How do you know when a Facebook PR person is lying?

How do you know when a Facebook PR person is lying? When their lips move (or they issue a statement!) ba-dum ching!
We’ve been taking a beating today on our story about Facebook working on a branded mobile phone. Just like last year with the Google Phone, lots of people threw tantrums about how we made the story up right up until Google launched their own branded phone, the Nexus One.
And that’s what’s happening today, due in no small part to Facebook PR issuing what looks like a blanket denial of the story this morning. “The story is not accurate!”

Except the story is accurate. Facebook has been working with hardware manufacturers to explore building their own phone. We don’t know the timing, and we don’t know how deep the software stack is that Facebook is contemplating building, but we know that as of very recently the project was alive and well.
Here’s how Facebook is able to issue a blanket denial to a true story and get away with it:

First, give a solid soundbite that everyone will love. “The story is not accurate. Facebook is not building a phone.”
Note that those two sentences sound like they’re supposed to go together, but they aren’t. Technically what they’re saying is that at least one fact in the story is wrong. Also, Facebook is not going into the hardware building business. But what most people read is a flat denial. The story is wrong! Tabloid journalism!
Except, uh oh.
Second, Insert a ton of additional sentences that seem to support the initial dramatic statements. But what they’re really doing is putting in language that they can point to later that shows they weren’t technically lying. “Deeper integrations!” “INQ Phone!”

Third, and this is purely optional, add a good kick in the nuts on the way out. Maybe something about how people tend to exaggerate things to get headlines.
This is the statement that Facebook sent to everyone in the news business today, except us. Despite us asking for it.
So why did Facebook do this? Normally they would just say “we don’t respond to rumors and speculation” when anyone talks about leaks around future products. But this was different. Here’s the reason – they don’t want to freak out Google and Apple and everyone else. They work closely with these partners on Facebook’s existing applications. A Facebook branded phone may disrupt those discussions. Case in point.
Also, this project is likely just getting started. Two of the three rock stars just joined the company (Tseng and Papakipos from Google, Hewitt has been with Facebook since 2007). It could be a year or more before the phone hits the market. And any number of things could happen to make them kill the whole project off.
All we learned today was that the mobile space is so important that Facebook was willing to lie (while technically just spinning) about their plans. And they were so pissed off about the leak that they took that final shot at us as well. Nicely done Facebook.

Google Fights Back In Battle For Talent, But May Be Creating A Worse Problem For Itself

Earlier this month I wrote about the extraordinary steps Google is taking to retain talent. It doesn’t seem like such a big problem – after all LinkedIn is only tracking 118 (well, it’s 120 now) former Google employees now at Facebook. But it’s being taken very seriously at Google.

The counter offers we’ve confirmed are so large that some commenters scoffed, suggesting it wasn’t accurate data. But even former Googler now Facebooker Paul Buchheit has confirmed these counter offers.

And worse – he’s confirmed that many Google employees are interviewing with Facebook and Twitter, among others, simply to get a hefty raise. “Many people at Google use Facebook offers in order to get a big raise,” says Buchheit.


What’s Google offering? An immediate response for starters. They have put policies in place to ensure that an employee gets a response within 24 hours, we’ve confirmed from sources close to Google. Raises of 15% – 20% aren’t uncommon, as are new restricted stock grants ranging up to $500,000 in value. Employees are also often offered a different job, a move into a managerial role, etc.

Why does one of the hottest companies in the world need to work so hard to keep employees? Three words – Pre IPO stock. Silicon Valley is where even regular joe employees can make millions if they join the right company at the right time. And it’s a pretty safe bet that Facebook and Twitter are the right companies at the right time right now. So employees, particularly engineers, flock to those companies. Because of the stock options, as well as the chance to work at the hot company of the moment.

Google knows all about this because not so long ago they were the hot company and stole engineers effortlessly from Yahoo, Microsoft and just about everyone else.
It’s Different This Time

Google is doing more than just the usual recruiting stuff to fight this. Counter offers like these are relatively unheard of until now. In the past companies have let those engineers go, knowing it’s the way Silicon Valley cycles through things.

But some are saying that Google’s aggressive counter offering is actually creating a much bigger problem by encouraging even loyal employees to dip their toes into the Facebook pool. Why not? Only a sucker would sit and hope for recognition, when they can, as Buchheit says, “use Facebook offers in order to get a big raise.”

Maybe it’s better if Google just lets some of its engineers go. The finger in the dam approach rarely works, and it seems to be affecting morale across Google.

Staying secure when using Wi-Fi hotspots

Like many of your loyal readers, I frequently use public Wi-Fi places like coffee shops. I would appreciate some tips on how to improve my computer's security under this circumstance.
Dr David Null

Wi-Fi hotspots are often unprotected and unencrypted, with users doing their email and surfing the web in plain text. Anyone nearby can pick up the same radio signals and read them. Often this doesn't matter, but in general, it's best to avoid using public networks for banking and shopping. Note that sharing a public network can also provide access to your PC, so you must run a firewall and perhaps disable file and printer sharing in Windows. In Windows 7 and Vista, you can choose the park bench icon for an untrusted Public Network and not a Home or Work network. Microsoft has an advice page, 7 tips for working securely from wireless hotspots, with other details.
Some web pages, such as log-on pages, need better security, and these often use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) connections. You can tell when you're using SSL because the page address starts with https:// instead of http://, and the browser will show a lock icon in the bottom right-hand corner. However, some sites that use SSL to protect log-in details then switch to plain text for normal surfing.

Most people use either WEP or, preferably, WPA on their home Wi-Fi network, which means their communications are already encrypted. Large companies often provide mobile users with VPN (virtual private network) connections, so that everything is encrypted even if they use unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots. One alternative for the rest of us is to use a public VPN such as AchorFree's ad-supported HotSpot Shield which, in effect, sets up a VPN between your PC and AchorFree's server. Alternatives include HotSpotVPN.com and WiTopia.
A very similar alternative is to use an anonymous surfing service such as Megaproxy (mentioned here previously), which uses a "proxy server" to access the internet on your behalf. Because the communications between your PC and the proxy server are encrypted (essentially a VPN), you can access sites that might be banned locally. This is particularly useful in areas where the internet is censored, such as China. However, the encryption that provides anonymity also protects you from local snooping in Wi-Fi hotspots.
Anonymous surfing services make you appear to be surfing from a different country: the one where the proxy server is located. This is handy for accessing sites that block overseas users. However, free services can limit access to things you might want, such as streaming video or Skype, and add things you don't want, such as advertising banners. Even with paid-for proxy suppliers, the terms of service will usually forbid access to pornographic and other undesirable sites. (The hotspot provider can't read your data, but whoever is running the anonymous service is usually logging the sites you access.)
The Free Country has a list of some anonymous surfing services. You can also read the reviews and comments at the Gizmo Freeware page, Best Free Anonymous Surfing Service.
Another thing to watch out for when using a public Wi-Fi hotspot is the rogue or "evil twin" network, which is essentially a phishing scam. Users with a range of open Wi-Fi networks to choose from may be lured to pick one with a familiar sounding name, but it's a fake used to collect log-in names and passwords. I'm not sure how much of a threat this is, but it can be worth checking the exact name of a hotel, coffee bar or airport network before you log on.
Finally, watch out for physical risks. If you're using a public hotspot, someone may be literally looking over your shoulder and able to read anything on the screen. And if you leave your laptop unattended, someone might steal it. Either limit the amount of personal data you carry around or make sure it's password-protected and properly backed up. Losing an unprotected laptop could well be more serious than being snooped on at a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Facebook Has Quietly Implemented A De-Facto Follow Feature

few days ago, Facebook made what seemed to be a small tweak to its Friend Requests area. As first noted by Inside Facebook, the social network changed the way friend rejections work. Previously, you could either Confirm or Ignore (deny) a request. Now, Ignore has been replaced by “Not Now”. This new option takes some of the pressure off you having to reject people as it instead moves them into a state of limbo, where they’re neither accepted nor rejected. But it actually does a lot more as well.
You see, when someone requests to be your friend on Facebook, this automatically subscribes them to all of your public (“Everyone”) posts in their News Feed. Facebook doesn’t talk about this much, but it’s a very real feature, which we reported on in July of last year. You see these posts until this person rejects you (because obviously if they accept you as a friend, you’ll keep seeing them). So with this new Not Now button, and the removal of the simple rejection mechanism, Facebook has basically created a de-facto follow feature.