How can I remove the Places map which shows up on my Facebook Timeline?

Invasion of privacy or not, I wasn’t enchanted to see a Places map turn up on my Facebook Timeline recently.

How to get rid of it?

Facebook’s recent grab for your email traffic …

If you’re suddenly getting more FB messages than usual, you’ve likely fallen victim to Facebook’s recent shenanigans to stop displaying your real email address of choice and have replaced it, instead, with their own first.last@facebook.com address for you — which delivers to Facebook messages, not your regular email. They have forced this on us, rather than inviting us to opt in. Why? Likely to draw down traffic from gmail and other competing services. Read on to learn how you can set things right …

When social media bites the hand that feeds it …

The très cool Texts from Hillary spoof gave the Secretary of State’s image a much needed boost — the limelight of which she readily stepped into. To her regret I’m going to predict, especially if she runs for president.

The ability to play off those texts is all too apparent in an Avaaz campaign to stop US funding of Uzbekistan — whose government is sterilizing women without their knowledge.

How to prevent Facebook friends from passing your private info to apps they subscribe to …

Few of us realise that Facebook allows apps which our friends use to access our private information. You heard me right. Even if you don’t subscribe to apps, your friends — who have access to your private information — can empower apps they subscribe to to see your info. There appears to be no way your friends can limit how much their apps see about you, but there are privacy options in your own settings which claims to control how friends hand off your info to the apps they subscribe to.

How quickly will a confessed murderer’s Facebook friends disavow him?

Michael Plumadore has reportedly confessed to the heinous murder and dismemberment of nine year old Aliahna Lemmon. This is such a sad story it makes one sick to the stomach.

Did a “bored” and “aroused” man commit this crime?

Caption: Plumadore’s MySpace page where his status is “bored” and his mood is “aroused” …

Facebook: How to “unlike” a page …

Some rogue Facebook pages you “like” may end up spreading spam messages to your friends via your Facebook news feed — feigning your endorsement. You can easily be tricked into liking a page by getting sucked into some incredible offer, story, video etc. that you have to click through to reveal — you just got suckered, they call it “likejacking”. Typically the message comes with a viral link to a bad app — which wants to get at your private information and then post spam to your friends, abusing your credibility, and then similarly trick them into liking the page so that all of their friends get the viral message. Ouch!

Facebook: How to remove unwanted spammy apps …

Is some rogue Facebook app posting unwanted status messages to your wall, to your friends’ walls, or commenting on photographs or other posts — typically with a viral link to bad app (which wants to get at your friends’ private information and the right to post in their name)?

How can you revoke the rights unwanted apps have over your account?

How to hide annoying updates in Facebook — Like Farmville!

When your Facebook friends become addicted to various applications, like Farmville, you’ll find your wall littered with updates you have no interest in. It would be thoughful if they set their notifications not to publish, but most don’t know how to nor are aware of the implications of not doing so.

Fortunately you can elect to hide annoying posts (friends too, but that’s the subject of another post), so don’t begrudge them their fun. Have fun playing Farmville Cathy!

Here’s how to do it, step-by-step:

Step 1: Hover over the upper right corner of an offending post until the “Hide” button appears …