Tech Week in Review 2-19-2010

Gaming Foursquare

I guess you can’t really game a game, can you? One man, armed with the Foursquare API and a little coding knowledge, aimed to show potential flaws in the Foursquare checkin system. He checked in at a bunch of locations repeatedly, taking over mayorships across the globe. He mostly targeted well-known landmarks. Being that Foursquare is really just a location-based checkin service at heart, this news may not seem all that important. However, if enough people start cheating that it ruins the fun, Foursquare could have problems.

Could Foursquare Get You Fired?

Most of us are well aware that we have to be careful with our social media conduct and the things we share online. It’s pretty much become common knowledge that a potential employer might see your drunk party pics on Facebook and decide you’re not the right candidate. One area that might be getting overlooked is location-based checkins. Imagine if a potential employer notices that you spend quite a lot of time at the local bar or…uh…gentleman’s club? (via CenterNetworks)

Microsoft Trashes Apple and Google in Videos

I get the feeling from Microsoft’s latest promotional videos that they are in a desperate position. Losing market share to both Apple and Google in various areas, they have resorted to simply talking junk about their competitors. The first instance is in their promotional video for the upcoming Windows Mobile OS. Without ever saying Apple or iPhone, they completely trash the well known device, even attacking the App Store.

In their video Microsoft Compared to Google – Total Value Overview, they blatantly belittle Google Apps for business using the power of animation. They say that Google is missing basic features like Copy and Paste (what?) and it’s almost impossible to share documents with clients. Some of the information borders on lies and the narrator sounds oh so sad about the whole thing. I guess the bottom line is, a hit dog will holler.

Google Donates $2 Million to Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikimedia foundation just received a donation of $2 Million from the search giant to help continue operations for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Wikimedia is a non-profit that focuses on wiki-based multi-lingual solutions for a variety of applications. Most notable of these being Wikipedia. Since Wikipedia results usually dominate Google searches, maybe they felt compelled to help out.

Twitter Loves Open Source

Twitter has launched a directory of all the Open Source projects they support in an effort to show just how much they love Open Source stuff. It includes projects that they are working on and/or contributing to. Just in case the title of the page wasn’t convincing enough, it’s followed by this sub-heading:

Twitter is built on open-source software—here are the projects we have released or contribute to. Also see our engineering blog for more details.

The list is pretty extensive and impressive. It’s broken down my languages, including: C/C++, Java, Ruby, Scala. Each sub-section contains about 5 or 6 projects. Very interesting to explore for the more geeky of us. (via TC)

Google Voice Launches Tutorial Videos

Have no idea what Google Voice is? Don’t know what to do with it? Not sure if you need it? You’re definitely not alone and Google knows it. This is why they’ve released a set of 11 videos that aim to educate the average person about Google Voice and how to use it’s various features. They even delve into the entire concept of having one phone number to rule them all. Check out the official Google Voice YouTube Channel. If you still need an invite, ask around. Many GV users have 3 invites to share and don’t even know it.

About the Author
Rahsheen has been a certified geek since before it was the thing to do. He started programming and tinkering in the 4th grade. Now, Rahsheen mostly writes on various sites about technology trends in social media and mobile. . He is also a musician, singer, rapper, writer, and producer. @rahsheen - +Rahsheen Porter - coachrah.com
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