New Orkut Developer Blog?

(Hat Tip: Official Orkut Blog)

It looks as if Google has launched a blog site to keep the developer community (aka geeks) updated on the latest changes to the Orkut sandbox.

This is good news for users interested in either writing code (or playing around with Orkut apps), as it will help keep us all informed when problems are resolved by the Orkut staff (example: IE and Orkut are friends again).

Users can visit the blog site over at OrkutDeveloper.blogspot.com and be sure to subscribe to their feed (as FeedBurner is reporting zero readers as of this post).

Google Unveiling Orkut Apps To The Public

After several months of testing, Google is planning on releasing the first batch of (hopefully) many Orkut apps to the public.

(Official Google Blog) Starting this month, we're enabling developers to make their social applications available to orkut users. We'll start ramping up to more than 50 million people over the next few weeks.

To prepare for this growth, we're now accepting social applications. For a while now, developers have been able to write, test, and play with applications on orkut. Later this month, however, we're going to start rolling them out to orkut users. OpenSocial developers can submit their completed applications (deadline: Feb. 15).

While Google is silent on the total number of apps being tested in the Orkut Sandbox, those with access can test (and check out) a variety of applications over at the OpenSocial Directory.

It will be interesting to see which applications make the cut, although I am hoping that the Orkut Facebook App is approved, not to mention the various chat programs (especially Google Talk, although the greasemoneky version looks better in my opinion).

Orkut Privacy Forums: Good For Users, Bad For Cops

It looks as if the boys and girls at Google have finally allowed users to create communities that are hidden from public view.

Previously users could only restrict access to who could join a forum, although the entire orkutsphere could read what was posted inside. Now it looks as if users will be able to setup their own secret forums, which may be both a blessing and a curse.

(Official Orkut Blog) Based on your feedback, we've decided to go even further to empower the owners of communities to choose whether to make their community content private or public. The additional privacy control we've added allows you to make your community an enclosed entity so that you can discuss whatever you want within its walls (of course, content must abide by orkut community standards and policies), resting assured that only members can view your discussions, forums, and events.

In order to turn on this feature, forum administrators need to click on the edit profile link...



...then look for the content privacy section and select the "bubble" (or rather circle) next to the hidden - only members can view the contents of the community text.



While the forums will be hidden from view, there is no word on whether or not these communities will be removed from the Universal Search index (note: hopefully Google will update their post regarding this).

Regardless of whether or not the forums are still indexed, these privacy settings should make it easier for orkut hacker forums to thrive as there will be no one around to report them.

On a side note however, cops will probably hate this new feature as it will allow child predators and (to a lesser extent) a few terrorist groups to thrive without being noticed (as you would have to be invited to even know that these groups existed).

Looking on the bright side of things however, schools, clubs and family members will be able to create their own private forums, which should make invites inside certain groups much more appealing.