Tag: ECONOMICS

According to the United Nations, the number of Internet users will exceed two billion people this year, approaching one-third of the global population. The International Telecommunication Union, an agency within the U.N., is reporting that Internet access was extended to 226 million new users in 2010, with 162 million of them coming from developing nations. In the last five years, the number of ...

Wanna know where the stock market is headed? According to new research from Indiana University, Twitter may hold the answer. Indiana's Johan Bollen and his team of researchers recently investigated whether Twitter could be used as an accurate stock market weather vane, based on the presumption that the microblogging platform could give some insight into the mood of the country. To test their ...

The plight of poor countries is an issue that has always puzzled economists and policymakers, and one that has spurred a centuries-old debate. Some argue that the road to economic development begins with a solid public health system, others believe it begins at public education, and a handful of high-profile theoreticians claim that throwing enough money at a country will always be enough to ...

Conventional economic logic would suggest that, as the prices of new cell phones drop, we -- as rational, price-taking consumers -- would abandon our older models for shinier, more cost-effective alternatives. According to a new survey from J.D. Power and Associates, though, we aren't. As PC World reports, consumers now hold onto their mobiles for an average of 20.5 months -- 17-percent longer ...

Wired Magazine editor-in-chief Chris Anderson, like Prince, thinks the Web is dead. Unlike Prince, though, Anderson actually has some facts to back up his claim. In the cover story of the September issue of Wired, both Anderson and Michael Wolff use Internet traffic trends to support the argument that smartphone apps and e-readers have gradually begun to overtake the Web browser as our primary ...

Share In a compelling article (PDF) titled 'White Flight in Networked Publics -- How Race and Class Shaped American Teen Engagement with MySpace and Facebook,' Microsoft researcher Danah Boyd argues that race and social class were significant factors in the 2006 teenage exodus from MySpace to Facebook. As Technology Review reports, the author uses statistical and anecdotal evidence to ...

If you really want to get to the bottom of a particular subculture, you've really got to immerse yourself in it. With this in mind, then, a group of five security "researchers" studying the online porn industry recently decided to live the dream bite the bullet, and create their very own adult site. In their paper, which will be presented at The Ninth Workshop on the Economics of Information ...

Quantifying the effect that online piracy has on businesses and copyright holders has always been an inexact science. For years, suspicion has been brewing over the accuracy of estimated losses claimed by software companies, the MPAA and even governmental agencies. Yesterday, though, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finally admitted to the scientific shortcomings of many common ...

We often forget that online retail outlets aren't staffed by bundles of fiber-optic cable or powered by magic. No, it takes real flesh and blood human beings to find your goods, pack them up, and ship them out. And during the holiday season it takes many more workers than normal. Every December, Amazon hires up to 1,000 additional workers for its largest "fulfillment center" in Coffeyville, ...

As part of its newfound bankruptcy status, Ritz Camera's gearing up to close more than 300 of its around 700 brick-and-mortar stores across the US, or about 43 percent of its retail presence. Starting April 4th, the affect stores will begin liquidation sales that'll go on until -- in the words of the press release -- "everything is sold to the bare walls." Forget DSLRs, if you were needing any ...

There are some signs on Wall Street that this awful economy might just be starting to recover a bit, but even if it continues to flounder, some analysts are suggesting that you should seriously think about hurrying up and making that electronics-related investment you've been pondering. It's believed that the steep decline of prices on things like HDTVs and MP3 players is not only going to ...

Those who that think perpetrators of online fraud (phishers) are marauding around St. Tropez in a cigarette boat filled with the money of unsuspecting victims, take heart. They aren't rich after all, according to Slashdot. Well, most of them, anyway. Phishers are running themselves out of business through oversaturation. The more one phisher works, the less phishing opportunities there are for ...

According to Electronic Entertainment Design and Research's "November 2008 Retail Sales Preview" report, the popularity of Guitar Hero is peaking. Predicting a sales decline of more than 50 percent from 'Guitar Hero 3' to 'World Tour' this month (and following a decline of 60 percent in October), it's expected that the game will begin a slow but steady decline in the months and years ahead. ...

It used to be that you could pretty much get any address on the Web for free (or a small administration fee), but those days are long over. Now, if a company wants the perfect Web address for a new site, they may well have to shell out quite a bit of money. While most domain names (aka Web addresses) are still relatively inexpensive, there are a few that are well out of the average surfer's ...

In the midst of the financial crisis, one line of business is reporting record revenues; increasingly, folks worried over the economy are looking for love on dating Web sites, according to Reuters. While the Dow dropped by over four percent in the third quarter of 2008, making for a total decrease of 35-percent this year, PerfectMatch.com saw membership boom with a 47-percent increase in the ...