Social networking is obviously a lot of fun, but if anything it's getting a little too popular; you can't pick a movie on Netflix or upload a picture onto Flickr these days without having to wade through a web of friend recommendations.

What's more annoying is that each network is completely disconnected -- sign up for some hot new site, pick a crew of friends, then move on to the next hot site and try to find the same crew of friends again. Annoying. MySpace is finally looking to end that with a new initiative called "data availability" that will let you take your profile with you to other profile-based sites and services, including Twitter, Photobucket, and Yahoo!.

The changes, set to go into effect in a few weeks, will let you effectively sync up your profiles at a number of partner sites with your MySpace profile. For example, on Twitter you would be able to set up Twitter to pull in your picture and other information from your MySpace profile, in real-time -- so, if you update your main pic at MySpace, it would be propagated over to Twitter as well. You'll be able to do the same with your eBay profile, creating a more informative set of information about you that will "yield a deeper connection between individuals," according to the press release.

It would also let eBay shoppers learn an awful lot about you, something that many people will be uncomfortable with. The opportunity to save time by syncing up your profiles sounds quite appealing, but making yourself more identifiable to potentially irate eBay buyers and sellers sounds a little -- unnerving. [Source: BusinessWire, via New York Times]

You may remember a poll a few years ago that showed 70 percent of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11 (as recently as June of 2007 40 percent still do), or the Swift Boat campaign against John Kerry in 2004. Who believes these outlandish things? Stupid people who don't seem to be able to pick up a newspaper.

This election cycle has its own crazed bits of propaganda similar to the Swift Boat campaign, or the push polling about McCain's out-of-wedlock African-American child. The bizarre attacks, primarily being tossed around by Fox News, this time surround Barack Obama, and the only people who seem to be swallowing the Kool-Aid are some pretty uninformed voters, most recently in Indiana, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

Take a look at a couple of the responses the Daily News got on the ground in Indiana leading up to the primary earlier this week:

• "I'm kind of still up in the air between McCain and Hillary... I'll be honest with you. Barack scares the hell out of me... He swore on the Koran."
• "I can't stand him... He's a Muslim. He's not even pro-American as far as I'm concerned."

Hoax e-mails long ago debunked and -- we thought -- forgotten are still informing the decisions of some folks in the suburban and rural midwest, according to the Daily News. The e-mails that have been circulating claim alternately that he's a Muslim, that he's a radical racist Christian, that he's unpatriotic, that he refuses to say the pledge of allegiance, or that he's a communist. How can all of these things be true? They can't, but that doesn't stop some lazy people from believing anything they read in an e-mail.

So how do one stop oneself from becoming part of the problem? Double check "facts" from e-mails with reputable news sources like the Associated Press (AP) or Reuters. Or follow some basic guidelines for skepticism laid out by FactCheck.org. And the next time you get a poorly spelled e-mail from Kofi Annan claiming that Barack Obama ate a cheese burger with Osama Bin Laden in front of a village of starving children, listen to that little voice in the back of your head that says "that can't be true." [Source: NY Daily News, via: Wired]

In its advertising, pizza mega-chain Papa John's claims better ingredients make better pizza. Now the company is also saying that easier ordering makes for better revenues. Papa John's reported total online sales of over $1 billion since it started accepting Internet orders back in 2001. Enabling customers to go online and click their way to a pizza has made the franchise a favorite among many Internet savvy users, and while the company made only $20 million in online sales its first year, it nearly topped $400 million last year.

These days, all the major pizza chains offer online ordering, with Pizza Hut enabling orders via text message and Domino's Pizza Tracker letting impatient types know where their pizzas are on the assembly line.

Now if only they could find a way to deliver pies over the Internet we'd be truly set. [Source: CNN]

Social networking is one of the biggest Internet phenomenons of the last few years, and it's still MySpace that dominates the online social networking landscape, according to Web measurement firm Hitwise.

As reported in ReadWriteWeb, MySpace takes the top traffic prize with 73.82 percent of all social networking traffic. Facebook only garners 14.8 percent of social networking traffic. Other sites take no more than two percent share, so this is really a tale of two brands.

The real story here, however, isn't who is on top traffic-wise but how long that traffic stays on a site. So, while traffic has slipped for MySpace by five percent during the last year, the average amount of time active MySpace members spend on the site has increased by a whopping 73 percent. So that means the members who do stick around really, really do stick around. [Source: ReadWriteWeb]

Despite having the highest number of online users in the world, China is still one of the most strict censors of the Internet. In the build-up to the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer, the nation has been talking about the easy availability of Internet access for the media covering the games, but now it's backing away from pledges of "complete freedom," indicating that some sites will continue to be censored.

So, the media may find themselves blocked from some sites while in the country, but, in an ironic twist, the Chinese government is also saying that it's unable to block those selling Olympic-themed memorabilia. Officials have complained about seeing vendors openly selling knockoff shirts and mascots (along with pirated copies of Hollywood movies and the like) on street corners in Beijing. The government has fined a number of them recently, but is indicating it is powerless to stop it completely.

So, between the censorship and bionic swimming suits, it's certainly shaping up to be an interesting Olympics, and we haven't even started talking about the competitors yet! [Source: Reuters]

Never mind getting tesla coils to fix your supper, just hit the on switch on your own personal humanoid. Reportedly, the creature you see above has been loaded with learning algorithms that enable it to repeat actions that it learns. Wonder if anyone realized that this totally demented critter just learned to slice more than ham? Stay sharp, kids -- the video's after the break. [Source: YouTube via Hacked Gadgets]

Miniature notebooks, like the ASUS Eee, may be all the rage these days, but they come at a cost. Typing on these diminutive computers is slow and uncomfortable. The problem is that as the computer shrinks, so does the keyboard, which leads to missed keys and lost punctuations as our touch typing skills are rendered useless by the lost width. Laptop Magazine decided to take three of the more popular mini-notebook models and find out which one was the least terrible for typing out Hamlet's soliloquy.

The clear winner was the HP 2133 Mini-note, which all three testers were able to average a full 10 WPM (words per minute) faster on than the ASUS Eee and CTL 2Go PC (Classmate) which both came in within half a WPM of each other at 44.75 WPM and 44.25 WPM respectively. [Source: Laptop Magazine]

You know you're in for a treat any time your favorite gargantuan Texas-based computer company claims to have captured the "downtown art scene" and "youth culture" on a laptop lid, but we've gotta give Dell credit for these new designs courtesy of Mike Ming. Unfortunately, the new "Bunch O Surfers" and "Sea Sky" (pictured) looks have been tacked onto Dell's boring-as-could-be Inspiron 1525 budget laptop. But hey, not bad at all for $699, especially considering the 3 gigabytes of RAM that comes standard. Another shot after the break. [Source: Dell]

Well, what do you know? Sometimes even the the most repetitive of rumors finally comes true. Barely 12 hours after the Wall Street Journal reported that a deal between Sprint, Clearwire and just about everyone else was dangerously close to going down, it seems as if the bottom lines have indeed been signed. Details are pretty light at the moment, but we definitively know that Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. will be merging their "next-generation wireless broadband businesses to form a new wireless communications company."

Quite simply, the new outfit will be called Clearwire, even though Sprint will hold around 51-percent of the firm, while existing Clearwire shareholders will own 27-percent and the new investors will hold 22-percent. New investors? Ah yes, Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks will collectively invest $3.2 billion in the new company, but that figure is "based on a target price of $20 a share of Clearwire's common stock, and is subject to a post-closing adjustment." [Source: BusinessWire Via CNN]

We recently reported on some intriguing cell phone software that could track your weight or insulin levels and automatically contact doctors if there were any issues. Now researchers are taking that to the next level with implantable sensors that can wirelessly communicate with doctors automatically in case of an emergency.

The sensors use Bluetooth, the same tech that lets you use a hands-free kit in your car sans wires, and would be implanted in the body to monitor heart rate and other statistics, automatically warning doctors of irregularities. Additional sensors applied to medication dispensers could raise alarms if a prescription wasn't being adhered to. And, should you fall unconscious, a call to the local emergency services could be placed for you.

Soon, it seems, you won't even have to say "I've fallen and I can't get up!" to get some help! [Source: TimesOnline]

Admit it. You've tapped into a neighbor's Wi-Fi, siphoning off a little bandwidth for free so you can check some e-mail or maybe just surf the Net for a bit. Of course, you could get your access on the up and up by going to a local Internet cafe -- but what do you do when you're attempting a shot at the top of the world?

China has the answer.

17,000 feet above sea level, at the base camp to Mount Everest, China Mobile has built a business office and Internet cafe. The Mount Qomolangma base camp provides mobile and Internet services to "government officials, mountain climbing members and journalists," reports China Daily.

The highest hotspot in the world was established to support the Olympic torch's journey across the so-called "rooftop of the world." The China Mobile office offers Wi-Fi access with remote payment, SIM change service and other basic services, "in addition to free film, vending machines and new business experience." China Mobile claims "about 40 to 50 people go to the office and Internet cafe every day to experience the services."

No word on the quality of their lattes. [Source: China Daily via CNET]

When the Pope arrived on our shores last month, much of the nation was subject to the pomp and fanfare that surrounded his every move. Now the Pope is making a trip Down Under for Sydney's World Youth Day next month, and those who can't watch him live (or online) will be able to follow the Pontiff via SMS.

The Pope (or one of his lackeys) will be sending "daily messages of inspiration" to the phones of thousands of Catholics during the event, which despite being called "World Youth Day," actually covers an entire week.

The Catholic church will also be setting up a social networking site similar to MySpace or Facebook, enabling believers to hook up -- and pray, of course. [Source: I4U/Reuters, via Textually.org]

In early May of 1998, Apple launched a computer that was said to "deliver the things consumers care about most - the excitement of the Internet and the simplicity of the Mac." That computer was, of course, the iMac, a fruity-colored all-in-one machine that was advertised as being ridiculously easy to set up, use, and take online with (still a somewhat tricky process back in the late 90s). Now, 10 years on, Ars Technica takes a look back at the evolution of the iMac, and makes a few predictions about the machine's future.

Since then, the machine has shrunk considerably, ditching the giant old CRT monitor in favor of slim and bright LCD displays. Despite its size-shrink, it has also grown in performance in huge leaps and bounds. The first machine had a 233 megahertz CPU and just 32-megabytes of memory, while the latest model can be equipped with a 3.06 gigahertz CPU and two-gigabytes of memory. There's still no floppy disc on offer, though.

The iMac has continued to be quite popular, but Ars predicts its days are numbered. With two-thirds of all Macs being sold today going in laptop form, and that number doing nothing but increasing as people embrace mobile computing, the belief is that the iMac will go the way of the Macintosh Classic II, lost to the annals of history. [Source: Ars Technica]

All the news that's fit to print may someday be free, according to a new poll from Zogby International.

The polling firm asked newspaper editors around the world what they thought would be the future of newspapers, and most agreed that there was a future in print but that pressures from online media would force them to adjust how they do business.

Some key points:

• 86 percent of respondents believed newsrooms should become more integrated with digital services.
• Two in three believe the most common form of news consumption will be via electronic media such as online or mobiles within a decade
• 56 percent of respondents believed that the majority of news, be it via print or online, would be free in the future (up from 48 percent a year ago)
• 48 percent who answered yes a year ago
• Only 45 percent of editors thought the quality of journalism would improve over the next 10 years (more than 25 percent think it will get worse)
• Nearly two-thirds believe that some traditional editorial functions will be outsourced in the future

An interesting split between so-called emerging markets and more mature markets was revealed by the poll. Editors in South America, Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Asia were more likely to think newspapers would become free, while those in Western Europe and North America were likely to think the paid model still has a future. [Source: Reuters]

Woe betide the online camera shopper. Those who have an affinity for expensive photo gear know that they can save a bundle online. But, doing so often means dealing with shady, NYC-based camera shops that would just as soon spew profanity at you on the phone as listen to your complaints. This is the trap that shopper and blogger Jason Weisberger fell into when ordering a new, $5,000 Nikon D3 from an Amazon-affiliated retailer, Cameta Camera. He didn't like the store's service and left it a bad review, which resulted in Cameta Camera seemingly offering him a bribe to remove the negative feedback!

Weisberger had paid a whopping $75 in shipping to get the camera delivered and found that the seller had simply thrown the camera's box into a larger box, with no extra packing, and sent it on its way. The outer box was thoroughly trashed during shipment but somehow the camera inside didn't receive any damage. Weisberger called to express his disappointment and, after getting treated rudely over the phone, left the negative feedback at Amazon.

The next day he received a very apologetic e-mail offering to refund the $75 shipping charge he received, on one condition -- that he remove that negative review. By Weisberger's account, that's bribery. Even so, the company in question makes a valid point, that often retailers rectify customer complaints but the customers in question don't then go back and update their reviews.

What's your take, an honest shop trying to protect its reputation, or a sleazy retailer trying to bribe its way to good reviews? At least they didn't sue him ... [Source: Dethroner, via BoingBoing]