birthday

Google begins reminding users of friends' birthdays

Google thinks birthdays are pretty special and as such is devoting some serious real estate to the occasion.

Much like birthday notices on Facebook, the Web giant has begun posting notes reminding Google+ users when someone in their network has successfully completed another journey around sun. However, in an interesting move, the reminders will appear on Google.com instead of Google's social network site.

Google's Irene Chung explained today in a Google+ blog post that the reminders will appear when Google+ users perform searches and include a link to the Google+ profile of the person celebrating (or not) … Read more

Facebook revamps Events with Calendar and List views

What started out as a Facebook hackathon project has led to the social network's new-fangled Events page design.

Starting today, Facebook is rolling out its redesigned Events page, which comes with Calendar and List views. Now users can see birthdays, parties, RSVPs, and all other events up to several months in advance of the current date.

Spearheaded by Facebook software engineer Bob Baldwin, who created the homepage Events permalink at an earlier hackathon, the new Events design was fashioned to make it easier for users to organize their events, make plans, and see their friends' birthdays.

"Before a … Read more

Manage your contacts with My Agenda

Most people these days keep their contacts stored somewhere that they're frequently used, such as on a cell phone or in an e-mail client. If you prefer a standalone program for this task, My Agenda is a no-frills option that lets you record contact information and even dial numbers automatically.

My Agenda's interface consists of a small rectangular box with a handful of buttons. Contact names are displayed in a scrollable list, organized alphabetically by first name; since there aren't separate fields for first and last name, you can easily change this by simply creating your contacts … Read more

Sharing your birthday with Facebook: Like...or not?

To let the world of Facebook know it's your birthday, or to not let it know. That is the question.

Crave Senior Editor Leslie Katz and Jim Kerstetter, who runs CNET's enterprise-reporting group, share the same birthday, five years apart. It just so happens that their birthday was yesterday. It also just so happens that they can't stop talking about how amazing it is that their birthdays are on the same day. They've been doing this for six years running now.

But there was a difference yesterday: Katz left her birth date visible as part of the information she makes public on Facebook, and Kerstetter, ever paranoid about privacy, kept silent. Who was right? Let's evaluate their very unscientific points of view -- and get your own thoughts in the comments section at the end of this post. … Read more

Apple fans celebrate Steve Jobs' 57th birthday

Today is the birthday of Steve Jobs, the late co-founder of Apple.

Jobs passed away last October, succumbing to a battle with pancreatic cancer. Had he lived, this would have been his 57th birthday.

Fans remembered him on Twitter today, with "happy birthday Steve Jobs" quickly becoming one of the service's top trends. According to the New York Post, an unofficial birthday party for Jobs is also planned outside outside Apple's flagship retail store in New York.

Following Jobs' death, interest piqued about the technology visionary and inventor. Jobs was the main topic and namesake of … Read more

Schedule 'happy birthday' posts to Facebook friends

Nobody likes to be that person who forgets a friend's birthday.

Facebook is great for avoiding awkward moments like these, but sometimes having a notice on Facebook about a birthday isn't enough. After all, getting a daily reminder of your brother's birthday a week in advance might make you forget about it by the time his big day arrives; or you may not even log on to Facebook to see the reminder. Luckily for Android users, there's an app that can post a birthday message for your Facebook friends automatically. So if you forget, or just … Read more

Make a card on your iPhone and send through the USPS

Among the announcements when Apple released iOS 5, a couple of downloadable apps became available at the iTunes App Store. One of them, Cards, lets you create fold-in-the-middle greeting cards on your iPhone, then Apple sends them on real paper via snail mail. While other services have done this in the past, Apple's method is very intuitive with several designs to choose from, and the cost is about what it would be to go buy a greeting card in a store.

Immediately upon launch, you're given an intuitive interface for selecting the exterior of your card. Across the … Read more

How to import Facebook birthdays to Google Calendar

Do you forget your Facebook friends' birthdays because you don't log in to Facebook enough or because you keep forgetting to take your ginkgo biloba? Consider using Google Calendar alerts and stop writing belated birthday wishes on your friends' Facebook walls.

Editors' note: This post was updated May 14, 2012. We initially showed you how to export a file from Facebook, which you could then import to Google Calendar. There's a better method, as noted in the comments section, using your Facebook calendar's URL. This allows you to keep a current calendar of Facebook birthdays, even as … Read more

Google doodles into its teenage years

Some kiss a girl or a boy for the first time. Some turn to an illicit beverage, weed or powder. But Google has decided to enter its teenage years with a doodle.

Yes, Google is 13 and how lucky it is.

Like any newly formed teenager, Google attracts suspicion, derision, and not a little commentary with incision. And yet it chooses to remind itself that it is a mere pup, still ready to make the mistakes that pups make, though hopefully not when it comes to social networking.

The doodle itself is a modest affair. Just a cake, some balloons, … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1526: Prepare for Maximum Overdrive! (Podcast)

The sun is throwing out magnetic storms that could disrupt your GPS, your cell phone signals, and maybe even cause soda machines to kill you in extremely violent 1980s movie style. Just ... Google it. In other news, the World Wide Web turned 20 this weekend, the kids of today are learning to be hackers at DefCon, and if you buy virtual gold instead of earning it, the terrorists win. No, really, that's actually kind of true.