Tim Marman's Loosely Coupled

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• Facebook opens up with a JavaScript API

  Facebook just announced a new JavaScript Client Library that allows you to make Facebook API calls from any web site . In other words, you can start building Facebook applications are live outside of Facebook. I agree with Charlie that this move " makes membership in Facebook that much more valuable ", and is probably a direct response to the openness promised by OpenSocial . Duncan calls it a clever move , but if their goal is to truly build the social OS - or what Charlie calls a "social dial tone" - then it's a necessary move. Henry calls the strategy "brilliant" . This move seems another smart step toward a hybrid strategy: Allow app makers (and Facebook) to extend social-graph functionality to the web, gather more app users, and recruit more members--but retain full control over the social graph itself. This is precisely the approach we are taking with Notches. A "walled garden" is nice because you retain all control, but these days you need... Posted Jan 27 2008, 12:38 PM by Tim with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, Software Development, Web 2.0, Facebook, Notches

• Facebook: Lawsuits, IPOs, and Acquisitions

  ConnectU is suing Facebook for, among other things, copyright infringement, breach of contract, theft of trade secret. (It should be noted that Facebook is counter-suing for business torts and unfair business practices). ConnectU (which started at Harvard Connection) alleges that Mark Zuckerberg was brought on as a member of the ConnectU development team, given access to the existing code base and business plans, and eventually "stole" them. For more details, read the full set of complaints and other filings . Rob is wondering why no one is covering this lawsuit ... it's certainly a big deal given the recent valuations and talk of an IPO. As Mike Arrington notes , "this isn’t a case of plaintiffs looking for a quick buck as billion dollar valuations are discussed" - this is actually a long-standing dispute that commenced long before we were saying "Facebook" and "billions" in the same sentence. Facebook recently acquired Parakey , a as-yet-launched... Posted Jul 24 2007, 07:19 AM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Web 2.0, Business, Microsoft, Google, Startup, Venture Capital, Facebook

• I Don't Get Twitter

  I am really struggling to find value in Twitter, and I'm certainly not the only one staying out of the Twitter lovefest. It is mildly interesting from a technical perspective but doesn't really add much to what I can do today. (Not to mention it's been down and/or slow under the load lately). Perhaps the only real draw is that "everyone" is on there - but we all know love for social networks can be fleeting (see, e.g., Friendster, Facebook). As Yogi classically put it , "nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded." At this point, yet another network doesn't excite me. What would excite me? Aggregation of my networks, identities and connections. I guess I'm really just looking for the Trillian of social networks. (There are people out there trying to do this, but I haven't found any that seem to do it really well. Feel free to leave a link if you know of or run one of these sites). Of course, we all know what this is really about . Damn cats... Posted Mar 22 2007, 12:01 PM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Technology, Rants, Things that amuse me, Web 2.0, Social Behavior, Facebook