Facebook beats restraining order, but Timeline delayed

By Mike Flacy Published October 3, 2011

facebook-timeline — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Last week, Facebook was sued by Timelines Inc. for trademark infringement after Facebook made its announcement about the new Timeline feature for profiles. The company is arguing that Facebook’s use of the Timeline name will eventually put Timelines Inc. out of business. Representatives for Timelines Inc. requested a a restraining order against the launch of Facebook Timeline in hopes that a judge would agree that the “Timelines” trademark is valid. However, Judge Edmond E. Chang of Chicago did not grant the restraining order for the company. The judge did request that Facebook keep the court informed as to how many users have access to Facebook Timeline.

As of this week, a bit over one million users are already accessing Facebook Timeline. While likely developers, many curious users simply registered as a developer in order to gain early access to the new design. The original date for a wider launch of Facebook Timeline was supposed to occur on September 29, but Facebook has pushed it forward to October 6 for reasons related to this lawsuit or technical glitches. After the initial announcement of Facebook Timeline, anyone that searched for the Timelines Inc. fan page were redirected to the main page for Facebook Timeline. Facebook has corrected this oversight and the Timelines Inc. fan page can now be found through Facebook’s search function.

While the court case between Facebook and Timelines Inc. is still pending while waiting on the official judge, public opinion on the Timelines Inc. fan page has been consistently negative since the attempted restraining order. Representatives for the Timelines Inc. fan page only recently started posting content on the page as of October 1. The last official post from the company previous to that was made on June 15. Negative comments from fans of the page have be focused on greed, fame and the design of the Timelines.com home page.

Topics

Facebook

Contributing Editor

By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…

Social Media

Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day

Social media app Bluesky has picked nearly a million new users just a day after exiting its invitation-only beta and opening to everyone.

In a post on its main rival -- X (formerly Twitter) -- Bluesky shared a chart showing a sudden boost in usage on the app, which can now be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices.

Computing

How to make a GIF from a YouTube video

woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Social Media

I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.