Habemus Papam

HABEMUS PAPAM

What Is Facebook Graph Search, and Why Should I Pay Attention?

Earlier this week, Facebook unveiled their new Graph Search functionality, a new way to browse information on Facebook. While we predicted Facebook would move heavily into Search as a way to add additional revenue streams, up to $2 billion a year in additional advertising spend, we couldn’t anticipate exactly how the new search engine would work.

Now that it’s launched, Facebook’s search engine is beautiful in its simplicity. Unlike Google Search, which is designed to provide links to where you can find the answers to your query, Facebook Search is designed to provide the answer to your query. See the difference? On Facebook, you can search for things like “Who do I know in Chicago?” or perhaps “What are some Italian restaurants in Chicago?” With queries like this, Facebook can return results utilizing their massive social graph technology to show the things that are connected to your social circle.

Graph Search promises to be a large boon for both small and large businesses, as the sheer amount of traffic on Facebook means that if only 10% adopt the Search technology in the first year, that could amount to trillions of connections. Think about it this way: now, your Facebook page is more than just your presence with which you can connect to users, it now doubles as a branded search engine result.

What should you do for now? Continue to engage your customers by growing the number of likes that you have as well as by purchasing sponsored stories. As Graph Search takes off, there will be plenty of opportunities to move part of your search advertising budget into Facebook Search and reach over a billion people by a trifecta of personalization: demographics, context and intent, and customer connections.

originally posted: intechnic

Phishing attack against MSN/Hotmail users - a new year, but old tricks still persist

For an example, an email which claims to come from the "Windows Live Team" and warns Hotmail/MSN users that their account is at risk of immediate closure after different computers logged into it, and multiple attempts were made to guess the password:

Part of the email reads:

VERIFY THIS EMAIL ADDRESS TO AVOID IMMEDIATE CLOSURE

We have recently confirmed that different computers have logged onto your Hotmail and Msn account and multiple password errors have been entered. We are hereby suspending your account; as it has been used for fraudulent purposes.. Now we need you to reconfirm your account information to us. Click your reply tab, fill in the columns below and send it back to us or your email account will be suspended permanently.

The email, which has the subject line "CONFIRMATION ALERT RESET (2013)" and comes from an unofficial-looking @msn.com email address, urges the user to reply via email with their full name, username, password, date of birth, and country in order to confirm their identity.

In case that seems a little brusque, the would-be thieves who spammed out this email provided some helpful tips at the end of the email about managing email accounts.

Of course, Microsoft would never ask you to confirm your identity in this fashion - especially not by sending your password in an (unencrypted) email.

But less security-savvy computer users might be duped into believing it is true, and respond with all the information the cybercriminals want, before having a chance to think twice.

It's a highly unsophisticated attack - but if it works against just a small number of people that the spammers send it out to, what does that matter?

Don't be a cybercrime statistic, make sure that you, your friends and your family are wise to such tricks and don't share your login information with anybody.

reposted from: naked security

Adobe Flash 11 Install Guide!

NOTE: This is related to all, in our case Zynga games, not only FarmVille2.

Hey Farmers!

FarmVille 2 uses the latest technology from Adobe Flash to give you a great game experience in your web browser! In order to play FarmVille 2, your computer needs to have Adobe Flash Player 11 (or higher) installed.

If you have upgraded Flash recently, you may already be set and ready to play FarmVille 2. This guide will help you find out what version of Flash you have installed, and help you install or upgrade it if you need to!


How do I know what version of Flash I have?

If you aren’t sure what version of Flash you have on your computer, it’s easy to find out! Just click the link below and you will be taken to the Adobe Flash Player website, and told what version you have:

http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/...sh-player.html

This page will tell you many things about Flash on your computer. Two matter most in order to play FarmVille 2; Checking to see if Flash is installed on your computer, and learning what version you have installed.




No matter what Internet browser you are using, you should see something similar to the image above. The first section tells you if Flash is installed. If it is, you will see text and a red ball moving back and forth. If it’s not, you will see information telling you so and can move on to the next section of this guide to learn how to install Adobe Flash Player.

If Flash is installed, you can find out which version by looking further down the page at the second section. There is a small box with a few lines of information in it. What you are looking for is a line that looks like this:

“Your Flash Player Version: 11.4.402.265”

As long as the version starts with ’11’ you are set and ready to play FarmVille 2! If it’s not, please go to the next section and learn how to upgrade to Flash 11 in multiple Internet browsers.


Need to Install or Upgrade? Here is How, Based on Browser.

Installing or upgrading Flash is very similar for most Internet Browsers. You will need to download the program, and then run it for the install or upgrade to happen. Because each Internet browser handles downloading programs differently, we have a few examples to help you understand what to expect.

You do not have to install Adobe Flash in every Internet browser to have it work on your computer. If you install it on one browser, it will work for all of them. The only exception to this is the Google Chrome browser (see notes on Google Chrome below to learn more).

To install or upgrade, look for the Internet browser you are currently using in this guide. 

Google Chrome

If you use Google Chrome there is good news, Chrome updates Flash automatically, so you don’t need to install it separately! 
NOTE: If the version of Flash for Google Chrome is not up to Flash 11 (or higher) on your computer, you may need to install Flash 11 via one of the other Internet browsers.

Installing or Upgrading Flash Player for Firefox

If you need to install or upgrade Adobe Flash Player for Firefox, this guide will help! Just follow these step by step instructions to download and install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player.

STEP ONE: Download the Adobe Flash Player Installer

Click this link to go to the Adobe website: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

Click the ‘Download Now’ button





STEP TWO: Save the Flash Installer

After clicking ‘Download Now’ Firefox will ask you if you want to save the file to your computer or not. Click ‘Save File’ to save it to your computer and proceed with the installation.





STEP THREE: Open the Completed Download

The installer for Adobe Flash Player will now be downloaded to your computer. When the download is complete, double click on the file in your ‘Downloads’ window to open it and start the installation process.





STEP FOUR: Run the Installation File

After double clicking the installer file in the ‘Downloads’ window, a new window will open and ask you to confirm that you want to run the file and install the Adobe Flash Player. Click on the ‘Run’ button in this window to proceed with the installation.





STEP FIVE: (Windows Only) Grant Permission to Install

Many versions of Windows will have an additional step where Windows ‘User Account Control’ will ask if you would like to allow the Adobe Flash Player Installer to go ahead with the installation. Click the ‘Yes’ button on this window and the install will begin!





NOTE: If you do not see this window, it’s OK. Just move on to the next step in this guide!


STEP SIX: Preparing for the Install

The Adobe Flash Installer now has all the permissions that it needs to continue with the installation. The next thing you will see is the Adobe Flash Player Installer. This is a special installation window from Adobe that will tell you what’s happening through the course of the installation.





The first thing that will happen is the installer will get itself ready to perform the actual install. You won’t have to do anything at this step, other than give the installer time to get everything it needs to get ready.

STEP SEVEN: Select Update Preferences

After the installer is ready to go, you will be asked to select your Flash Player Preferences and see the window below:





On this step you can tell Adobe how you want to keep the Flash Player updated. You can choose from the following options:

• Allow Adobe to install updates
• Notify me to install updates
• Never check for updates

If you select the first choice, Adobe will detect future updates and install them automatically for you. If you select the second choice, Adobe will tell you when there are new Flash Player updates so you can install them when you are ready. If you select the third choice, Adobe won’t check for new updates at all.

Make the selection that works best for your preferences and click the ‘Next’ button near the lower right corner of this window.

STEP EIGHT: Downloading Files & Installing Adobe Flash Player

The Adobe Flash Player Installer will now download any files necessary for the install and install Flash 11 on your computer. Once everything is all set you will see a window telling you its complete! 


https://userimages.static.zgncdn.com/farm2/images/008 Install Complete.png


Once you see this window, you can click the ‘Finish’ button near the lower right corner of the window to exit the installer.

STEP NINE: Confirming the Flash Player 11 Installation

After everything is complete and ready, your Internet browser will open to an Adobe page and confirm that it was a success.


https://userimages.static.zgncdn.com/farm2/images/009 Installation Confirmation.png


Once you see this window, you are ready to go! You can close the Internet browser for Adobe Flash Player and load FarmVille 2 and begin playing!

[Insert Play Now Link]

Installing or Upgrading Flash Player for Internet Explorer

If you need to install or upgrade Adobe Flash Player for Internet Explorer, this guide will help! Just follow these step by step instructions to download and install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player.

STEP ONE: Download the Adobe Flash Player Installer

Click this link to go to the Adobe website: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

Click the ‘Download Now’ button





STEP TWO: Run the Flash Installer

After clicking ‘Download Now’ Internet Explorer will ask you if you want to run or save the file to your computer or not. Click ‘Run’ to proceed with the installation.





STEP THREE: (Windows Only) Grant Permission to Install

Many versions of Windows will have an additional step where Windows ‘User Account Control’ will ask if you would like to allow the Adobe Flash Player Installer to go ahead with the installation. Click the ‘Yes’ button on this window and the install will begin!





NOTE: If you do not see this window, it’s OK. Just move on to the next step in this guide!


STEP Four: Preparing for the Install

The Adobe Flash Installer now has all the permissions that it needs to continue with the installation. The next thing you will see is the Adobe Flash Player Installer. This is a special installation window from Adobe that will tell you what’s happening through the course of the installation.





The first thing that will happen is the installer will get itself ready to perform the actual install. You won’t have to do anything at this step, other than give the installer time to get everything it needs to get ready.

STEP Five: Select Update Preferences

After the installer is ready to go, you will be asked to select your Flash Player Preferences and see the window below:





On this step you can tell Adobe how you want to keep the Flash Player updated. You can choose from the following options:

• Allow Adobe to install updates
• Notify me to install updates
• Never check for updates

If you select the first choice, Adobe will detect future updates and install them automatically for you. If you select the second choice, Adobe will tell you when there are new Flash Player updates so you can install them when you are ready. If you select the third choice, Adobe won’t check for new updates at all.

Make the selection that works best for your preferences and click the ‘Next’ button near the lower right corner of this window.

STEP Six: Downloading Files & Installing Adobe Flash Player

The Adobe Flash Player Installer will now download any files necessary for the install and install Flash 11 on your computer. Once everything is all set you will see a window telling you its complete! 





Once you see this window, you can click the ‘Finish’ button near the lower right corner of the window to exit the installer.

STEP Seven: Confirming the Flash Player 11 Installation

After everything is complete and ready, your Internet browser will open to an Adobe page and confirm that it was a success. 





Once you see this window, you are ready to go! You can close the Internet browser for Adobe Flash Player and load FarmVille 2 and begin playing!

Facebook has big issue-s

Lot of troubles last days for all, well for most Facebook users, Facebook Pages and Groups: 

- missing posts, comments, pictures, notifications....

- posts, comments, pictures, notifications...disappear, never shown, shown and disappear, notifications shown just one or two, pictures shown on timelines not added in albums, comments very ghostly - see you, see you not. 

Posts are acting in comments style - very ghostly. Font size in comments, oooo they are very interesting: from smallest to normal, depends on who left comment.

So Facebook and their users are in trouble, big trouble, but Facebook (no matter is trying to fix that mess) is not speaking to his users. That is not good.

Would not be better to warn users and put in comment: we are aware of those problems and we are working on solving?!?

Silence from Known  issues on Facebook.

On the other hand, this is how looks like Welcome to Facebook - Login option day ago, as usual, almost.

This is how looks Welcome to Facebook - Login option today. Very interesting!

But, do not worry, you need just wait a bit and this advertisement disappear. 

Zynga VIP Membership - NO

Zynga , DO NOT POPUP me with this!!!

I am player, NOT buyer.

This is second time same day, that popup jumps on my game homepage.

I will not buy this or anything, not even by accident.

Chinese Taipei have won the first World Magic Cup

Congratulations Chinese Taipei!!!!

source: Magic: The Gathering 

New Trogloraptor spiders discovered in US caves

Scientists in the United States say they have found a new family of spiders in the caves of California and Oregon.

It is the first such discovery in North America for more than 140 years.

Spanning more than seven centimetres with its legs extended, the 'Trogloraptor' or 'cave robber' has pointed fearsome claws.

Curator of Arachnology at the California Academy of Sciences, Charles Griswold, told the Today programme presenter Sarah Montague that the discovery marked a "historic moment".

Fake Facebook E-mails - DO NOT CONFIRM YOUR FB ACCOUNT

If you receive in FB inbox mesage like this one:

WARNING : Your account is reported to have violated the policies that are considered annoying or insulting Facebook users.system will disable your account within 24 hours if you do not do the reconfirmation. 

Please confirm your facebook account below:xxxxxxxxx

1 .DO NOT confirm anything, and DO NOT CLICK on the link in that message!!!!

2. REPORT it IMMEDIATELY to Facebook :  Report a Fake Email Notification  and fill that report.

3. person you received that message from can be hacked. unfriend or block that friend, or just delete that message.

DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK IN THE ABOVE MESSAGE!!!

FILL REPORT LIKE IN IMAGE BELLOW!!!

Don't worry, I'm from Tech Support

Have you ever gotten a strange call from someone claiming there's a problem with your computer, and that they're going to fix it for you? Keep in mind that no one should know about a problem with your computer if YOU didn't tell them about it!

Bottom line, these guys aren't from tech support, it's a scam! Be sure to share this warning with your friends so they don't become a victim!

info from:AVG Anti-Virus 

Miniature Chameleon

Brookesia micra (juvenile pictured) is the smallest of four new chameleon species found on the African island country of Madagascar. With an average adult length of just over an inch (2.9 centimeters) from snout to tail, B. micra is among the tiniest reptiles in the world.

source:nationalgeographic

Biggest Burmese Python Found in Florida

Researchers at the University of Florida examine the record-breaking Burmese python's corpse.

Florida has a new attraction—a 17.7-foot-long (5.4-meter-long) Burmese python, the biggest snake ever found in the southeastern U.S. state, scientists say.

What's more, a necropsy on the euthanized python revealed she was carrying 87 eggs—also a state record for the species, a University of Florida team announced Monday.

Captured in Everglades National Park, the "monstrous" constrictor will eventually be displayed at the Florida Museum of Natural History, according to the university.

The Everglades is home to a growing population of the invasive Southeast Asian pythons, many of which have either escaped into or been dumped into the wild. (See Everglades pictures.)

Sometimes adopted as a pet, the Burmese python is one of nine species of constrictor snakes—and about a million individual constrictors—that have been imported into the United States over the past 30 years, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Burmese Python Finding Florida "Ideal"

Florida's previous biggest-snake record-holder was a 16.8-foot-long (5.12-meter-long) Burmese python. Finding a bigger one "is a great indication that conditions are really perfect for them," said J.D. Willson, a biologist and snake expert at the University of Arkansas.

Burmese pythons, he said, grow biggest where there's plentiful food—in captivity, they can reach lengths of up to 20 feet (6 meters).

A Burmese python as big as the new titleholder "should be able to eat any native animal in South Florida"—even Florida panthers, Willson said. And in fact, recent study showed that Burmese pythons are preying on a wide range of native species, some of which happen to be in decline.

(See a picture of a Burmese python that exploded eating an American alligator in the Everglades.)

Another reason bigger is better: Large snakes retain heat better. That may explain how heftier pythons—though adapted to steamy environments—manage to survive the occasional winter freeze in Florida, he added.

The number of eggs the recently caught female was carrying is another sign that the snake was a healthy animal, and that Florida's "environmental conditions are ideal" for Burmese pythons, said Whit Gibbons, a professor emeritus of ecology and head of outreach for the Savannah River Ecology Lab at the University of Georgia.

Stopping the Burmese Python's Spread

To biologist Cheryl Millett, those 87 eggs are "just more evidence that they are pretty much established—they're breeding in the Everglades," she said.

That's why Millett's group, a public-private Nature Conservancy partnership called Python Patrol, focuses not on eradicating invasive pythons but on stopping the spread of the snake to sensitive areas, such as bird breeding spots, the Florida Keys, or residential neighborhoods.

"I don't think we can necessarily get rid of every last one. We just want to keep them from moving elsewhere," Millett said.

Recent federal and state laws have also attempted to limit the trade and ownership of invasive snakes.

In the end, though, Savannah River's Gibbons said, it may be Mother Nature who puts the Burmese python on notice.

"You can never know what might befall a species," Gibbons said. "There could be a disease outbreak, or the prey base could diminish sufficiently."

But, he said, "I think pythons are going to be part of the native fauna in the next few decades."

source:http://news.nationalgeographic.com