A couple weeks ago we wrote about a blogger and bandmember of Uncle Seth named Jay Moonah. Jay was trying to take advantage of the new Facebook Pages feature, and create a site for his band.  Like any respectable band page on or off Facebook in this day and age, he wanted to upload a bit of his music for the fans and newcomers to sample:

The setup process seemed to go fairly well and easy, but when Jay got around to actually uploading his music, he got this message: “For legal reasons, Facebook can only authorize you to upload music to your page if you verify that you formally represent Uncle Seth. Please upload a picture of legal documentation (such as a photo id card) that identifies you as Jay Moonah.”

Since Jay’s initial post and incredulity at the seemingly invasive (and legally questionable) procedure for posting one’s own intellectual property on a Facebook profile, he came up with a sneaky solution:

“On the weekend I uploaded just such an image — one of my ID card from the laser tag game Photon circa. 1986. After uploading it, the message came back that Facebook would verify my ID within two business days.”

He checked back two days later, as per the instructions, and the verification message had reverted to the upload screen again, but no explanation as to the acceptability of the proffered identification.  He tried a slightly different tactic, then deciding to upload his Toronto Transit Commission student photo ID.

As it turned out, even an expired ID can make it past the clearly stringent “legal documentation” restrictions. This begs the question: “What!?”  I mean if Facebook intended to be truly privacy invasive and set up some sort of counter-intuitive cover-your-butt policy to ward off infringement lawsuits, in what world would this particularly old, expired, non-legal and illegible ID help?Perhaps I’ve been assuming the wrong motivating strategy in my analysis of Facebook’s new agenda.  They aren’t after every bit of identifying information about you they can find.  They are simply striving to be more annoying than any other social network on the market. Think about it.  What is more annoying and disruptive to the process of signing up your band to Facebook then having to hunt around for a scanner and a photo ID with as little personal information disclosed as possible?

Perhaps, more simply, Facebook doesn’t want to have bands use it for a vehicle of promotion.

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BitTorrents aren’t your average video-sharing networks. They’re different in their own right, and command a different breed of user. That user is often less concerned with the typical wiles of popular web 2.0 trends, but every once in a while, some interesting mashups come about as a result of the existence of the two in the online world.

PickyPirate has picked up on one such need and has created a mashup that aggregates reviews from Metacritc and matches them up with content you can find on Mininova and The Pirate Bay, and directing you to the healthiest torrent accordingly. Metacritic is an aggregator itself. Part of the CNet family, it gathers reviews from trusted critics across the web. And PickyPirate then passes this aggregated knowledge onto you.

Sure, you can see what’s popular on torrent sites by seeing what others are uploading. But if you’re looking for more of a recommendation system in order to find new and interesting content, then PickyPirate could lead you in the right direction. Should more BitTorrents decide to incorporate more personal recommendation options, that could prove useful for some torrenters as well. That’s when sites like Vuze get a bit of a leg up. as it’s incorporated a few more of these options with its unique take on torrenting, mimicking a slightly more networked feel.

[via torrent freak]

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A week after hitting two billion uploads, public beta testing has begun for the latest version of the Flickr Uploadr, the tool that sends pictures to your Flickr account. Download the Mac and Windows versions here. The biggest thing with Uploadr 3.0 is the added control you now get for photos before they’re actually uploaded.

It will let you select photos, add titles, tags and descriptions, create sets and set privacy data. You’ll also be able to drag your photos into the order in which you want them to appear. It’s been noted that this new version release may not include geoprivacy, or auto-title options based on your file name.

But the new Uploadr 3.0 does indeed offer more photo control features. This is how Flickr always strives to keep its serious users happy, and keep it a step or two ahead of the competition, which may soon include Microsoft. It’s the little things that count, right? And it’s only a matter of time before we see some of these same options available for Facebook image uploading. For its wide array of social networking features, Facebook’s photo-sharing capabilities are pretty good.

[via CNet]

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We heard about some testing going down a couple weeks ago for voting on Facebook news feeds. Give each item a thumbs up or delete it. Now Facebook has officially rolled out this new preference voting system, and has also revealed the specific reason as to why it’s become an executed feature.

Why Vote on Newsfeeds?

With the new ability to see stories from applications that you haven’t actually added to your account, it’s now important for Facebook to figure out how useful this actually is for you, and which stories are of interest at all. So the feedback system lets you indicate how you really feel about items in your news feed. Give a thumbs up or nix it, never to bee seen again.

Why Not?

What’s actually good about this is that it’s a bit of promotion for the developers of these applications, but it’s also a direct form of feedback. How this could backfire to some degree is the fact that users getting updates on applications they don’t interact with may “x” it out for that very reason–they don’t interact with it. They may not care at all, simply because they’re not taking part in all the fun your application has to offer.

Tips for Developers

Facebook has curbed this a bit by extending the option for developers to have their application updates only show only for its users. Facebook has also offered up a few tips for developers in getting the attention of non-users for conversion rates: link to a page in your app that can allow for new sign ups, and do fewer, more interesting stories instead of inundating users with updates. When it comes down to it, I’m not sure if I’ll be taking advantage of the new voting options, but I’m sure enough users will for the data-gathering and promotional purposes that Facebook is hoping for.

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Photo-sharing site Phanfare has received $2.5 million in additional funding. In this third round, the funding was led by Azure Capital Partners and other undisclosed investors. So with so many other photo-sharing sites, will this latest round of funding help Phanfare rise closer to the top? The company has yet to turn a profit, and is in an extremely crowded market, with others offering free photo-sharing services. As Venturebeat reports, Phanfare CEO Andrew Erlichson has indicated that the company has a secret weapon planned for execution in a couple of months, that will radically change the game. But this still won’t involve offering up its services for free.

So what could these secret plans entail? It’s downloadable application already offers quick upload options and integrates with its web-based service for syncing and easy online-sharing. With a focus on more professional users, I imagine any major upgrades will remain along these lines, and further enhance the premium services that users already pay for.

Frame Channel has taken the unique approach towards a similar demographic with sharing options that are independent of a computer all together, while printing company HP has been looking into various web 2.0 options for gaining new users and being part of the movement, even going so far as to offer up collaborative printing project options. So there seems to be a bit of grasping of more concepts in the photo-sharing industry. Whether Phanfare partners with other sites and/or services, or finds new ways for users to share photos, we’ll be looking out for the radical updates Phanfare has to offer in the coming months. They must be worth at least $2.5 million.

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I suppose you can say we’re all taking the day a little easy today. There isn’t a great deal of groundbreaking, earth shattering news to report, particularly in the realm of social media … or so we thought. Just yesterday, Richard MacManus was asking bloggers to leave the Digestion Phase of the web, and focus on innovation. This morning, almost as if in direct response to his blog post, we woke up to find the LOLinator.

If you’re somehow unaware of the LOLcat meme, it is the deciphered language of cute pets, most prominently cats, and proliferated into the wilds of the web by the folks at I Can Has Cheezburger. The meme has spread to epic proportions, and now is threatening to gobble up the entire internet, with several prominent projects like the LOLcat translation of the King James Version of the Bible, the LOLcat translation unit (think Babelfish for Cats), and now this LOLcat filter for web browsing.

It is surprisingly effective, grasping almost any word thrown at it, and by my off-the-cuff comparisons, more accurate than other translation engines available.

Just type in a blog address, and it will translate it to the dialect known as ‘LOLcat.’ I tried it out on Mashable, with my new kitten (we’ve named him Chuck “Sandwich” Norris; Chuck Sandwich for short). Based on his experiences, I estimate his productivity levels have increased by at least 300%.

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In its third round of funding, China-based video-sharing site Youku hit it big with $25 million. Brookside Capital Partners, a subsidiary of Ban Capital, led the round with previous investors Sutter Hill Ventures, Farraloon Capital Management and Chengwei Ventures also participating. Youku’s previous two rounds were for $3 million and $12 million, giving the video-sharing site a total of $40 million in funding.

The investment money will be used towards infrastructure and operations, according to its own blanket statement, but for those video networks like Dailymotion that have been funded or upgraded recently, we’ve seen a focus on improved copyright protection methods, which are rather important in China.

And as Google looks strengthen its hold on the Chinese market on several levels, including YouTube’s reach, it may become more important for local competitors to be in a better position to grow their own services.

[via paid content]

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Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the US. Tradition says it’s a time for family, football, and some much needed rest. But will you really be able to disconnect from the Web, or will you act like a new media douchebag and be Twittering at the dinner table? Today’s poll:

How much time will you spend online tomorrow?
• None you sick bastards
• I might check my email
• I’ll probably be on for a few hours
• Tomorrow is a holiday?
View Results

Be on the lookout for The Daily Poll in the afternoon every day Monday thru Friday. If you’d like to sponsor “The Daily Poll” or any future contests, please contact Adam Hirsch.

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Here’s a thankful reminder that your family isn’t the worst out there. Or maybe it is. If so, you can check out the Hellish Holiday site to commiserate.

This Magnify-powered video network has found some of the worst families that have been caught on tape. From funny to awful, this collection of clips will, at the very least, bring some Holiday cheer to your Thanksgiving Day. Here’s a couple to get you started.

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Liberated Films has announced that it will be teaming up with the media search provider Pixsy to power its search engine. This will allow for more videos being directly accessed through Liberated Films’ website, and enables the video site to extend its own content by becoming part of Pixsy’s search index.

Is this an effort for the recently relaunched video site to make itself more attractive to buyers? Liberated Films put itself up for sale earlier this month, claiming about 12,000 shorts and films having been uploaded to its site. It appeals to a somewhat more niche aspect of the online video trend, with editors approving all uploaded content and a focus on indie films.

Even with partnerships with major film studios, Liberated Films may still be looking to enhance its set of features, accessibility, reach and appeal to a wider user base in order to increase its value.

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