How to Add a Cover Photo to Your Facebook Timeline

So you’ve finally taken the plunge, hitting the “Get the new Timeline” button that forever commits you to the new chronological-style Facebook profile. One of the major differences between Timeline and the old-school profile style is the addition of a cover photo. This is the first thing your friends will see when they view your profile, and it provides an opportunity to add a bit more personality than just that smaller-sized profile pic below.

To change your cover photo, move your cursor over the cover photo canvas on the top of your profile page. Select Choose from Photos if you want to use an image that’s already on Facebook, or pick Upload Photo if you want to add a new picture.

If you’re experimenting with different images, you’ll quickly realize that there’s an optimal photo size for the Timeline cover photo. The exact dimensions are 850 x 315 pixels (8.5 x 3.2 inches), but you can also crop a larger-sized image. Once you find a photo that works, click Save Changes, and your friends will get to see a whole ‘nother side of you.

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Acer’s Timeline M3 Review: Laptop Could’ve Been a Contender

The Acer Timeline M3 is a study in polar opposites. Its thin, elegant chassis and superb performance for its class suggest that the M3 might be a true category leader, but an painfully poor LCD panel prevents the Acer from achieving that goal.

At 4.5 pounds, the Timeline M3 is very light for a 15-inch laptop, and even with the 65W power brick factored in, it weighs only a scant 5.25 pounds. Acer dubs this machine an Ultrabook, which just goes to show how vague that moniker is. Still the M3 is sleek and quite light for so large a laptop.

It's no slouch in the performance department, either. The combination of a Core i7-2637M low-voltage processor, Nvidia GeForce GT 640M graphics, and a 256GB solid-state drive yields an impressive WorldBench 7 score of 155--one of the highest performance scores we've seen for a machine in the ultraportable laptop category. The M3 also lasted for more than 8 hours in PCWorld's battery life test.

So what's not to like?

The LCD--the most visible component in the system--is a 15.6-inch panel that delivers a puny resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels. That might work for a 13.3-inch Ultrabook; but at the M3's larger screen size, you'll notice the "screen door" effect of individual pixels while watching video content. On top of that, the range of satisfactory viewing angles is quite narrow. If you watch content from outside that range, you'll see substantial color and contrast shifting. This system cries out for a true 1080p, IPS LCD panel.

The system incorporates Nvidia's Optimus power-saving system, which allows the Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics to run during normal use, but fires up the Kepler-based GT 640M GPU when the demands of 3D gaming render the Intel graphics inadequate. You can specify which GPU to use in key applications, so we tested both Nvidia and Intel graphics when playing back DVD and HD video. In those tests we noticed distracting levels of mosquito noise while playing our The Return of the King DVD with Intel graphics. The noise disappeared when we switched to using the Nvidia GPU, but the overall image suddenly looked washed out and excessively bright. HD content fared slightly better, but visible noise persisted in our Magic of Flight test clip.

The keyboard isn't top-notch, either. The layout is good, and the keyboard comes with a full numeric keypad; but key travel is very short, and the keys aren't sculpted, which invited frequent typing errors. An overly sensitive trackpad exacerbated the situation, to the extent that the cursor was rarely in a predictable location.

The system ships with all of its key expansion ports located on the rear: Two USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 port, one ethernet, an HDMI 1.4a output, and a lone headphone jack are built into the rear. The SD Card slot and the DVD tray are on the left side. Connectivity is available via 802.11n Wi-Fi or gigabit ethernet; no provision exists for 3G/4G wireless broadband, and the Timeline M3 lacks Bluetooth support.

One other area where the Timeline M3 shines is storage. A 256GB solid-state drive coupled with a DVD burner makes for a good storage combo, and the SSD provides fast boot times and speedy application loading.

Game performance was robust in our tests, with frame rates ranging from 16 frames per second (Shogun II) to 26 fps (DiRT3) to 44 fps (Dawn of War II), all at the full panel resolution, with medium or high detail settings. You'll want to use a real mouse for gaming, however, since trackpads are inadequate for most PC titles.

The Acer Timeline M3 offers excellent overall performance and an elegant-looking package, but with less than optimal input devices and an eye-gouging LCD panel that left us cold. You can adjust to an odd keyboard feel, and you can tweak trackpad settings, but nothing will save your eyes from a display that's not up to snuff.

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How To Hide Facebook Timeline

Facebook Timeline. You either love it or hate it. If you’re like me, you hate it and will do anything in your power not to convert to the new, amped up profile page. But if you already have Timeline and want to get rid of it, well, tough luck.

Facebook has made it pretty much impossible to revert back to the old style once you have Facebook Timeline. However, by using a Google Chrome extension, you can disable Timeline, so you don’t have to look at the busy list of events all the time.

Here’s how:

Open your Chrome browser.Go to the Chrome Web store.Search for ‘Timeline Remove’ and click the button Add To Chrome.Press install.

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Facebook's Timeline Movie Maker Turns Users' Lives into Film

Facebook users can use Timeline, the site’s new profile layout, to turn their lives into a movie. Marketing Agency Definition 6 and Facebook have released Timeline Movie Maker, an app that automatically parses your Timeline profile to create about a 55-second movie from your memories stored in the social network.

Facebook is hoping that more companies will be encouraged to take advantage of Timeline and create more novel apps for people to view and experience their new profile. "We think there will be lots of companies that come up with fun, innovative ways for people to extend the Timeline experience," a Facebook official told PCWorld.

Of course, that may raise the hackles of privacy advocates concerned about how a Timeline app could misuse information it is allowed to access. But it's important to keep in mind that Movie Maker and any subsequent apps are completely optional and no one is forcing users to share their data with third-party companies.

If you want to give Movie Maker a try, here's how it works.

To get started, log in to Facebook and then point your browser to the Timeline Movie Maker site and press the green button that says "Make Your Movie." You'll then have to sort through two approval screens asking you for permission to access your basic information, e-mail address, other profile data such as hobbies, your posts, and your News Feed. The app does not ask for permission to post anything to your profile automatically.

After that you can just sit back and wait for the app to sort through your profile information to create your movie. Shortly thereafter, the video will start playing, showing you photographs and videos from your Timeline. If your personalized movie looks familiar, that's because the video is built on the same template as Facebook's Timeline introductory video released in September. Your video even uses the same soundtrack and even includes some generic photos from that original video when the camera is speeding past "your" Timeline.

After the movie is done, you'll have the option to replay it or you can swap out the music for one of four additional soundtrack themes including nostalgic, cinematic, romantic and playful. Once you choose a new soundtrack, you have to press the "Remake Your Movie" button at the bottom of the screen. The app will then go through the motions to rebuild your movie. But in my tests, the music was the only thing that changed.

There is also a filmstrip at the bottom of the page that lets you change any of the photos you don't like with new ones. But you can't drag and drop or easily swap out your photos from Facebook. Instead, you have to keep clicking on the photo as the app rotates through your Facebook collection until you find an image you like.

Movie Maker also has a share option after the movie is finished playing, but it's entirely disappointing. The only thing you can share is a link to Movie Maker, there is no option to post the finished product to Facebook, Twitter or your own website. There is also no way to download the finished movie.

But if you want to have a fun look at some of your profile information that is only viewable by you and the people crowding around your PC's monitor, then Movie Maker is a neat way to experience your Timeline.

Connect with Ian Paul (@ianpaul) on Twitter and Google+, and with Today@PCWorld on Twitter for the latest tech news and analysis.

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Facebook Timeline Looms: What You Need to Know

Soon Facebook users who have been avoiding the social network’s Timeline feature won’t be able to stave it off any longer and will be seeing their profiles change considerably. That’s because Facebook is making Timeline compulsory and is rolling it out to users in the next couple of weeks.

You should be aware of several things before the launch. Here's how to prepare.

Are Your Posts Viewable by Strangers?

Instead of a linear stream of your posts, the new Timeline is a visual aggregation of everything you’ve ever done on the site: the information you’ve included on your profile, your photos, everything you’ve ever “liked,” any Facebook apps you’re using, a map showing where you’ve been (according to geo-tagged posts and photos), as well as a Timeline of everything you’ve ever posted.

The problem is that Facebook seems bent on making all of that data more public. Now any post that you make defaults to Public, so if you forget to choose “friends” in the inline audience selector when you post something, the entire world can see it.

That’s why it’s very important that you check out how your Timeline looks when other people view it. You may find that many of the posts you intended for your friends are public.

To see how your Timeline looks to strangers, click on the small gear just below the right corner of your cover (the spot where you can place a large banner photo at the top of your Timeline). From the gear, click View As. From there, you’ll be able to preview your public Timeline.

To make sure your past posts are limited to friends, click on the small arrow on the top right corner of your Timeline. Then go to Privacy Settings>> Limit the Audience for Past Posts>>Manage Past Post Visibility and select Limit Old Posts. Alternately, you can change the audience by clicking on the small pencil icon at the top right of individual posts to edit or hide them from the Timeline.

Once you get Timeline you only have seven days to make changes to it, such as hiding old posts from years ago that you may not want the world to see, or managing the visibility of your posts.

So if you’re someone who doesn’t check into Facebook often, you might want to proactively get Timeline now and then sit down to review it and make changes.

Several privacy groups are urging the Federal Trade Commission to look into whether Facebook oversteps its authority with Timeline, but in the meantime, it's up to you to check your privacy settings.

Facebook Wants More of Your Data

Another thing that the new feature lets you do is add events from any part of your past -- all the way back to birth, if you want -- to create an online scrapbook of your entire life.

If you’re not sure what kinds of things you should add, Facebook has plenty of ideas. Inside your Timeline you can click on Life Event in your status bar and you’ll be asked to categorize your entry into one of these headings: Work & Education, Family & Relationships, Home & Living, Health & Wellness or Travel & Experiences.

Within each category is a slew of suggestions. For instance, under Home & Living, you can choose: Moved, Bought a Home, Home Improvement, New Roommate, New Vehicle and Other Life Event.

Can you imagine all the new data Facebook is going to be accumulating from users? The reason, of course, is to laser target ads at people. But some people don’t like the idea of Facebook having such rich profiles about individual users on file.

Some Security Concerns

Security firm Sophos polled 4000 Facebook users, asking them what they think of the new Timeline and the response was overwhelmingly negative, with 51 percent saying the feature worries them and another 32 percent saying they don’t know why they’re still on Facebook.

For one thing, with more of your data possibly accessible by strangers, it may be easier for criminals to profile people and glean personal information.

The reality is that personal data is very valuable to criminals.  For example, with enough information a bad guy can impersonate someone in order to do things like pull off phishing scams. 

In its Naked Security blog, Sophos points out that once they see all their data clumped in one place many Facebook users are shocked at how much information about themselves they’ve posted online.

Another thing that might make you uncomfortable is the map included in Timeline that shows where you hang out. If you don’t want people seeing that information, make sure to go back to any geo-tagged posts or photos and either change the location or hide it from the Timeline.

See more: Protect Your Facebook Account From the Latest Hack

Timeline Fans Exist, Too

Not everybody is going into paranoid mode with the rollout of Timeline and some people really like it.

PCWorld’s Jared Newman believes that in time, Facebook users will come to like Timeline. The downside, he points out, is that users must do some cultivating to bring their most relevant life details to the surface.

See also "Facebook's NEw Timeline Layout: A Getting Started Guide."

Follow Christina on Twitter and Google+ for even more tech news and commentary and follow Today@PCWorld on Twitter, too.

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