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meika — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 13:48:01 +0000

One somewhat overlooked side effect of last week’s Facebook Groups launch was the inexplicable disappearance of the “Clear Chat History” button from Facebook Chat, which is currently undergoing some hardcore product changes due to the Groups introduction. A vocal minority of Facebook users protested the change as violating user privacy by not allowing chat users to immediately remove their data among other things.

A source familiar with Facebook hypothesized that the button’s removal was due to load issues cause by the new reliance on Group chats, as chat data greater that 14 days would have to make a database hit, overloading the server if scaled to apply to large Groups and causing performance issues. Despite these practical concerns, Facebook responded to the user outrage today by confirming that they would return the button, with the following statement:

“We’ve been making a number of changes to optimize and simplify Facebook Chat over the past weeks. As part of the effort to improve Chat, we’ve been testing an interface without the ‘clear chat history’ link prominently displayed, since only a small number of people use it.

Based on the tests, we’ve decided to keep the ‘clear chat history’ link and to optimize it’s placement within the Chat interface. Given its low usage, we are placing it at the top of the Chat scroll ― where it is still easily accessible without cluttering UI space throughout the course of the chat. We believe this solution strikes a good balance between the many different interests of the millions of people on Facebook Chat.”

According to Facebook, a small number of users utilized the “Clear Chat History” button which is why it was considered for removal in the first place. While I have still yet to receive any notification on whether the most recent “Clear Chat History” iteration auto-deleted history instead of manually deleted, what I can glean based on the statement is that the button will be returning to the top of the “chat scroll,” which if I’m not mistaken, is where it was originally.

In any case, based on these first signs of Q&A processes and the fact that a whole new team has over taken “Facebook Chat,” we can most likely can expect a complete chat overhaul soon.

Source:www.techcrunch.com/

Facebook Rolls Out Image Viewer Redesign

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 11:52:32 +0000

We’ve got tipster consensus on the fact that Facebook has started to roll out a more elegant Lightbox-like dark background version of its Image Viewer or what it is now calling Facebook PhotoTheater.

Perhaps this is the first sign of the general upcoming Facebook redesign we reported on before the press event earlier this week?

Apparently the more streamlined feature does hide most Facebook Image Viewer ads except for a single one in the bottom right corner, which functions as a proper ad “Why didn’t you like it?” survey et al.

In any case, screen caps of what viewing photos on Facebook will soon look like, above and below.

Article by: TechCrunch

Former Skype CEO Josh Silverman Jumps To Greylock As EIR

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 11:48:54 +0000

Josh Silverman, who until a few days ago was Skype’s CEO, has just joined venture capital firm Greylock Partners as an executive-in-residence. In a blog post announcing the move on Greylock’s website, the firm called Silverman a “visionary entrepreneur” and an “effective leader for amazing growth companies.”

Prior to joining Skype in 2008, Silverman served as CEO at Shopping.com, following a variety of management positions at eBay, including serving as Managing Director for Marktplaats.nl/eBay Netherlands; and leading the launch of eBay’s European Classifieds business. Before joining eBay, Silverman was co-founder and CEO of Evite, the leading social event planning site on the Web. He sold the company to IAC in 2001.

From Greylock’s blog post: Josh is a natural fit for Greylock—a serial entrepreneur and experienced chief executive with experience, drive and talent for building disruptive companies. He is one of very few entrepreneurs who have created viral consumer products that millions of people around the world love. In addition to being an established entrepreneur, he is a terrific leader who has scaled multiple hyper-growth, billion-dollar companies. Josh’s integrity, drive, and leadership are exemplary and will be a great additional aid to our portfolio companies.

During his tenure at Skype, Silverman led the company through a number of major events. eBay sold Skype for $2.75 billion last year, and this past August the company filed for an IPO. As Skype heads in a new direction, the company brought on Cisco’s Senior VP of its Enterprise and Service Provider groups, Tony Bates, to take the VoIP company public.

Silverman’s decision to go to Greylock makes sense. He has longstanding relationships with Greylock partners David Sze and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. And Greylock invested in Evite back in the day.

Article by: TechCrunch