TechCrunch
Honest Buildings Gets $5.5 Million To Scale Out Its Online Network For Real Estate Pros
Honest Buildings, a New York City-based startup that’s created a web platform to connect professionals in the real estate construction and design space, is announcing today that it’s raised $5.5 million in Series A funding.
The round was led by the Westly Group and RockPort Capital Partners, and brings the total invested in Honest Buildings to date to $7.5 million. This past fall, Honest Buildings raised seed funding from RockPort and Mohr Davidow Ventures.
The new cash will be used to
Honest Buildings, which has been described as a cross between Yelp and LinkedIn for building pros, was originally conceived as a platform to let commercial real estate owners assess the environmental impact of their new office building projects and choose the building construction and design firms accordingly. Today it is a more general marketplace for building solution providers to showcase portfolios of their work and connect with people looking to build new buildings or upgrade existing ones.
The funding comes on the heels of some solid growth for the company, which has a full-time staff of 12: Over the past five months, some $25 million in building contracts were originated through the Honest Buildings platform, and the company counts industry giants such as Cushman & Wakefield as users. Also, Honest Buildings says it recently launched an office in London to expand into the UK market.
The enterprise software space is heating up, and the commercial real estate sector has notably lagged behind residential when it comes to web-based tools — so it will be interesting to see how services such as Honest Buildings grow in the months ahead.
Hacker Scrapes Thousands Of Public Phone Numbers Using Facebook Graph Search
A hacker has exploited Facebook’s Graph Search to collect a database of thousands of phone numbers and Facebook users. Both parties agree that all the information was left public by users (even if the users themselves may still not realize it). But Facebook issued him a cease and desist after the hacker continued to scrape data and argued with Facebook that the availability of the information invades users’ privacy.
Brandon Copley, a mobile developer in Dallas, Texas, searched and downloaded 2.5 million entries of phone numbers from the social network. He says many of these entries are empty, as they either aren’t active numbers or aren’t connected to a Facebook user with public settings; however, he notes that thousands of entries do match a phone number with the name of a Facebook user.
A Facebook representative tells me that this is a feature of graph search and that these users have their contact information set to “public.”
“Your privacy settings govern who can find you with search using the contact info you have provided, such as your email address and phone number,” the Facebook representative says. “You can modify these settings at any time from the Privacy Settings page.”
Copley confirms that these users have their contact information set to public, but argues that this is still a security issue.
Facebook admitted to a major security flaw regarding the Download Your Information tool on Friday afternoon that displayed the email and phone numbers of 6 million users; while similar in nature, Facebook says that flaw is unrelated to Copley’s hack, which they say is not a security flaw.
On March 5, Copley reported a tip to Facebook security, writing, “There is a security invulnerability that allows someone to essentially create a database of phone numbers and Facebook users.”
“Personally, I used this to catch a criminal–someone was selling stolen goods on Craigslist, and I had their number, and used this to find who that person was on Facebook and from there reported them to the police,” he continued in the March 5 email.
A member of Facebook’s security team wrote back, in an email Copley shared with us, “I agree with you personally. We do have antiscraping protections (ratelimiting, bad ip blocks, etc) but it comes down to people controlling their privacy, we can make the privacy tools available and we can encourage them to use them but we could never just switch their privacy settings for them. So there is not much more we can do”
Copley says Facebook told him the supposed security flaw was a feature of Graph Search.
“I then went on to gather the <2.5 million entry database at this point to show them how a ‘feature’ like this is a security flaw,” he tells me.
Copley says he used his access tokens from his developer account and the Facebook Search API to perform thousands of searches per day for phone numbers; when he began hitting up against the rate limit of his developer account, he found a way to use the API token of an app that isn’t rate-limited and performed millions of searches.
In March and early April, Copley’s Facebook account was banned several times.
“I have no idea why you are getting banned or what is going on. I don’t think there is any reason it would be happening because of the research you were doing here though,” the same member of Facebook’s security team wrote to Copley in early April.
On April 26, Facebook’s lawyers sent Copley a cease-and-desist letter, stating, “you are unlawfully acquiring Facebook user data. It appears that you are accessing Facebook through automated means and stealing Facebook access tokens in order to scrape data from Facebook’s site without permission.”
Facebook’s lawyers demanded that Copley send them: “1. Copies of all scripts or methods that you use or have used to scrape Facebook user data, along with a brief description of how each method works; 2. All information regarding the individuals that you shared or discussed Facebook token jacking scripts with, including any identifying information such as name, email address, forum screen names; 3. A complete description of what you shared with the individuals listed in No. 3; 4. Access to all Facebook user data that you scraped from the Facebook site; and 5. The names of individuals that you disclosed any portion of the scraped Facebook data to.”
Copley says that Facebook lawyers mentioned Andrew Auernheimer’s case in conversations with him.
In 2010, Auernheimer discovered a security flaw in AT&T’s iPad user database, which let him reveal contact information for 114,000 iPad 3G users. Auernheimer showed this to a writer at Gawker Media; he is now serving a 41-month jail sentence.
The obvious difference between these two instances is that Auernheimer revealed that information that was supposed to be private but was publicly accessible; the information that Copley scraped is all set to public.
Copley also says he has also been looking at other ways to search Facebook for phone numbers and now believes he has found an even faster way to connect Facebook users and phone numbers than through the search API.
Facebook wants to have it both ways. It creates interfaces that often encourage users to share more data publicly, which lets them do things like search for each other using only a phone number. But it also wants to retain a sense of privacy — and control over users — so it fights anyone else who tries to access the data it helps make public.
At this point, it is unclear if Facebook will pursue litigation against Copley. He appears to be determined to press Facebook on this privacy issue and show the world how widely accessible users’ public contact information is.
Apple Releases iOS 7 Beta For iPad And iPad Mini With New Update, Brings Voice Memos Back
Apple has released a new beta of its iOS 7 software for developers today, and the big news is that the iPad version has arrived. Back when Apple announced iOS 7, it said the tablet version would follow the iPhone version a few weeks later, and they’ve stayed good to that promise. The iPad version support is available from the developer channel for those registered as iOS devs.
The other change that we’re seeing reported by users of the new beta is the return of Voice Memos to iOS. This was left out of the first beta, but reports said Apple just didn’t have it ready for inclusion in that version, so it’s no surprise to see it return here. The interface and icon are completely redesigned, as one might expect, getting rid of the skeumorphic rendition of a mic that dominated the previous version, and flattening out controls and interfaces. 9to5Mac also reports that Siri is now packing new voices, and that some visual tweaks have been made to things like Control Center. BGR has an image of the new Voice Notes interface:
The iOS 7 beta for the iPad contains interface differences vs. the version of iOS that’s been on offer for the iPhone. Apple generally tailors various elements of the OS for the larger screen of its tablet devices, and it’s not different this time around. Here are a selection of screens received by 9to5Mac, showing some of the main changes. You can check out their full post for even looks at the changes in store.
Win A Case For The Unreleased Redesigned iPad
So I just got an iPad case in the mail. It’s for the iPad 5. That model is not out yet. But you can have this case anyway.
Of course I have no way of knowing if this will, for an absolute fact, fit the next iPad, but the chances are good. At best, you’ll win a case for the next iPad. Or, likewise, you could win a fun conversation piece.
As shown by this case and the dozens available on the Chinese bulk marketplace, Alibaba, the next iPad will feature a different factor. Reminiscent of the iPad mini, the next iPad will have a thinner side bezel and dual speakers flanking the center-mounted Lightening connector.
This particular case doesn’t have a space for a back-mounted camera flash. It’s also a quarter inch narrower than my iPad 2 — a rather telling fact about the size of the bezel considering this is a rugged case with large rubber pads.
Rumors state that the next iPad will come out later this year with Fall the most likely timeframe. However, months before a device’s launch, Apple distributes the specs to several key accessory makers to ensure that the device launches with a large assortment of accessories. This has happened for years. But this is the first time a mainstream accessory maker (who will remain nameless unless they email me) has sent one to us.
Please note, you’re winning the case I have in my possession. I ripped the box when opening it. Sorry. The contest will end on July 1st.
To enter, all you have to do is follow the simple steps below.
1) “Like” our TechCrunch Facebook Page:
2) Then do one of the following:
- Retweet this post (including the #TechCrunch hashtag)
- Or leave us a comment below telling us why you deserve this case.
There Is No Google Reader Replacement, Only Alternatives
Google Reader is slowing down. Over the past few days, buttons have broken, marking feeds as read seemed to take a bit longer than usual, and the Android mobile website on some devices shifted over to the desktop view with no way to change things back. As users up until the bitter end, we can no longer complain about these events because Google doesn’t care – it’s shutting down Google Reader on July 1 and we all have to leave.
It’s the digital equivalent of bringing up the house lights when the rock concert is over. You don’t have to go home, folks, but you can’t stay here.
No one cares about RSS feeds, except for maybe 50 million of the Internet’s most voracious news readers*. Journalists, bloggers, programmers, technically savvy IT workers, researchers, students, startup founders, and anyone else who has grown accustomed to a simple product that lets you – not algorithms or tweets – be in control of which news sources to track and which stories to read.
In the wake of the impending shutdown, a number of alternatives have sprung up to offer a “replacement” for Google Reader. Though some come close, none have completely nailed the experience yet.
*50 million: Digg’s estimate of those who care about RSS.
The Only Real Contenders So Far: Feedly & Digg
Feedly
Feedly has been building its RSS product for years, which gives it a huge head start in this space. Last week, it announced a reach of 12 million users as it officially launched “Feedly Cloud,” a backend infrastructure to power the ecosystem of RSS reader client applications like Reeder, Press, Nextgen Reader, Newsify, gReader, and more, left abandoned by Google’s exit from RSS. These apps had only offered a front-end RSS browsing experience, which means they needed someone else’s API to function. Feedly is one of the few to step in and serve that need.
Why Feedly: Google Reader users will love Feedly because it comes closest to mirroring the Google Reader experience, and it offers a number of settings that can be tweaked to your liking. The service’s “Titles Only” view (which can be set globally in Preferences) offers the same sort of compact view, perfect for headline-scanning action, that Google Reader once provided. It also supports a number of Google Reader’s features, including support for many of the same keyboard shortcuts, tagging, favorites (“Saved for Later”), and “Mark as Read” functionality to quickly plow through categories.
What’s wrong: Feedly currently pulled out its “search” functionality, which lets you pull up content by keyword or topic — something that’s one of the top user requests today. That’s still in the works, the company says, but it’s a big undertaking to deliver upon. In addition, though the company offers clients for web and mobile, the mobile apps are still somewhat over-designed with big, colorful category headers instead of the basic list of folders like Google Reader.
That being said, it’s hard to find a lot of fault with Feedly, and the company is quickly working to add the few missing pieces. There will be little things here and there that you’ll need to get used to, of course (like the “t” shortcut no longer lets you tag items, but rather tweets them). However, in some cases, they’re changes for the better (like the option to set the default view by category).
Digg Reader
Betaworks’ quickly built take on Google Reader is the new kid on the block, and has a lot of potential to be a viable Feedly competitor. Though initially, the team has been working to launch something that offers the core RSS reading experience, the plan is to bring the RSS reader into the modern age by alerting users to what’s most popular among their network and better connect users with Digg.com. In Digg Reader’s “popular” section, the service scans your feeds and then ranks them with one, two or three dots to help you discover trending articles. In practice these recommendations were hit or miss at times, but the beta build we’ve been testing is unfinished.
Why Digg Reader: Like Feedly, the app lets you organize content into folders, view unread counts, move around with Google Reader shortcuts, save posts for later, and share to social networks. With the above-described “Popular” section, it also offers something similar to Feedly’s “Today” for an at-a-glance list of what’s trending. Ex-Google Reader users will also appreciate Digg Reader’s minimalistic look-and-feel, which is almost entirely black, white and shades of gray (outside of the RSS content itself).
What’s Wrong: Most of what’s wrong with Digg Reader is a function of time: The team had a limited number of weeks to build this service, having only started after Google’s shutdown announcement went live. That being said, there are still a number of features that ex-Google reader users likely relied on that aren’t ready in the new reader’s product at launch (planned for this Tuesday). Search is also missing here, for example, as is the ability to tag content or share to other social services beyond Facebook, Twitter or Digg. (“Read later” services like Pocket, Readability and Instapaper are supported, however.)
Digg Reader offers just two views, “list” and “expanded.” While the former is meant to give users a headline-scanning option, Feedly’s “Title Only” view is even more compact, which means its more like Google Reader’s “compact” view.
At launch, Digg Reader will have an iOS app, but the Android version will not be ready for another few weeks.
The Startups
Offering a full Google Reader replacement is no simple task, so it’s notable that some startups have tried to take on this job without the resources of a larger company like Facebook or Betaworks behind them. That being said, for power users of Google Reader, none of these smaller companies will be able to replace what is about to be lost.
NewsBlur (unlimited feeds, $24/year): This cross-platform news reader offers Reader import, compact views, saving stories, and even an interesting “training” feature that’s meant to help teach the reader what sorts of stories you like best. But NewsBlur’s interface is too busy and cluttered, it lacks search, and can be slow when you have a lot of feeds to load.
Feedbin ($2/month): Feedbin’s paid web app is another good alternative for tracking feeds, viewing unread counts, subscribing and tags, and it uses Reader-like navigation via keyboard shortcuts. However, while it supports Reader data import, it lacks a number of key features like search or Feedly’s wide variety of layouts. But most importantly, it’s not a fully cross-platform product on its own. If you use Feedbin on the web, then to keep data in sync across mobile, you’ll need to use an app powered by its API like Reeder, Press, Favs, Tafiti, or others, or beta test the newer Feedbin Reader for Android.
The Old Reader and Hive (previously HiveMined): These two startups sounded promising in theory as both are focusing on simply rebuilding the original Reader – the former working to bring the social aspects back, as well. Unfortunately, neither of these have made it yet, and won’t be solid replacements by the time Google Reader shuts down.
Both apps have issues with speed at times (The Old Reader is far better on this front than Hive, though). Though The Old Reader does have search, it’s title-only, not full keyword search. Hive meanwhile has no search, and struggled to import Reader subscriptions. Sometimes Hive’s buttons are so slow to register clicks that you’re unsure if the app has gone down. Sharing to outside services is either limited or non-existent. Neither service offers a mobile app.
Reeder (paid): Until recently, Reeder was not a Google Reader replacement, it was only the front-end interface for viewing feeds hosted by Google. Since the Reader shutdown announcement, the company said it’s now making plans to continue development, but this involves major changes on its part. Today, Reeder uses Feedbin and Feedly’s APIs on mobile, and is also working to support standalone RSS (introduced in the iPhone app, but not yet the iPad or Mac apps). Because Reeder was built on top of others’ infrastructure, it’s not ready to replace Google Reader at this time. That said, it is one to watch given it has an engaged Apple user base and some traction.
The Rest: Me-Too’s, Flipboard Alternatives And Aol’s Disastrous Attempt
Ever since the Google Reader shutdown announcement, our inboxes have been filled with pitches for “replacements” nearly every day. It would almost be a disservice to TechCrunch readers to list these here, because real replacements are huge investments in infrastructure and APIs and show an attempt to honor the needs of Google Reader refugees with features like compact views, keyboard navigation, tagging and search. Simply offering an RSS-based product DOES NOT make a service an alternative to Google Reader, and attempting to position it like that is band-wagon jumping at best and dishonest at worst.
Many of these pitches look cobbled together overnight as weekend projects. None are any good. (And yes, I got your email.)
Also, several of these “me too” products tend to look more like watered-down versions of Flipboard, not Google Reader. Really, if you just want a news magazine, use Flipboard then, or wait to see what Facebook has in store with its forthcoming “newspaper for mobile” product.
Aol Reader
Even Aol (disclosure: TechCrunch parent) bungled its RSS reader debut, and launched a product that the lot of us here at TechCrunch can’t even get to work properly. Aol’s RSS reader claims to offer Google Reader import, but refuses to upload Google Reader’s XML file in a multitude of browsers, according to several of us here who gamely tested the service anyway.
Aol’s Reader had intermittent issues in Chrome especially this morning, refusing to ever add the TechCrunch feed, for example (thanks Aol), and taking a good 30 seconds or so to do the same in Safari. This slowness may have been a launch bug, but it wasn’t promising. The reader is also missing search, but does offer tagging, limited sharing, favoriting, four different viewing options (which are suspiciously identical to Feedly though), and oh, giant Aol On Originals video ads in the sidebar…
Well, at least they have a monetization plan.
There Is No Google Reader Replacement
In each of the products listed above, and the dozens of those we haven’t linked to which are still promoting themselves as a home to Reader refugees, there are huge gaps in functionality – like Search, for example, which no one has fully fleshed out just yet. Because of this, users will also lose their ability to search and uncover content from older websites which have long since shutdown, taking their RSS archive with them. Google Reader let you time travel into the web’s past, a personal Way Back Machine of sorts. Unless you’ve diligently been tagging or starring this older content over the years, it will essentially disappear into the ether without a search feature like Google’s, which once dug into seemingly infinite RSS archives.
Reader was also more than a web service. It was a mobile website, a mobile app and an API that allowed an ecosystem of RSS clients to flourish.
It was a quantified-self tracker, whose “Trends” section told you about your news reading habits, including which sites you read, clicked, shared and emailed the most and when, and one that kept track of the feeds that stayed fresh or had become inactive.
It was also a discovery service that connected you with friends, let you package bundles of subscriptions and share them, search for content by keyword, and browse through posts that others found interesting. And it was an alerting tool that could track whenever a person, topic or keyword was mentioned on Google News, Blog Search, Twitter or eBay.
For anyone looking for a Google Reader replacement, the saddest news of all is that there really isn’t one yet.
There are only alternatives.
No comments:
Post a Comment