Facebook’s New Privacy Improvements Are a Positive Step, But There’s Still More Work to Be Done http://eff.org/n/10928

This might be what a lot of us have been searching for: Diaspora*, which is being designed to be a “personally controlled, do-it-all, distributed open-source social network.”  Developed by four students at NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Diaspora* is a social network built on privacy. Essentially, Diaspora* is software that will enable users to set up their own personal servers, called “seeds,” create their own hubs and have full control over the information they choose to share amongst friends.

The project has gained a good deal of support.  The team behind Diaspora* launched a funding campaign on Kickstarter to help them achieve their plan of being able to work non-stop for the next 3 months so that the software can be released by end of summer.  The initial goal was to receive at least $10,000 by June 1st.  As of today, they are fully funded at $189,797.

I’m excited to see how this pans out and will be following the team’s progress this summer.

BGR: AT&T employees told to prepare for June launch of new iPhone http://bit.ly/anzzEx [post] (via @TUAW)

Apple updates MobileMe with sync, security improvements http://is.gd/chPaq (via @macworld)

Oops! Revision! Apple stores closing TODAY, Friday the 30th, from 4pm-5pm to prep for iPad 3G+Wi-Fi launch http://tinyurl.com/35x88q

Hey NYC Mac users: Apple Retail Stores to Close From 4-5 PM Tomorrow in Advance of iPad 3G Launch http://bit.ly/apq8lu (via @MacRumorsRSS)

Adobe Ships Creative Suite 5 http://tmo.to/edWC (via @MacObserver)

Our tech James was going to wait for the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G, but he just happened to walk past the Apple Store the day the iPad Wi-Fi debuted…

James bought the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad, which he says is indeed an amazing device, and is easily as much of a paradigm shift as the original iPhone was, if not more.

James is able to functionally leave his laptop at home 90% of the time, and the iPad is small and light enough that he can always have it with him. The iBooks app allows him to get some reading done when he takes to the subway.  James has re-ordered the 3G iPad, which will be much much much more functional for him as he’s constantly out and about.  We’ll give a report on that later this month.

James’ only minor complaint is that some of the apps available for iPhone aren’t quite up to speed for iPad yet:

• Office2 app interfaces with Google Docs pretty well, and Pages and Numbers are pretty sweet.
• Server Admin Remote has been updated for the iPad, but still waiting for iStat to follow suit.
• A couple of different VNC clients are already out — waiting to see who rises to the top.

James says he’s hoping for a Firefox and an Apple Airport Utility for the iPad as well.

You can check out an iPad at your local Apple Store or take the guided tour online here.

A word of caution from James when using your iPad in public — you may not be able to use it without being stared at or talked to.  Yes, it’s that stupendous.

iPhone OS 4 is arriving sometime this summer!  The major new iPhone OS features and improvements are:

• Multitasking (only available with iPhone 3GS and third-generation iPod touch 32GB and 64GB models from late 2009)
• Folders – organize your apps
• iBooks – read books on your iPhone
• Enhanced Mail – unified inbox, switch between inboxes more quickly, organize messages by threads, and the ability to open attachments in third-party apps

Other exciting new features and improvements include:

• Spell check
• Bluetooth keyboard support
• User-defined wallpaper
• Tap to focus when recording video and a 5x digital zoom for the camera
• Playlist creation and nested playlists
• Game Center — an official social gaming network for the iPhone

You can catch the official Apple keynote on the new iPhone OS 4 here.

Hands on with Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 – http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/04/23/hands-on-with-microsoft-office-for-mac-2011/