messages

The average Facebook user spends 6 hours a day checking his page and messages: true or false? False, but not by much, at least in our experience. There are all kinds of ways to make the most of the time you spend on Facebook, and one of the most useful kinds is free widget-like apps that keep you signed in on Facebook and check your messages and updates. Like Desktop Facebook, for instance. This simple freeware app stays signed in to Facebook and keeps track of your Messages, Pokes, Friend Requests, and Wall Count. Clicking on any notification opens the … Read more

Like it or not, Web pages can count your Facebook shares as a "Like."

A Facebook Like multiplier bug going around highlighted a feature of the social network that may seem unfair to some: If you send a Web site's link to a friend via a Facebook message or if you post it to your Facebook wall, that Web page's Like counter ticks upward.

First noticed by The Wall Street Journal, the feature may rankle some users who don't want to be a part of an overinflated count for some Web site tracking its visitors, … Read more

A friend of mine recently sent me a direct message on Twitter, it said "lol u didnt se them taping u" and had a link to Facebook. I hadn't remembered being taped in the past few days and I'd never seen my friend use this type of Twitter-shorthand, along with typos. To me, it was obviously spam.

I'm not the only one to be getting these spammy direct messages on Twitter that lead to bogus Facebook links. Apparently a lot of people have been complaining of these messages, according to Sophos analyst Graham Cluley who … Read more

When I first wrote about iMessage last year with the release of iOS 5, I made a huge mistake. I had gone through and edited all of the screenshots, but forgot to blur out an e-mail address linked to my iMessage account. Readers noticed this, of course, and began sending me iMessages almost immediately.

I heard from a lot of nice readers, and I also had the occasional person who would send me multiple messages at all hours of the night. It took me a few weeks to figure out how these people knew how to contact me, but even … Read more

While a huge percentage of Africa's more than 1 billion residents have cell phones, far fewer have access to e-mail. Google is trying to change that.

According to the Associated Press, the Web giant is embarking on an ambitious endeavor that will let people receive e-mails via text messages. In effect, Google will be giving people access to the Internet with feature handsets. Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya are the first countries to get the service.

Nigerians began seeing ads posted on billboards around the country for Google's text message email service in July, according to the Associated Press. … Read more

Apple is apparently having trouble getting its iMessage across.

IMessage is Apple's proprietary instant messaging services for iOS and Mac OS. Users have outlined their issues in several Apple support forum discussions (here and here), where they complain about being unable to send or receive messages. The problems appear to affect users across the globe, suggesting that the problem is on Apple's end as opposed to that of a service provider.

Apple introduced iMessage as part of iOS 5 last October, offering users on the iPhone, iPod, and iPad a way to communicate with one another for free … Read more

Skype may be taking new look and feel cues from the Windows 8 interface formerly known as Metro.

New client versions of Skype are in the works with a few notable enhancements, The Verge reports. One such is a new UI that borrows from the Windows 8 interface. Skype is now testing this change, but could take it a few steps further in future releases, according to The Verge.

Also reportedly new to Skype: a video messaging feature that lets users send prerecorded videos, which their contacts can then view when they hop online.

In 2008, Microsoft beta tested a … Read more

Post-it Notes, those little yellow pads of sticky-backed paper, changed the world, or at least the way people who live in it leave reminders to themselves and others. When the layers of notes (now multicolor) start to resemble cedar shingles, it's time to clean your computer monitor. That brings up an important point: as big an improvement as sticky notes have been over the old paper napkin method, software versions like Sticky Notes may be better still. For one thing, Sticky Notes lets you organize, search, store, and back up your notes; set reminders, priorities, and alarms; and customize … Read more