While we haven’t confirmed whether or not the move is permanent, Facebook appears to be in the process of rolling out a live feed ticker to the homepage of all users.

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Facebook comes up with its search results in a curious way. It seems that the order is based on who you interact with, whose profile you look at and who you have recently become friends with. But how can we be sure of that?
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Today, Facebook announced a redesigned developer application to make it easier to update basic app settings all in one place.

A Facebook spokesperson told us via email that the streamlined user interface shows the different app integrations (web, app on Facebook, mobile devices, page tab) and walks developers through the fields needed to get started.

To see the changes, click on edit settings for an app. The new layout includes settings (with basic and advanced sub-menu items), roles and credits.

The basic page gives developers one place to configure settings and provide a summary page for the app. The settings build a simple “Hello World” app on Facebook platform.

The top banner of the page has the app name, image, icon, app ID and app secret. Upload a 75×75 pixel app image by hovering over the app image to edit it. Or, click on the edit icon link next to the icon to upload a new 16×16 pixel app icon.

Then, fill in the basic info section with information that applies to all app integrations.

• The app display name is the user-facing name of the app.
• App namespace is the short app name used for the Canvas Page URL (apps.facebook.com/YOUR_APP_NAMESPACE).
• Contact email is the primary address that Facebook uses to contact you.
• Category describes the app’s content.

The last section allows developers to choose how their app integrates through Facebook. Select whether you own or want to build a website, an app on Facebook, a native mobile app, or a page tab app.

The advanced page includes the rest of the settings such as authentication, migrations, security, advanced canvas settings (visible only to apps on Facebook) and contact info. Roles and credits remain the same.

The updated developer app went out to a limited number of developers today and will be available to everyone over the next week, according to Facebook’s official developer blog.

This is part of Facebook’s Operation Developer Love, an ongoing effort to provide new features based on feedback. Other recent changes include the ability to add and manage test users and the ability to use Facebook groups to manage app roles.

Readers, what do you think of the new changes to the developer app?

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Google Plus is obviously still in testing mode, despite its impressive growth. But if the search-engine giant really wants to up the ante in its competition with Facebook, here are seven features the veteran social network boasts that are not yet offered by the newcomer.
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The conciliatory tone toward Apple that sources close to Facebook’s Project Spartan expressed earlier this week may be the best way to proceed, since it will be difficult for anyone to approach the numbers Apple announced Thursday.

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Over the past couple days Facebook has been shutting down a large number applications due to changes to the automated platform monitoring system. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the right amount of time before speaking ill of the dead? For movie critic Roger Ebert, it took only hours to criticize the late Jackass star Ryan Dunn for drinking and driving. Facebook just as swiftly took the film critic’s page down.
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Yesterday, Facebook reached the fourth anniversary of the Facebook platform, marking a major milestone for the now global social network.
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This afternoon Facebook announced changes to their developer roadmap, which will force both canvas apps and websites to migrate to OAuth 2.0 and obtain SSL certificates.
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