timehop
Latest
Timehop's breach included user birthdate and gender data
It turns out that more than just names, usernames, email addresses and phone numbers were pilfered in the recent Timehop breach. You can add "birthdate" and "gender" to the list of data stolen in last week's hack, too. The company apologized for the piecemeal way it has delivered the information to customers, and has published a timeline of the events, which started last December and concluded July 5th.
Timehop admits attacker stole 21 million users' data
Timehop, a popular app that reminds you of your social media posts from the same day in past years, is the latest service to suffer a data breach. The attacker struck on July 4th, and grabbed a database which included names and/or usernames along with email addresses for around 21 million users. About 4.7 million of those accounts had phone numbers linked to them, which some people use to log in with instead of a Facebook account.
Three reasons I love Timehop
When I first read about Timehop, the concept seemed interesting, but I really wasn't sure I wanted to install yet another social media app on my iPhone. Mike Rose wrote a glowing Friday Favorite about the app, so I grudgingly grabbed Timehop from the App Store. I'm now glad that I did, for a few reasons. Reason #1: It surprises me When my daily list of things that I did last year or back in 2008 (a half-year after joining Twitter) pops up daily in Timehop, I'm often surprised. Whether it's an app I barely remember that disappeared in a few months or the first appearance of an app that's gone on to be a classic, it's fascinating to see what I was excited by or was laughing at. Seeing what the weather was like, what symphony concert I was attending, or what was happening – good or bad – in my life is always a pleasant reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. I've been relying on DayOne for the last year to keep up a running conversation with a future version of myself, but for the four years prior to the appearance of DayOne I'm now relying on Timehop. Reason #2: It's fodder for posts and podcasts I'm not talking about this post, but those about Apple anniversaries or apps that I may have overlooked. It's interesting to see references to Stevenotes, speculation about new products like the iPad and every year's crop of iPhones, and how some things – like iWork – don't change. Some of these past tweets and notes serve to jog my memory and stimulate me to write a post or two. In the worst case, at least I have something to talk about on TUAW TV or the Talkcast. Reason #3: I'm a fan of Abe Abe is the "timeosaur" character who greets Timehop users daily, grinning and gesturing as you refresh your day in history. Whoever the genius is at Timehop who came up with the character, I thank you. He makes me smile every time I see his goofy grin. It's a gentle reminder that the older I get, the more I appreciate childish things. Oh, and Timehop team? Sell a line of Abe t-shirts, hats, and plushes and you'll make a few billion bucks. You can thank me later for the idea. If you've been using social networks for a few years and haven't yet installed Timehop, do it now. Your present and future self will thank you.
Timehop partners with USA Today to bring old news back to life
The iOS app Timehop offers you a glimpse into your social networking past, but with its newest update, it also lets you take a peek at antiquated news stories as well. TNW reports that Timehop has partnered with USA Today to offer the top news stories from years past that were published on whatever date it happens to be. Think of it like a "this day in history" experience, but with a social twist. Another new feature that has been added to the app is called "Friendversaries." As the name implies, the new feature notifies you of the exact day you befriended certain people on your various social networks. The update is now live on the App Store, and as always, Timehop remains free. The nostalgia-centric app made our Friday Favorite list recently.
Friday Favorite: Timehop traces your digital footsteps through the past
Human brains are funny things when it comes to time. We spend a lot of our mental energy thinking about the future -- where to vacation, what to eat, when to quit and who to marry -- but what really fires our synapses is a little taste of the past. The future may be awesome and mysterious, but we can't remember things that haven't happened yet; memory is just as powerful as imagination, and more emotionally charged. Whole industries have grown up around our innate desire to remember more, longer and with higher fidelity than we could in the absence of a technological assist. That's what makes an app like Timehop so interesting; it hitches itself to our deep affinity for nostalgia while delivering a clever dose of spontaneous discovery. If an app's MO is to send me a daily notification, I usually delete it in short order; the daily reminder from Timehop, in contrast, has helped it work its way into my frequent rotation. Timehop's feature set is magically minimal. Sign in with Facebook, then point the app at your image-centric social media feeds (currently supported: Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Instagram and Flickr) and your phone's camera roll. Wait a day. After that, every morning Timehop will crawl back into the mists and pull out what you were doing, or what you photographed, on the same day one/two/three or more years before. Within the Timehop app, you can re-share that moment with Timehop friends, flag as a favorite, comment or re-publish the status update or photo to Facebook or Twitter. It seems so simple, but it's surprisingly engaging -- almost-forgotten moments taking you by surprise, whether adorable or bittersweet. The service originally kicked off in February 2011 as 4SquareAnd7YearsAgo, an email-based rewind that shadowed your Foursquare history and told you where you'd been. Since January of last year, Timehop has centered on the app experience exclusively and let the email piece fade away. With leadership from Jonathan Wegener (who created one of my favorite transit apps, the NYC subway where-to-stand guide Exit Strategy) and venture backing from several NYC tech elites (OATV, Spark Capital, TechStars, Foursquare co-founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai, and shiny new MIT Media Lab faculty member Kevin Slavin), Timehop has the pedigree and the resources to shine. Even if you don't think the idea of reliving your past posts and snapshots sounds particularly appealing, give Timehop a try. You may discover something unexpected. Timehop is a free download in the iOS App Store for iOS 5 or higher.
