these other time-tested services. As Twitter climbs the Top 100 sites I have to ask one question:

Does Twitter revolutionize social networking or it is just 15 minutes of fame in 140 character increments?

According to Google, Chrome is ready to come out of beta (already). In just 3 months time Chrome has won over 10 million users. Such impressive numbers demonstrate that there is still plenty of opportunity in the browser market. Apparently plenty of people are willing to jump ship, or at least consider jumping ship, on their current browser of choice. And so the browser wars continue…

This guy tested the results for over a year, what dedication. Maybe I’m behind the curve, but I hadn’t even thought of some of these.
http://techblog.tilllate.com/2008/07/20/ten-methods-to-obfuscate-e-mail-addresses-compared/