Category: Web

We don't know about you guys, but here at Switched, we get a boatload of e-mails and that's not going to change any time soon. We send almost as many as we receive, too. Truth be told, it can be a little overwhelming sometimes, so we're a little intrigued by Boomerang for Gmail, which promises to help tame your inbox deluge by bringing a few welcome tricks to the Gmail toolbox. The problem ...

While his classmates probably admired comic book heroes and professional athletes, Christian Owens, a U.K. teen, looked up to somebody real -- Steve Jobs -- and it paid off for him. According to SWNS, taking inspiration from the Mac magnate, Owens made his first $1 million in just two years by creating two wildly popular Web start-ups. He got a Mac, learned basic Web design, and started his ...

Since it launched three years ago, Ushahidi has played an increasingly crucial role in natural disaster and crisis relief efforts by allowing citizens to report violent incidents as they happen. Whenever the open-source software receives a notification from a user, it uses data collected from text messages, news reports or the Internet to geographically map the incident in real-time. In recent ...

Our favorite online games are the simple ones with a high-replay value (e.g., 'Canabalt'). It doesn't hurt if they're free, either. The latest title to drag down our productivity is a 2-D side-scroller called 'Solipskier' that asks gamers to guide a stick-figure skier down the slopes -- while drawing those said slopes. Like we said, it isn't a complex game, with the simple objective to navigate ...

Here's a cute little timewaster for Gmail fans: 'Galactic Inbox.' The premise is simple: You control a mighty winged Gmail envelope tasked with disposing an onslaught of baddies, including cans of what we presume are a major brand of luncheon meat. You blast your way until you meet the boss, a birdcage with spiked balls for arms holding other Gmail envelopes hostage. Your goal, obviously, is to ...

A few months ago, we told you about a growing wave of spammers who had begun outsourcing their CAPTCHA-solving duties to low-wage workers in developing countries. Now, a recently published study from UC San Diego has revealed just how insidious and exploitative this underground market really is. In the paper (PDF), which was presented at the recent USENIX Computer Symposium, researchers found that ...

Yuppies in expensive suits and college kids who pretend to study rejoiced last month when Starbucks rolled out free Wi-Fi for its caffeinated legion of customers. But keeping them in the store so they'll buy overpriced coffee and Norah Jones CDs wasn't enough. According to Mashable, Starbucks will launch a Digital Network chock full of exclusive, premium Web content for your ...

Share Nick Newcomen had something to get off his chest, so he decided to write it across the continental U.S. Literally. With the help of a Qstarz BT-Q1000X GPS logging device and seemingly endless amounts of spare time, Newcomen spent a full month driving across 30 states, along a route he'd carefully planned before leaving his house. When he finally ended his trek, his trans-continental ...

The amount of spam sent across the world may be growing, but global phishing attacks, at least, seem to be diminishing in number. According to a new report from Symantec, 92-percent of all e-mails sent across the Web today consist of spam, up from 89-percent one year ago. Also, as times have changed, so too has the content of most junk mail. A year ago, most spam subject lines were related to ...

In an innocent hoax that tickles our schadenfreude bone (we think it's located somewhere near the patella?), a cherubic and awesomely named Azura Beebeejaun -- aged 10, and of Worcester, England -- lay face-down in the gutter. Azura cast her shoes aside for effect, and, naturally, a Google Street View car doddered past, resulting in a multi-angled image of young Azura on Google, looking much ...

Starting today, you'll be able tag where you've been (or where you will be going), update your friends on your travel plans, and actually purchase your tickets all in the same place -- as long as you plan to fly Delta. The airline has opened an online Ticket Window, which lets customers purchase tickets through Facebook. Delta is the first airline to offer such a service through the social ...

Share A recently discovered loophole on Facebook could reveal your personal information to complete strangers. And, for the moment, there's nothing you can do about it. As CNET explains, the loophole arises from one of Facebook's quirky log-in features. Usually, if you enter your e-mail address along with an incorrect password, Facebook will automatically open an error page, where you can try ...

Google and Verizon have already taken plenty of heat for their recently unveiled joint-proposal on how to apply Net neutrality ideology to regulatory policy. Now, Facebook has joined the chorus of boos by formally announcing its opposition to the plan. As the New York Times reports, the social network is raising concerns about any plan that would exempt wireless carriers from Net neutrality rules, ...

The undisputed 'King of Late Night' is making a comeback -- this time, on the Internet. According to The New York Times, more than 3,500 hours of footage from Johnny Carson's tenure as host of 'The Tonight Show' has been preserved digitally and archived on the Web for fans to enjoy. It took about 2,000 people to complete this two-phase project, which mostly spans the years between 1973 and 1992 ...

Microsoft's new version of Hotmail, now officially called Windows Live Hotmail, finally landed for the service's 350 million users last week. And since that time, customers have been complaining of a number of problems, including an excruciatingly slow response to input, scripting errors, browser crashes and even being completely locked out of their accounts. It's not clear exactly what the ...