Hometown Throwdown

I made this Facebook App in April 2008.



Facebook only allows One hometown in user's profile. With Hometown Throwdown you not only get to save multiple hometowns, you get to select a rap star name and "throwdown" a story (or rap) about the place, choosing its display colors. You can Judge your friends' throwdowns, from 1 (knit cap) to 5 (bomb diggity). Plus, you can view all throwdowns per a Town or per a MC.

Features

Facebook user data, Ajax, Jscript Color Selector, Rap Star Name Generator, Notifications of 'Being Served,' News Stories of Votes Given and Received.

Platforms

Facebook

Hipster Approval

I made this Widget in May 2008.

Description

Show that you care what hipsters think--and that they DO approve of you (or your page). At install, user must take a short quiz to gain approval. In Facebook, user's music favorites are 'analyzed' and receive comment. Upon passing, user gets a Google Map listing dive bars in her area.

Features

Google Maps; Facebook user data: regional network, music; RSS feeds from Cool Tool and Pitchfork; Quiz, Javascript validation, FB News Feed.

Platforms

Facebook
Google Gadgets

Eeyore or Tigger?

I made this widget to honor "Last Lecture" Professor Randy Pausch. In his speech, he said each of us must decide whether we are an Eeyore or a Tigger. It's the second Facebook Application I produced and the most popular.

The stats have been constant since Dr. Pausch passed away: 67% say Tigger; 22%, Eeyore; 10+% undecided.

Which are you?

Facebook Ad System: Go Clippers

Facebook displays advertisements within its News Feed, listing an ad as if it was something personal, like your friends' quiz scores.

Facebook says that it collects "rich" user info, and thus can target ads. Sounds fun, but there is a glitch. The system gives greater weight to user attributes than to the advertisement object, producing irrelevant ads. Here is today's News post--with an ad to see the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team. It is true that I live in LA, and enjoy basketball. But the most important fact regarding the Clippers is that the NBA is in playoff season, and the Clippers did not make it to the post-season (by far).


Oh, and by the way, I have no interest in the Clippers.

Facebooks Puts Enemies in Your Face

** Updated 6/6/2008 ***
~~~ Facebook has added the functionality called for in this post. ~~~~~~

Facebook puts a panel in your Home page "People You May Know." It randomly displays 3 of the multitudes who share a connection with you, and links to a page that shows all such friends of friends.

For each of these people, there are action buttons such as "Add to Friends", "Send Message." But there is no button "Make Disappear." Some of these friends of friends can be Enemies: or at least, major dope bags. I'm not asking that they be smited from the face of the Earth, only that their face be wiped out from the face of my Facebook. There should be a button: "Don't Show this Person Again" or "Remove From List (Always)."

Facebook has shown a commitment to allow users to customize their experience. But for every feature and connection-promoter, there are more implications regarding privacy and peace of mind. To make this right, Facebook should allow for Hiding Content/Function Segments from the Home Page just as it allows you to Remove/Collapse boxes from your profile. Secondly, it should always allow the ability to Block an Individual: not just to prevent that person from viewing your profile, but to avoid any chance of you having to see their face.