Twitter Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Twitter's lawyers put together a reasonably easy-to-read Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. I read both, and here is a summary of the high points I found regarding my information and the occurrence of a security breach.

First, by using Twitter's service, I consent to the collection and use of my personal information including usernames, passwords, and email addresses. Email addresses may be used to be sent information deemed important by Twitter, or marketing material.

Another blurb in the privacy policy reminds me that my tweets are public and can be searched via search engines. The same blurb says that my tweets can be disseminated via text message or API to a "wide range of users and services." It makes no specific mention of which users or what services.

Apparently Twitter also saves my location information if I choose to share my location. They claim this information helps them serve me better.

Other information saved by Twitter can include my IP address, browser type, pages visited, cell phone carrier, and device. The policy says that this information may be deleted every eighteen months.

The policy states again that Twitter reserves the right to share information with certain third parties, but again makes no specific mention of who the third parties are or the reason the information is sent.

Finally, it says my information may be sold if Twitter is sold, merges, or files bankruptcy.

Disturbingly, neither the TOS or privacy policy makes mention of what would happen in the event of a security breach, only that I can't use Twitter to cause one. Thanks, Twitter.

Uploading a Photo: Flickr vs. Blogger

As I've done before, uploading a photo from blogger is very easy. All you have to do is click the icon to add a photo, select the orientation and size of the photo, and choose the file you'd like to upload. The following picture was done that way...

You can also add a photo to your blog from flickr by clicking the "edit html" tab, copying and pasting the html code of the photo from flickr. The following photo was done that way...

As you can see, both can effectively upload photos. The greatest advantage of using blogger is that you don't have to navigate away from the page or have two windows open. Also, you have a bit more control over the size and orientation of the photo. It's a one-stop shop.

When using flickr, an advantage is that you can upload your friends' photos that you may not have saved to your computer.

Overall, I think the only reason one might use a system other than blogger would be if you wanted to include a flickr friend's photo that you don't have saved to your hard drive.

Picture From Flickr

Amazon.com RSS Feeds

In this page on the amazon.com site, Amazon explains to customers how to use it's different RSS feeds. The options for different feeds are overwhelming to say the least. However, Amazon makes it as easy as possible for users to tag specific products they may want to purchase by using keywords like "blu-ray," "running," or "quilting."

Amazon also offers options for developers using applications on the web to use their feeds. The option allows for RSS feeds to be used as data sources for applications if the developer so chooses.

Google Reader Feeds

I've subscribed to feeds from many different websites for quite a while now. They can be a helpful tool in finding information in which you are interested. Two benefits of subscribing to feeds are 1: Information that would normally take longer to find is always at your fingertips and 2: There's always something you're interested in ready to read at all times!

Two drawbacks to feed subscriptions are 1: They can easily become cluttered and 2: You can limit yourself to what you read. For instance, there may be other topics on the web that you may ignore because you think you've got everything you need to know or might be interested in listed in your subscription feeds!