Facebook Easter Egg

I guess Facebook has been on my mind recently, as this post is again about Facebook. It's not, however, a post saying how bad and overbearing Facebook is, and how everyone should be using Twitter instead. This is just a cool little trick you can do with Facebook.

After you log into Facebook, use the arrow keys to type [up][up][down][down][left][right][left][right] then hit the [B] [A] [enter] buttons. This sequence of keys typed in this order (commonly called the Konami Code in the gamer culture) will release a secret easter egg. Please note that on the computer an Easter Egg is a hidden feature, not a little hardboiled egg thats painted.

To view this easter egg, after you use Konami's Code, just scroll up or down in the browser and enjoy!

Big Brother is Watching... Your Facebook

So I found something interesting while Stumbling my way through history class. Apparently, Facebook has initiated an interesting "security" (aka- keep Facebook's ass clear) feature. They are censoring all of their users emails. That's right folks: everything that you send in a Facebook message can, and will, be checked.

Now before everyone starts going all paranoid about the fact that all their email's are being read by Facebook, theres a few points you should consider. One, Facebook uses an automated checker that will scan all email for keywords, phrases, URL's and such. It's not like there are actual people sitting at a computer all day reading every word of your email (we call those people "stalkers"). Another point, Facebook isn't the only service that does this. Most email clients use similar programs to scan for, and remove, spam messages.

I decided to test their censorship, and here's what happens when you try to send "contraband" text (click for a larger version):



What was the terrible, terrible term that I put into this email message? A simple URL. I tried sending the URL for a torrent copy of a Don Quixote eBook (note that this was perfectly legal as the book is old enough that it is no longer bound under copyright laws), but it was blocked. Facebook wouldn't let me send the message, or allow my friend to receive it.

So is Facebook going too far? What do you guys think? Should they be censoring their users email? How "deep does the rabbit hole" go, as our good friend Morpheus would ask? It's possible for Facebook to search email for anything including drug usage, underage drinking, hackers, ponies, gum drop buttons... you get the point. So we ask you: They have the power to do this, they "technically" have the authority, but do they have the right? Should they?

imdownwitu is WTF

So, I got a message on Facebook a few days ago from a friend (from whom I rarely hear anything), saying, "What is up with you being on imdownwitu."  Well, I immediatly was like, "Wtf, I haven't gone to that website."  Then again, I had been doing some rather shaky work, and perhaps I had accidentally tripped over the website.  So I open up a new tab and go to imdownwitu.com.

Bad idea.

Immediately I could tell that it was not a good site.  It said something to me.  I hate it when my computer makes noise, and I would know if I had been to the site before.  Also, it gave me a pop up explaining something to me about my profile picture being uploaded from this IP.  Not true, I knew that to be a fact.  So I closed the tab, and proceeded to write on the persons wall, "wtf, how would you know if I had been there, which I haven't."

And, as it turns out, she didn't write that post on my wall.  Something is moving about Facebook, and I don't like it.  So if you get any sort of link on your wall, don't go to it (unless you are running Linux) if it is anything else than google.com.

Facebook - Are you being exploited?

Raise your hand if you have an account on Facebook, Myspace, or any other social networking service? That's what I thought. Just about everyone. And, if you're anything like me and my group of friends then you have tons of nifty little applications on your profile. But are you really safe?

A group of computer researchers have developed an application for Facebook that will allow them to exploit any user who installs the application, without the users knowledge. The idea behind the exploit is to show a security flaw in social networks that could allow hackers to control the users of the social networks and utilize their computers for their own ends.

The researchers' application was the photo of the day application supposedly from National Geographic. Basically, once a use installed the application, they would be able to a daily picture from National Geographic - and they downloaded 3 pictures from another website without knowing about it.

The idea behind this particular attack (targeted at the researchers own servers) was to get as many people into the application as possible, and then flood the website that was being downloaded from. This is a very basic attack used for demonstration purposes, but if utilized by a malicious hacker, it could be much worse. And whats more, once the application was installed, the user was forced into the attack again every time they logged on - without their knowledge of course.

So the next time you find a nice little third party Facebook application, just remember that you could be getting recruited into a h4x07z cyber army... dun dun dunnnnn...


view the original Wired article.