Most remember a few months ago when the ones in charge of Facebook were forcing us all to go along with the drastic design and functionality changes they were making to the site. There were those who liked it, and those who strongly resisted it (myself included). Us members even went so far as to dig and find the few work-arounds to get to the old Facebook (note: they don’t work anymore!). But it seems there has been less commotion nowadays, now that we’ve all settled in with the new Facebook environment that we were so lovingly forced to live with.
So, as some predicted and some refused to believe, we have all grown accustomed to the new changes and still use the wonderful social-networking giant that is Facebook. I know there were threats, but did anyone follow through and actually leave Facebook when the changes were forced upon them? That’s a good question..
Internet
facebook, People
I recently stumbled across the browser Flock. They call it the “social browser” and it really is. Built upon the Firefox framework, it integrates your entire social internet life right into your browser. Want to check up on your friends’ latest status updates from Facebook? Pull up the “People” sidebar and you will see the latest updates from not only Facebook but Myspace, Youtube, Twitter, and Flickr all as you browse the web. You can update your status and even drag-and-drop photos to upload to the web right from the sidebar.
If you’ve ever or still use Firefox 3, you’ll be right at home with the basic features such as one-click bookmarking and re-opening accidentally closed tabs (again, it was built on the Firefox framework). Most Firefox add-ons will even work with Flock. But most of all it is the new features that integrate your social life into the browser that really sets this browser apart.
It’s a great convenience. I don’t have to visit my regular sites like Facebook just to check if I have anything new or see what my friends are up to. I can see my email and even post to this blog straight from the browser. And even though it requires a bit of a learning curve because of the amount of new features, a good amount of button-clicking will help you solve most of that and figure out what all you can do.
Despite the new features Flock brings to the table, for me it couldn’t replace Firefox. This is solely because I use Firefox for a lot of development work and the lack of extra buttons and clean toolbar keeps my browsing simple and to the point. Instead I use the browsers together. I might chat with friends in Flock and play games on FlashStuf in Firefox. However, for anyone who is a regular Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, etc. user, Flock may be the only browser you’ll ever need.
Software
facebook, reviews
I was finally pushed over to the new Facebook today. I thought I had escaped them, but apparently I was just one of the scragglers. While I was strongly opposed to the new design, I messed around with it today and it really is quite a bit of improvement. Whether it was necessary or not, well I don’t think it was. But it could certainly do some good.
And after getting rid of those ugly “these do that” pointers, things are all of a sudden a lot less cluttered. Facebook knew it all along, as did many others, that we would simply learn to accept it. What can I say? They got us by the balls.
Internet
facebook
Update: Method 2 no longer works, however Method 1 still does.
Update (10-2-08): None of these work anymore. Well, we had a good run.
As with many others, I prefer the old Facebook and think they need to leave us the option to choose which version we like. So, this is how you go back to the old Facebook.
Method 1
- Add the Developer application.
- Follow this link: http://apps.new.facebook.com/?fbnew_opt_out=1.
- That should do it! But if not, try the next method.
Method 2 (so far un-tested)
- Download and install Firefox (if you don’t already have it).
- Install the User Agent Switch Add-On and restart Firefox when prompted.
- When Firefox has restarted, go to Tools > User Agent Switcher > Options > Options…
- Go to User Agents
- Click Add… and enter the following information
- Description: MSIE 5.5 (Win 2000)
- User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.5; Windows NT 5.0 )
- App Name: Microsoft Internet Explorer
- App Version: 4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.5; Windows NT 5.0)
- Click OK on both windows to save your changes
- Whenever you go to Facebook now, you should be able to go to Tools > User Agent Switcher > MSIE 5.5 (Win 2000) and view the old Facebook!
I’ll update this as news develops, it stops working, etc.
Internet
facebook
