EarthLink Member Center Blog

Google Announcing New Products at I/O Conference

The biggest Internet news of the week is coming from Google, which just yesterday kicked off its 6^th annual Google I/O developer conference.

The conference, which over 6,000 developers are attending at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, is still going on right now and will conclude tomorrow. But there has been quite a lot of buzz about what Google has already announced.

Here’s a rundown of the biggest announcements from the Google I/O developer conference so far:

• Google Play Music All Access: This is a new, unlimited streaming music/Internet radio subscription service. It offers access to millions of tracks, playlists and suggestions based on music you already own and like, and let you customize a streaming radio station based on specific songs or artists (a la Pandora). You can stream music on Web or Android phones and tablets. The service will cost $9.99 a month, but if you sign up for a free 30-day trial before June 30^th, you’ll pay only $7.99 a month. CNET has a review of the new All Access service. Or visit Google Play Music.

• Google Play social gaming: Google is launching a new platform that will allow game developers to build in more social gaming aspects as well as take advantage of Google’s cloud storage capabilities, so you could play and pause a game on Android devices, iOS decices, PCs or Macs. See the Wall Street Journal for a review.

• Google Maps: The popular map and direction service has been totally rebuilt. The next generation of Google Maps offers a more full-screen, less cluttered view with a search box built into the map itself. You’ll get a lot more options with your map searches: more local points of interest, more business information, street view and satellite imagery options, photo tours, and more. You’ll likewise get more options for directions: car, public transportation, walking, biking, flying. The new maps is available for the Web, on Android devices, or iPhone. Google has a preview of the new Maps and links to downloads here.

• Google Search: Google previewed its work on conversational search. When it launches, you’ll be able to say “OK, Google, will it be raining this weekend in Central Park?” and get your answer spoken back to you. You can then ask follow-up questions. Google also announced improvements to its Knowledge Graph, to answer factual questions more precisely and fully. And Google Now updates offer reminders based on time and your current location. See Google’s Inside Search blog for more details.

• Google Hangouts: Google launched a new Hangouts chat, video chat and unified messaging app that works across platforms. You can use it to text, send photos, or have a group video conference; SMS integration is reportedly coming soon (but not for iOS). The new Hangouts replaces Google Talk and G+ Messenger. It’s now available on Android, iOS, Chrome and Gmail. Read a review of Hangouts on Techcrunch.

• Google+: The social network site has been redesigned to work better across platforms (Web and mobile devices). Google+ Photos also features a number of important updates: Auto Backup, Auto Highlight, Auto Enhance, and the more-awesomely named Auto Awesome. Google has an overview of G+ changes here.

That’s not all. Watch for more updates on Google’s Official Blog.

You can also keep up-to-the-minute on Google announcements and even watch live streaming video of the ongoing developers conference here.

The post Google Announcing New Products at I/O Conference appeared first on EarthLink Blog: Internet services, Web Hosting, IT services.

4 Email Account Security Tips

submitted by Peter Chronis

These days criminals are using a variety of techniques to compromise and gain access to accounts across the Internet.  They then often use these compromised accounts to send spam or gain unauthorized access to a victim’s private information (emails, banking information, etc.).

Just take a look at all the recent stories about stolen passwords and hacked accounts from some of the most popular sites on the Internet today.

To reduce the risk of getting your accounts hacked into or compromised, we recommend that you take the following precautions to protect yourself:

1. Be Careful What You Click
Never reply to emails or click on email links that ask for your username and password. Our spam prevention partners have tracked a significant increase in phishing worldwide. Criminals often use phishing scams to help gather credentials.  Phishing is a term used to describe false emails sent from spammers claiming to be sent from a legitimate company (for example, EarthLink or well-known banks) and asking for your username and password. These fraudulent emails may look quite authentic – so beware.

2. Use Varying Usernames and Passwords
Don’t use the same username and password across multiple sites like email, banking and social network sites. Recent security research revealed that, on average, people use the same credentials to log into 49 different sites. Email usernames and passwords can be acquired from security breaches suffered by other service or product providers (tens of millions of credentials have been reported this year alone by other service or product providers). If you are using the same password for your EarthLink account as other accounts that were breached, then spammers may use this information to access your EarthLink email and send spam.

For these reasons, it’s good to have a system to generate strong, unique passwords for all the sites you use. Just follow these three simple steps.

You can change your EarthLink password here at any time.

3. Run an Antivirus Program to Curb Malware Infections
Some malware today is designed to run stealthily on your computer while it records the usernames and passwords to sites you access (your Web Mail, online banking, etc.).  Some security firms are reporting malware infection rates as high as 1 in 3 computers worldwide.  To protect yourself, the first step is to run an antivirus scan on your computer.  This can be done with any antivirus program of your choice.  EarthLink offers Norton 360 Online as a premium antivirus subscription with a Free 30-Day Trial if you want to check it out.

4. Choose Your Secret Hint and Word Wisely
A secret word or hint is often used to verify your identity when account changes are being made. You should not use information associated with you that is readily available on the Internet or through other sources. If you are unsure, try doing a quick Internet search for yourself to see what you can find.  If you can find it, so can a hacker.

Stay safe out there and never hesitate to reach out if you have additional questions around email or password security.

For further support from EarthLink, visit our Knowledgebase Support Center.

The post 4 Email Account Security Tips appeared first on EarthLink Blog: Internet services, Web Hosting, IT services.

Cable Internet – Troubleshooting Cable Modem Connection Issues

Cable Internet access is more than just extremely fast. It’s also an extremely reliable way to connect to the Internet.

But connection issues do occasionally come up. The good news? Often you can quickly and easily troubleshoot and resolve the issue by looking at the cable Internet modem lights.

So, if you ever have problems connecting to the Internet, take a look at the cable modem lights and follow these recommendations.

Cable Modem Connection Light is Out

• If the light on the front of your cable modem that indicates your cable connection (it may be labeled Status, Online or Cable) is out or blinking, you will be unable to connect to the Internet.
• To re-establish your Internet connection, first make sure that the coaxial cable is firmly connected to the back of your modem.
• If the cable is properly connected to your modem and the light is still out, try to reset the modem.
• To reset your cable modem, press and hold the Reset button for five seconds. If your modem does not have a Reset button, you will need to power cycle (turn off, then on) your modem. See the complete steps for power cycling your modem below.

Cable Modem Power Light is Out

• If your modem’s power light is off, make sure that the modem is securely plugged in. Your cable modem should be plugged in and powered on 24 hours a day.
• If the modem appears to be securely plugged in and the power indicator light is still out, test the outlet or power strip your modem is using by plugging something else in. You can also plug the modem into another outlet and/or power strip that you know is in good working condition.
• If you have confirmed that your outlet and/or power strip are working and the cable is securely connected to the modem, but the power indicator is still off, a service call may be required. Try power cycling your modem (using the steps below) before you contact Technical Support.

Cable Modem PC Light is Out

• If the light on the back of your computer (next to the Ethernet cable connection) and/or the light labeled PC on your cable modem is out while your computer is on and your operating system loaded, your network card may not be functioning correctly.
• To troubleshoot your cable modem connection, try the following:
• Confirm that the Ethernet cable (which looks like a slightly enlarged phone cord) is securely plugged into both the cable modem and to the back of your computer. If the cable looks securely plugged in and the light on the back of your computer or your cable modem is still out, try unplugging the cable and plugging it back in to the back of the computer first and then the back of the cable modem.
• Try running the diagnostic program that came with your network card, if available.
• Reset your cable modem by pressing the reset button for five seconds or power cycle your modem using the steps below.
• Shut down and then restart your computer.
• If the above still does not solve the problem, please contact Technical Support.

Cable Modem Light is Blinking

• If you are having problems receiving email or browsing the Web, you should verify that your cable Internet modem is successfully communicating with the broadband network.
• Depending upon the type of modem you are using, the cable Internet connection indicator light on the front of your modem may be labeled as Status, Online or Cable.
• If that light is blinking, you may need to reset your cable modem by pressing the Reset button for five seconds. If your modem does not have a Reset button, you will need to power cycle (turn off, then on) your modem (see detailed steps below).
• If, after one or two minutes, the connection light on your cable modem continues to blink, a Technical Service call may be required.

Cable Modem Light is Orange

• If the light on your cable modem labeled Status is orange, you will be unable to connect to the Internet. To re-establish your connection:
  1. Make sure that the coaxial cable is firmly connected to the back of your modem.
  2. If the light is still orange, try to reset your cable modem. To do so, unplug the modem and leave it unplugged for one minute.
  3. Plug the modem back in, and wait one or two minutes for it regain connection.
  4. If the light does not turn green, a Technical Service call may be required.

How to Power Cycle Your Cable Internet Modem

Windows Users

1. Make sure the coaxial cable is plugged securely into your cable modem.
2. Unplug the cable modem from the power source.
3. Leave the modem unplugged for two minutes.
4. Plug the cable modem directly into the wall outlet.
5. Wait for the modem to regain block sync (this usually takes just one minute or less but may take up to five minutes).
6. When your cable modem lights are illuminated and steady, try visiting at least two websites.
7. If the lights on your cable modem are correctly illuminated but you can’t get on the Web, run winipcfg or ipconfig, verify that you have obtained a valid IP address and try release/renew.
8. Try once more to access a couple of websites.
9. If you still can’t connect to the Web, shut down your computer and turn off the power by pushing the On/Off button on your computer.
10. Restore the power and turn your computer back on.
11. Try connecting to the Web again.
12. If your cable lights are properly illuminated and the steps above have failed to restore your connection, you will need to call Technical Support.

Mac Users

1. Make sure the coaxial cable is plugged securely into your cable modem.
2. Unplug the cable modem from the power source.
3. Leave the modem unplugged for two minutes.
4. Shut down the computer and turn it off.
5. Plug the cable modem directly into the wall outlet.
6. Wait for the modem to regain block sync (this usually takes just one minute or less but may take up to five minutes).
7. Check the lights on your modem to ensure the cable lights are steady.
8. If the lights are illuminated, try visiting various Web sites.
9. If your cable lights are properly illuminated and the steps above have failed to restore your connection, you will need to call Technical Support.

The post Cable Internet – Troubleshooting Cable Modem Connection Issues appeared first on EarthLink Blog: Internet services, Web Hosting, IT services.

Managing Your EarthLink Web Hosting Account

One of the great benefits that all EarthLink Web Hosting and professional website design customers can take advantage of is the EarthLink Web Hosting Control Center.

We’ve previously posted about several of the sections of the Control Center, including how to build your website, how to manage your domain email, how to manage your website, and how to manage your domain.

Today we’ll focus on the Manage Account section of the Control Center. It offers you one centralized place to access essential settings information, account statistics, alerts, available services, important account-related dates, disk usage, and more.

So let’s take a look.

Log in to Web Hosting Control Center

As always, you should start by going to control.earthlink.net and logging in with your Web Hosting domain name, username, and password. (If you have multiple domain names, you can access them all by using your primary domain information.)

Then, simply click the Account tab at the top of your screen to go to the Manage Account section of your Control Center.

Manage Account Tab

If you have more than one domain name, the first thing you’ll want to do is use the Show & Manage menu to select the domain you want to manage.

Client Settings 

Click the plus sign (+) next to FTP Settings, Mail Settings or FTP Dropbox Settings to verify these account-related settings. You’ll need the FTP setting if you are going to FTP files to your website (rather than only using our built-in Site Builder to control your website). Use the Mail Settings if you want to set up an email client to access your domain name email or use our Web Mail for Web Hosting.

Account Statistics

This section gives you a quick look at a few of your most important stats:

1. Disk Usage: see how much webspace you are currently using and what the limit of your web hosting plan is.
2. FTP Users: Just a reminder of how many people have FTP access to your domain.
3. Bandwidth: Similar to Disk Usage, it’s a snapshot of how much bandwidth (also called web transfer) you’ve used this month and your monthly Web Hosting account limit.

Assistants Manager

Click the Assistants Manager icon if you want to add users to your web hosting account and assign them specific privileges. See our previous post on adding web hosting assistants.

Alerts

It’s a good idea to click into the Alerts page of your Control Center every now and then to see if there are any issues that require your attention. Alerts listed here may be billing issues, system updates, announcements of planned downtime and other important information. Click to open and read any alert you have and then click the X to close the alert. Then choose to Mark as unread, Mark as read or Delete.

My Services

Click the My Services icon to view all available services as well as upcoming billing dates for all your web hosting services. This section gives you a quick look at this information only; if you need to modify any account information or make a payment, click the My EarthLink Account icon instead.

My EarthLink Account

Clicking My EarthLink Account opens a new browser window with our My Account portal, the place to go when you want to make any changes or updates to your Web Hosting account. See our previous post about My Account for more information.

Disk Usage

The Account Statistics section we mentioned above already gave you a quick look at your primary account statistics. Click into Disk Usage if you want a bit more. You’ll get a more detailed look at your available disk space, used disk space, free disk space, available bandwidth, current bandwidth, and email boxes. All stats are in megabytes (MB) except mailboxes, which show current number of boxes and the total allowed for your web hosting plan.

The statistics listed on top of the Disk Usage page are for the current month only. If you want to see how this information compares to other months, use the drop-down menu to select previous months.

The post Managing Your EarthLink Web Hosting Account appeared first on EarthLink Blog: Internet services, Web Hosting, IT services.

Happy Birthday to the Web – World’s First Website Back Online

Original proposal for the Word Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee.

The Web turned 20 this week, on Tuesday April 30.

It was on that day back in 1993 that Tim Berners-Lee, father of the Web, and CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) made the very first website public.

Though that historic world’s first website went offline long ago, it was recently recreated and is once again live at its original URL. We encourage you to take a look back to the future: http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html

No, it’s not much to look at. But it is one of the major milestones in the history of both technology and culture.

Also of historical importance on this anniversary of the Web is Berners-Lee’s original 1989 proposal to CERN to convince them to back his idea for the Web (which at the time he was calling “Mesh”). See the proposal for the Web.

It’s astounding to think: Just 20 years ago there was one lone website. Today there are an estimated 630 million websites, according to CERN.

Also astounding: EarthLink’s 20-year anniversary is just 11 months away in March 2014.

I knew EarthLink was founded in 1994, but it was just this week as the news reports came in about the 20^th anniversary of the Web that it struck me just how close to the very beginnings of the Web EarthLink started.

And we’re still going strong.

From all of us here at EarthLink: Happy Birthday to the World Wide Web!

The post Happy Birthday to the Web – World’s First Website Back Online appeared first on EarthLink Blog: Internet services, Web Hosting, IT services.

Twitter Music, Twitter Comedy

Twitter, the big social network known for its little, 140-character post limit, is really branching out these days.

No, it’s not giving you more characters, but it is expanding its scope: into both music and comedy.

Last Thursday saw the launch of Twitter #music, which was officially announced on TV’s Good Morning America.

According to the company’s official blog post announcement, Twitter #music is “a new service that will change the way people find music, based on Twitter.”

The new music service, currently available as on the web at music.twitter.com or as an iOS app for iPhone and iPad (sorry Android users), uses tweets and other engagement metrics to promote the most popular music tracks and emerging artists. It also showcases the music-related Twitter activity of artists and makes it simple to check out artist profiles or tweet songs.

Twitter pulls the tracks from iTunes, Spotify and Rdio. Everybody can listen to song previews; Spotify and Rdio subscribers can sync their accounts to get access to full tracks.

So, why would you want to listen to music on Twitter versus all the other options you have?

Well, you might not. But the unique experience Twitter #music can offer is that it can recommend songs and artists based on your Twitter follower data (artists you follow directly, as well as the artists followed by the people you follow) in the Suggested tab. It can also play music that’s tweeted out by people you follow who use the #NowPlaying hashtag; you can access that music in the #NowPlaying tab.

Check it out and let us know what you think of Twitter #music.

If last week was about Twitter getting its groove on, next week looks like lots of laughs.

Cable TV channel Comedy Central is hosting a five-day comedy festival that will feature both young comics like Amy Schumer and legends like Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, as well as directors Paul Feig and Judd Apatow. And the festival, called #ComedyFest, will take place almost entirely on Twitter.

Jokes will be tweeted with the festival’s #ComedyFest hashtag and clips of comedy routines and panel discussions will be shared on Twitter using the Vine video platform.

#ComedyFest kicks off next Monday, April 29. You can see the full festival line-up on Comedy Central’s Tumblr page.

Be sure to follow @ComedyCentral on Twitter for festival updates.

Let us know what your favorite tweeted jokes are in the comment section below.

And speaking of Twitter, if you’re not already a follower, we encourage you to follow @EarthLink and @EarthLinkBiz on Twitter. Thanks!

The post Twitter Music, Twitter Comedy appeared first on EarthLink Blog: Internet services, Web Hosting, IT services.

How to Manage Your Domain with the EarthLink Web Hosting Control Center

Domain names are such an important part of business web hosting that web hosting is often called domain hosting or domain web hosting.

We’ve previously posted about the best domain names for SEO, branding and online success, how to choose a domain name, step by step, and why you should buy multiple version of your domain name.

Today we’ll cover how you can manage your domain in the EarthLink Web Hosting Control Center.

To get started, go to our Web Hosting Control Center at control.earthlink.net and sign in with your domain name, user name and password. Then click Manage Domain from the top navigation. Depending on the status of your domain, you’ll see six to nine icons representing all your domain name management options.

1. DNS Records
2. Change Domain Password
3. Manage Nameservers
4. Manage Domain Contacts
5. Lock/Unlock Domains
6. Domain Monitor Settings
7. Domain Guard Settings
8. Domain Redirect
9. Add Subdomain

DNS Records: First, the warning: you probably shouldn’t  change DNS settings unless you really know what you’re doing. If you make a mistake, your entire domain could be inaccessible for up to 72 hours. Ouch! If you’re not scared off, the DNS manager makes it easy to make changes to your zone file, which allows you to set up domain redirects, add subdomains, and add email servers to your domain. Add or delete MX Records, A Records and CNAME Records.

Change Domain Password: This one’s very simple: click this icon to change the password for your domain. The Transfer Authorization Code of your domain will be set to match your domain password.

Manage Nameservers: Click this icon to manage all the nameservers on your domain. If your domain is locked, you’ll need to unlock it first before you can change any of your nameservers.  Luckily that Lock/Unlock Domains tool is in the same Manage Domain section of the Control Center.

Manage Domain Contacts: This tool lets you make changes to the contact information associated with your website. Click the checkbox above the contacts form if you want to use the same person as your Registrant, Administrative, and Technical contact; otherwise enter unique contact information for each type.

Lock/Unlock Domains: To prevent your domain name from being hijacked, you may want to click here and lock your domain. If it’s already locked, click here to unlock if you need to change your nameservers or transfer to another domain registrar.

Domain Monitor Settings: Domain Monitor is a complete, unmetered domain status monitoring tool. It lets you monitor the daily status of any domain and get daily email updates when one or more of your domain names changes status.

Domain Guard Settings: Domain Guard lets you know each time a new domain is registered that is similar to yours. This can help you protect your trademarks, copyrights, and brand.

Domain Redirect: This tool makes it simple to redirect pages or directories on your website to other locations. You choose whether you want them to be 301 redirects (permanent redirect that’s best for SEO) or a 302 temporary redirect. You can also specify Global Redirection of your domain to one version (www.YourDomain.com or YourDomain.com), which is also beneficial for SEO.

Add Subdomain: Create a new subsection of your website that replaces the www domain prefix in your URL instead of appearing after the domain.

For example, the EarthLink.net domain has several subdomains (support, webmail, myaccount, control, etc.):

• http://support.earthlink.net
• http://webmail.earthlink.net
• http://myaccount.earthlink.net
• http://control.earthlink.net

Simply enter any keyword you want to use as a subdomain and click the Add Sub-Domain button.

That’s all there is to it.

And remember, you don’t have to do it all yourself. You can add an assistant to your web hosting account to help you manage your domain.

The post How to Manage Your Domain with the EarthLink Web Hosting Control Center appeared first on EarthLink Blog: Internet services, Web Hosting, IT services.

Top 10 Dial-Up Connection Solutions

If you’re using Dial-up Internet access to get online, it’s smart to keep a list of troubleshooting tips in case something ever goes wrong.

The good news is that most of the things that do go wrong are very easy to fix. Trust us —we’ve been helping our dial-up Internet members connect more reliably since way back in 1994.

So, if you ever can’t connect to the Internet, the dial-up Internet experts here at EarthLink recommend you try our top 10 dial-up solutions:

• Wait a few minutes (really, that’s all)
  If you were recently connected to the Internet and haven’t changed anything, your dial-up connection may automatically reconnect depending on your configurations. So just give it a few minutes. If your dial-up connection does not recover after several attempts, you should move on to the next suggested solutions.

• Restart your computer
  Turn off your computer; wait for 30 seconds; then turn it on and try your dial-up connection again. This super-simple solution is often all you need to do.

• Check your phone line
  Dial-up Internet access requires an open phone line. So make sure no one in your home starting using your phone in another room. Unfortunately, you can’t browse the Internet and talk on the phone at the same time. (Also, check that a phone wasn’t left off the hook.)

• Check all cords and cables
  Cords and cables sometimes get knocked out or loosened. So make sure your phone line is securely plugged into your computer or external modem (if you’re using one) and the phone jack in your wall.

• Check for hardware problems
  If you have an external dial-up modem, make sure its lights are on or shows signs that it is plugged in and functioning. If you are using a surge protector, make sure that it is on (it’s pretty easy to accidently bump a surge protector and turn it off). Make sure that the outlet that you are using is working by plugging something else into it. Then try plugging your modem into another outlet. If it still shows no signs of it working, you may have to replace the modem.

• Check our Network Outages page
  If you can get to the Internet from your smartphone, tablet, or a different computer, visit our Network Outages page at http://support.earthlink.net/contact/outages.php to see if there are known problems with our dial-up network. If there is an outage listed, you can be sure we’re working to get it resolved as soon as possible and you can check back for confirmation that it’s fixed.

• Double check your email address and password
  Your email address and password are both case sensitive (so capitalization matters) and they need to be entered exactly for you to be able to connect. Mistyping passwords is one of the most common reason dial-up users fail to connect to the Internet. So ensure that your keyboard’s Caps Lock is off and retype your email address and password carefully.If you forgot your password (and can use another computer or device to connect to the Internet) you can reset it at https://myaccount.earthlink.net/cam/passmain.jsp.
  Important:  Your new password may take up to 20 minutes to activate in our system.

• Check your dial-up access number
  There is a possibility that you may have typed your local dial-up number in wrong or need a different local access number if you’re trying to connect in a different location. You can get a local dial-up access number here. Click here to learn how to manually change your dial-up access number.

• Check your dial-up connection setup
  There may be a few configuration settings that were overlooked. Check your dial-up connection settings here. If you used the EarthLink Access, reuse the software to set your dial-up connection up again.

• Update drivers and firmware
  Make sure that the drivers and firmware on your computer and modem are up-to-date. That process varies by computer and operating system, so check your computer’s help system if you don’t know how to do it.

The post Top 10 Dial-Up Connection Solutions appeared first on EarthLink Blog: Internet services, Web Hosting, IT services.

Facebook Home – the Not-Quite Facebook Phone

For months now, the Facebook rumors and speculation have been flying:

• “Facebook is thinking about launching a phone.”
• “Facebook is going to launch a phone.”
• “What will the Facebook phone look like?” 
• “Will the Facebook phone be a Google killer or an Apple killer?” 
• “When will Facebook finally unveil its phone?” 

Well, the when question has been answered. But what Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled last Thursday wasn’t exactly the long-rumored and now-expected Facebook Phone. But neither was it just another Facebook mobile phone app. It’s really something in the middle. Something called Facebook Home.

Facebook Home is a kind of super-app that takes over your Android phone’s home and lock screens and fills them with live updates from your Facebook account with a feature called Cover Feed.

With Facebook Home, you’ll not only be able to see your Facebook news feed, including full-screen photos, but you’ll also be able to Like things, comment on posts, or initiate Facebook Messenger Chats. New messages, by the way, will pop up a round icon showing your friend’s face. It’s a new feature called “Chat Heads” that will allow you to chat even while using other phone features.

As Facebook describes it, Home is “the family of apps that puts your friends at the heart of your phone.” Visit the official Facebook Home page for their overview and highlights. There’s also a brief FAQ that covers the basics of using Facebook Home.

But what about some more objective opinions?

Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg wrote that he “found Facebook Home easy to use, elegantly designed and addictive,” noting that it prompted him to interact with Facebook more than ever. For big Facebook fans, he added, this could be “a big win.”

The New York Times’ David Pogue had a more mixed response, mostly noting the tradeoffs Home users will have to make (loss of easy access to other apps) and some “confusing” aspects of the user interface. In summary, he wrote “everything in Home is attractive, smooth and quick. At the same time, there’s something vaguely incoherent about the whole operation.”

On Mashable, Lance Ulanoff writes that he found the scrolling Cover Feed “undeniably compelling” and that Facebook Home may “suck you back in” if you’ve been drifting away from Facebook. He said in just 36 hours, it prompted him to spend “more time on Facebook than I  have in the past three months.” But, he reminds us that the Cover Feed is expected to get ads at some point in the near future, a feature that “may annoy some people.”

Facebook Home is scheduled to be available tomorrow, April 12, as a free download from the Google Play store on these four Android phones:

• Samsung Galaxy S III
• Samsung Galaxy Note
• HTC One X
• HTC One X+

Other Android phones will follow. No iPhone, however. Apple’s iOS doesn’t allow the same kind of Home screen takeover that Google’s Android OS does.

And speaking of phones, there is one new phone that’s being called, informally at leaset, the Facebook Phone. It’s the HTC First — as in the first phone to have Facebook Home preinstalled, which Facebook claims is “the best Home experience possible.”

Reviews of the HTC First and its Facebook Home integration were mixed. TechCrunch called the new phone “an impressive first try” and did a nice round-up of other HTC First and Facebook Home reviews.

The post Facebook Home – the Not-Quite Facebook Phone appeared first on EarthLink Blog: Internet services, Web Hosting, IT services.

Living with Social Media

Social media has completely permeated our culture.  No one will be mad if you pass up using super-specific social networking sites and apps (like Pinterest), but you’ll definitely get sideways looks if you tell people you’re not on Facebook.

It’s odd that, with all the popularity of social media, theredon’t seem to be any tips sheets or guides on how to “properly” use it. And that’s exactly why EarthLink has put together a quick cheat sheet to help you with the basics:

BE YOURSELF

When the internet was newer, anonymity was key.  Disguising your true identity with usernames like “HappyMom97″ was a socially acceptable way to communicate through your computer.  This is no longer the case.  People want to find you (actual people from your past and present, like your friends, relatives, and coworkers), so it’s expected that you will now use your real name and a real photo in your social media profiles (some sites, like Google+, even require it!).  That being said, please NEVER including sensitive information like addresses, phone numbers, or even your current and past employment (the one exception is LinkedIN, a professional social site where it pays to show off your resume).

WRITE FOR YOUR MOTHER

If you wouldn’t want your mother to read it or see it, don’t post about it or upload a picture of it.  Only share photos of yourself that you’d be proud for an employer to see (the number of employers using social media to check up on applicants and current employees is on the rise), and try to avoid heated discussions.  Those conversations always work better face-to-face, and people reading it can easily take what you say out of context, no matter how well-worded or thought-out it is.

BE FRIENDS WITH…FRIENDS

Only “friend” people you know in real life.  If you get a message from a stranger, feel free to message back (most sites allow messaging…like an in-social-media email…between non “friends”), but don’t “add” them until you’ve met or spoken outside of social media.

KNOW HOW TO COMMUNICATE

• Send a message if you want it to privately talk to someone
• Post on a friend’s wall if it’s for a specific person, but one of your or their friends might enjoy what you’re sharing (like a recipe or a video of a sleeping cat)
• Post a status about something general that all your friends might enjoy (like the deal on lunch you discovered)
• Only comment on a post or status with something relevant (Example: if the original post is “I adore ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE by The Beatles,” comment “Me too!” and not “I miss you…how are you?”  That’s better for a separate wall post or message.

Use these as a jumping off point to get yourself settled into communicating through social media.  It’s meant to be a fun way to represent yourself online, so have fun with it!

The post Living with Social Media appeared first on EarthLink Blog: Internet services, Web Hosting, IT services.