Google Unleashes Orkut Scrap Alerts, Kills Off Competition

Alas, it looks as if Google's latest feature may be the death knell that kills off some of my favorite Orkut hacks such as Orkut Alert.

Called Scraps Alert, this handy feature will inform users whenever a friend (or stranger) posts a message inside your scrapbook.

(Official Orkut Blog) With scrap alerts you can be on any orkut page and find out that you have received a scrap - that very minute. You could be browsing your friend's photos, and find out "hey! I just got a new scrap." Then you can click on the "Scrapbook" link to reply on the spot. This way you'll be free to explore all of orkut, comforted in the knowledge that when you have received a new scrap, you'll know about it that moment.

Google is quickly rolling this feature out to all of its users over the next few days, so if you do not see it now, chances are you will discover it by the beginning of next week.

My only complaint about the feature is that its colors clash with Orkut's blue background, making it an eyesore.

Hopefully someone from Google will rethink the Scrap Alert's color scheme, or better yet allow users to customize their own.

Note: When is Google going to do something similar for forums? (hint, hint)

Can Hyperlinks And Snap.com Make Orkut Cleaner And Safer?

A long, long time ago in a place much, much bluer than it is today, Google allowed users to hyperlink text within any orkut forum.

Unfortunately, due to the massive spam wars, Google disabled hyperlinked text, only to make it up to everyone by automatically linking to any web address pasted in fully.

While seeing the entire web address can help users determine whether or not the link is safe, it has also made posting information to articles outside of orkut look extremely tacky, making orkut less beautiful.

One way Google could bring back beauty as well as maintain security to the orkut universe is by integrating Snap.com (or Snap Shots) within their forums and scrapbooks.

Note: For those of you who don't know, Snap Shots allow users to preview a site before visiting it by providing a screen shot (in a "bubble") that activates once a users scrolls over a link.

I have added it to this site, after first hearing about it over on TechCrunch a long ways back.

This would give users a heads up on whether the site is safe for work or even inform them if the link will take them to a page off site.

Orkut could customize the code to place a bubble around non-Google properties, which would help cut down on users clicking on fake orkut sites stealing Google accounts through phishing.

Google is already using snap shots on one of their sites, and installing it within orkut along with hyperlinks would probably make reading scrapbooks (as well as forums) much more enjoyable.

New: Hide Your Orkut Albums, Video's And Testimonies From Public View

(Hat Tip: Jerry from Orkut Plus)

Google has recently given users the ability to hide their Orkut albums, videos and even testimonies from public view. This is great news, especially for girls as it will help prevent morons from stealing their images and cloning them on Orkut.

In order to activate this users will have to visit the "Privacy Tab" which can be accessed by visiting this link:

http://www.orkut.com/PrivacySettings.aspx

Next, scroll down towards the bottom of the page until you see the "allow content to be viewed by" text.



You will notice two columns, one with drop menu's and the other simply listing the features you can hide from public view.

Simply select whether you want your albums, video's and testimonies to be viewed by friends or to the world.

This move should help keep down "image theft" on Orkut, and teamed up with the scrapbook privacy settings should make Orkut a much safer place online.

Note: I would HIGHLY recommend ladies on Orkut to make your albums, video's and testimonies private, as the last thing you want is some creep trying to figure out your fashion tastes are, not to mention what your friends say about you.

Who Will Dominate Orkut? Picasa, Or Slide.com?

Several days ago Google announced that they were making it easier for users to post images from Picasa Albums onto their friends scrapbook.

(Official Orkut Blog) In order to make it simpler to add photos, you can now access all your Picasa Web Albums from the photo picker. Simply go to your friend's scrapbook, click on "add photo" and select the "Picasa Web Album" tab in the photo picker [...]

This way if you've got hundreds of photos on Picasa Web (like me!) you can easily have your pick of the best ones by grabbing it right from the album, rather than having to re-upload photos from your computer.

While I am excited that Google is finally exposing more users to Picasa (as many people have yet to discover Picasa) this may be in response to Slide.com dominating the scene ever since Google allowed users to send fancy scraps to one another.

Before diving into whether or not Slide.com can handle Picasa's entrance into the scrapbook, here are some instructions (with images) on how to add your Picasa Ablum to your friend's scrapbook.

After visiting your friend's scrapbook, locate and click on the add photo button ...



...which will force a new window to "pop up." Next, select the Picasa Web Albums tab...



...and choose which album you would like to insert.



Last but not least, select the image you would like to use...



...and it should appear in your friend's scrapbook for all to see.

As far as competition goes, this feature does give Picasa an advantage over its rivals, although I am not too sure if it will dethrone Slide in the long run.

While both Picasa and Slide allow users to embed slide shows, what separates Slide from Picasa is that it gives users the ability to insert music within, which makes viewing images a whole lot easier.

Note: Hopefully the Picasa team will consider something similar, although I would not be surprised if they decided to outsource the audio to sites like Odeo.

Orkut: Indian Users Can Sport Diwali Background Theme

(Hat Tip: Rupesh Mandal of FunduBytes)

It looks as if Google is allowing Indian users to spice up their Orkut homepage by adding a Diwali theme to the background.

The feature is only available (and viewable) to Indian users to my knowledge, and Rupesh was kind enough to email me a snap shot on what it looks like on his profile.



In order to activate this, users have to click on the Happy Diwali link near their user name.

Despite my attempts at switching countries temporarily to India, the app refused to display for me.

Either way, I am glad Google is doing this for places like India, and it would be really cool if they did something similar for users living in Brazil, Pakistan and the US (hint, hint).

Review: Orkut's Mobius App (aka Ask Friends App)

So if you have not heard already, Google has released an app called Ask Friends (note: What's with the Mobius at the end?), in which you can ask your friends random questions to which you will hopefully receive some worthy advice.

Google posted about this on their Official Orkut Blog, while Rahul provides instructions (with pictures) on how to add this feature over on Devil's Workshop.

Perhaps the greatest strength and weakness about this app is its simplicity. It is easy enough that even the non-geek can understand how to use it, although without any extra features people may choose to send out mass scraps, especially now that users can send fancy scraps such as video's images, etc.

If Google allowed users to ask questions via video (perhaps using YouTube's Quick Capture) as well as embedded Google Maps (which would help people out if they were asking for directions) then this feature may find itself to be quite popular.

Note: Speaking of Maps, is it me or is the Orkut Frind Map down?

Video: Orkut API's Are Here! Now, Who Will Build The Best App?

Google has opened the doors to its rumored Orkut API's a lot sooner than what everybody thought.

Developers can now create custom apps that will work on not only Orkut, but a host of other social networks (including MySpace and Bebo which have recently joined).

(Official Orkut Blog) The orkut team continually tries to build new features based on your feedback -- features that help you better express yourself and communicate with friends. But no matter how hard we work, we can't build features fast enough for you. So to bring you as many new features as possible, today we're announcing that third-party developers will be able to build additional social experiences right into orkut. While we will be sure to maintain security, privacy and ease of use, opening up orkut to developers means that soon you will be able to add dynamic new applications that will make your orkut experience all the better.

Before any of these apps go live, Google is allowing developers to test out the features in a "sand box," for security and functional reasons, in order to make the experience enjoyable for everyone. Developers who are eager enough can sign up over here.

Google has also released a video (which is an hour long!) with even more details, but unless you are a hard core geek you may not find it to be very interesting.





Google has also started an OpenSocial Blog, which gives new comers some more info regarding the whole "social stream" affair.

One thing that I will enjoy about the OpenSocial/social stream movement is the fact that we will finally get to see developers from around the world create awesome content, instead of having them primarily located in the US.

Note: With Orkut opening itself up to the world, I wonder who is going to build the best app?