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Posts with tag internet

Economy Driving Users to Finance News Sites in Record Numbers

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Oct 10th 2008 at 12:30PM

Ecomogeddon Drive Traffic to Financially Themed Web Sites
The financial crisis is actually proving to be a boon, for some. Finance-themed Web sites have seen huge increases in traffic, and even the little guys are noticing massive numbers of new visitors.

Understandably, major online financial outlets like the Wall Street Journal, AOL Money and Finance, and Yahoo! Finance have seen record levels of daily traffic, but it's what has been happening at the smaller sites that has been truly amazing. comScore, an Internet tracking company, has reported that GasBuddy.com (a site that directs visitors to the cheapest gas stations in their neighborhood) has seen its traffic jump by 30-percent. SavingAdvice.com, a site offers coupons and information of shopping deals, has said its daily traffic has increased dramatically.

The best barometer for what is driving Web traffic is usually Google searches, and in September, queries for 'stocks' nearly tripled.

Other companies may also see bright days to come thanks to the encroaching ecomageddon. FindHow.com, a site that specializes in Do-It-Yourself instructions for building and fixing things, expects to see growing demand in the coming months not just for its site, but for the DIY movement on a whole. [From: Yahoo! Tech]

Members of Congress at Last Allowed to Post on YouTube

by Tim Stevens, posted Oct 10th 2008 at 11:32AM



We've seen twittering and vlogging from from Capitol Hill, and all sorts of other uses (and exploits) of technology for political use, misuse, and... intimidation? So far, however, official support for the use of the Internet outside of the .gov domain by members of Congress has been off-limits. That changed yesterday with a new rule change that opens up the wilds of the 'Net for Congressional gain.

The new rule enables members of Congress to post official content anywhere on the Internet -- so, for example, they can now post videos and advertisements on YouTube. Members can also now link to non-government sites (what a concept!) and even embed content, like those videos, into their official .gov sites.

Frankly, we're shocked this was all officially off-limits before, as these are features and services we've all come to depend on. With these new rights, we're expecting an explosion of blogging and vlogging congressmen and women in the very near future, which, presumably, will allow us to communicate better with our politicans. [From: Washington Post, via digitalmediawire]

South Korean Police Battle Online Gossip

by Lee Bains, posted Oct 6th 2008 at 5:35PM


Thursday, South Korea's national police announced that they would devote 900 officers to a month-long investigation into malicious online gossip, News.com.au reported yesterday. This operation commenced in the wake of a beloved South Korean actress's suicide on Thursday.

Choi Jin-sil, according to investigators, hanged herself as a result of chronic depression, exacerbated by online rumors that another South Korean actor had taken out a large loan from Choi prior to taking his own life in September. These popular allegations, an investigation found, were totally false.

At present, South Korea's dominant party considers this sort of online gossip to be libelous, and is pushing for legislation against it. The opposition party, however, is holding out, citing concerns regarding freedom of speech.

U.S. lawmakers will, no doubt, face a similar dilemma at some point or another, as the cyber bullying of private individuals is on the rise. [From: News.com.au]

Tips for Securing Your Web-Mail Accounts

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Oct 4th 2008 at 1:01PM

Tips to Secure Your Web-MailWeb-mail sites like Gmail and Hotmail are incredibly convenient, but when doing things online, security should be a major concern and not all Web-mail systems are as secure as you might think. Your personal data may especially be at risk when accessing your e-mail from a public Wi-Fi hotspot if you don't take the proper precautions.

Thankfully, Wired has started a wiki to collect tips for how to secure your Web-mail accounts. Most of them are pretty simple tricks that only take a moment to set up -- turns out most of them just aren't always that obvious. For example, you can force Gmail to always use an HTTPS (a secure connection that scrambles sent and received data) connection by checking a box in your Gmail settings. Similarly, Hotmail has an enhanced security mode, and you'll find the link on the log-in page, just under the password box.

Check out the page for some more tips, and add your own if you have any. [From: Wired]

Internet Makes Men Happy, Survey Says

by Lee Bains, posted Oct 3rd 2008 at 11:31AM



According to a Reuters report, a recent Australian study shows that over 50-percent of men see the Internet as the key to happiness, while a measly 39-percent of women feel the same way.

The "Happiness Index" study also demonstrates that, collectively, women's happiest activity is spending time with family, an opinion shared by just 45-percent of men. While we are certainly in no position to criticize these Aussie Web-lovers (we do run a blog, after all), we believe we'd be remiss not to criticize the apparently pitiful number of family men Down Under. Then again, we're not sure if the stats would be that much better here in the states... Is playing online games really more satisfying than spending time with your children?

For all those kids out there that find themselves in this sort of predicament, fear not. If you hip your daddy to some of these new widgets, he might just be grateful enough to play a game of catch sometime. [From: Reuters]

Research Shows Customers Unhappy With Cable Providers

by Lee Bains, posted Oct 2nd 2008 at 9:51AM



The research firm CFI Group has found that cable customers are unhappy with providers' substandard customer service and high rates, ArsTechnica reports. This, of course, should come as no surprise to anybody who's had to take a day off work to wait around for the cable guy.

According to CFI Group's data, 70-percent of former cable users cited high rates as cause for cancellation, while 40-percent cited unsatisfactory service.

With satellite systems and ever-faster DSL posing a threat to cable TV and Internet, respectively, it seems that these cable folks need to reassess their way of doing business. Or, at least, give a brother a phone call and an hour's notice, so he can hustle home from the job site. [From: ArsTechnica]

US House Web Site Fails Along With Bailout Bill

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 30th 2008 at 6:01PM


The stock market wasn't the only thing that tanked yesterday following news of the failure of the $700 billion bailout bill in the House of Representatives. In the hours following the collapse of the political compromise (meant to save Wall Street firms), curious news junkies managed to bring the Web site for the House to its knees.

Jeff Ventura, spokesman for the House Chief Administrative Officer, said, "We haven't seen this much demand since the 9-11 commission report," was posted on the site in 2004. The site is still up right now, but some users may get temporary error messages as the pages of congressional representatives are overwhelmed by demand. Ventura says that citizens can get through to e-mail their representatives if they keep trying.

Computer technicians at the House have worked through the night to keep the site up. The problems should be resolved today when Congress recesses for the holidays and demand is expected to drop.

Of course, Democrats and Republicans immediately started pointing fingers at each other claiming that the Web site failed do to overly partisan rancor on the floor. [From: AP]

US Soldiers in Iraq Finally Get Wi-Fi Network

by Evan Shamoon, posted Sep 25th 2008 at 10:30AM



Good news for those of you spending this autumn in sunny Iraq: According to Aruba Networks, the company has installed a secure Wi-Fi network in Iraq to provide Internet access for U.S. soldiers. The service is being provided to 20,000 U.S. soldiers serving at Joint Base Balad (the largest U.S. military base in the region). For the first time since the start of the war, soldiers are now able to securely surf the Web from their laptops, anywhere on the base's huge premises.

Of course, it's not just any wireless network that manages to do the job: This is what they call a "mesh-based network," the advantages of which include its capability to self-heal if access points are lost or die of heat exhaustion, and the network can be quickly moved if need be -- essential in this most unstable of regions.

Still, just the idea of being an IT guy tasked with fixing a network while avoiding sniper fire is stressing us out. [From: InformationWeek]

Computer Users Still Fooled By Fake Pop-Ups, Study Finds

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 24th 2008 at 12:12PM

Study Shows Computer Users are Moron
Despite the best efforts of tech savvy friends and Web sites (like this one), you, the Web-using public, simply continue your bad browsing habits. A new study shows, and we mean this in the nicest way possible, that you're just not listening.

Faculty from the psychology department at North Carolina State University conducted a study in which students were presented with a series of fake Windows dialog boxes while using a browser. Four boxes were crafted containing the following warning: "The instruction at '0x77f41d24 referenced memory at '0x595c2a4c.' The memory could not be 'read.' Click OK to terminate program." One was nearly indistinguishable from a standard Windows XP dialog box, but the other three contained clear warning signs that it may install malware.

Of the 42 students observed, 25 students clicked the OK button in two of the fake dialog boxes, missing the cursor turning to a hand over the OK button -- this indicates a link in a browser window, a sure sign for caution. 23 students clicked on the third fake, which showed the browser status bar at the bottom of the window. As a comparison, 26 clicked on the "real" warning box.

Only nine users closed the dialog boxes using the close button on the window border, and a few just simply minimized the window or dragged it out of the way. None of the users spent any significant amount of time reading or looking at the windows, indicating that they weren't even bothering to think about them.

The authors of the study suggest that more training might help users recognize the warning signs and become better browsers, through most users seem content to follow Download Squads 'Five Ways to Surf Like a Complete Moron.' Maybe, if we started breaking out the Karate moves and reciting Bob Dylan lyrics we'd have an easier time getting through to all those pop-up-clickers out there. [From: Ars Technica]

Porn No Longer the Most Popular Activity Online

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 16th 2008 at 7:12PM



Porn is no longer the number one activity on the Internet. It may be hard to believe, but according to a recent study of the surfing habits of 10 million people by Bill Tancer, a researcher at Hitwise (an Internet tracking company), time spent on social-networking sites has surpassed time spent 'browsing' adult entertainment pages. Searches for pornography have dropped to account for 10-percent of Web searches, down from 20-percent a decade ago.

Some other interesting tidbits from the study, which have also been compiled into Tancer's new book Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why It Matters:
It's nice to see that people are doing things online besides gazing at porno, but we still think time wasted on a social networking site would be better utilized by socializing in, you know, the real world. [From: Reuters/AOL News]

Remember, you can always find out the latest on what people are looking for at AOL Hot Searches, and if you want to read the first chapter of the book, check out USA Today's excerpt here.

Professors Posting Pricey Textbooks on the Web

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 15th 2008 at 2:32PM

Text Books Go Digital, Free
Those of you who have been out of school for a while may not realize just how expensive college textbooks have become. Truth is, most college students could probably feed themselves fillet mignon for a year with what they pay for textbooks.

The costly textbook market is starting to come under pressure from both the academics who author the texts and groups who believe knowledge and information should be free and available to all. They're taking inspiration from a number of Internet phenomena such as peer-to-peer file sharing, Wikipedia, and the open source movement.

Professor R. Preston McAfee, from Cal Tech, has authored an introductory tome on economics that he has made available online for free. The book is also being offered in print from multiple outlets for a fraction of the price of normal textbooks -- $11 at its cheapest. The book, 'Introduction to Economic Analysis,' is even being used at Harvard.

But McAfee's free e-text book is just the beginning. Connexions is a tool for making what amount to textbook mash-ups. Authors can submit full length texts of individual sections (called modules) that can than be edited, mixed and mashed, as long as the original author is credited according to the Creative Commons license.

Connexions is just one way in which the open source movement is influencing the education market. Perhaps even more impressive is MIT's OpenCourseWare, which since being announced in 2001 has made lectures, assignments, and reading material for over 1,800 classes available online to the general public.

Textbook publishers are now rushing to join the 21st century before they can be blindsided and replaced (as record stores and printed encyclopedias have been) by these new Internet-powered movements. CourseSmart was formed by a consortium of academic publishers who have made over 4,000 textbooks available online or as digital downloads for less than their print options. But even these discounted offerings are pricey and lack flexibility, offering students the option to either download, or read online, not both.

These new free and community based educational offerings are quite a ways from deposing the academic publishing powerhouses, but they will likely find a niche amongst the more technologically savvy and experimental professors and students. [From: The New York Times]

Google Chrome's Market Share Dropping Hard and Fast

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 12th 2008 at 1:26PM

Google Chrome Market Share Dropping Off AlreadyGoogle Chrome busted out of the gate last week and was the talk of the town. But one week later, the browser phenomena from the world's leader in search is already starting to fade.

In the days following the launch of Chrome, the browser had claimed a larger chunk of the browser market share than Opera or Safari. Though it couldn't touch larger competitors like Firefox or Internet Explorer, it still made an incredibly impressive showing, especially for such a new product. By some measures, Chrome's market share has dropped by over a third.

According to Net Applications, a tracking service, Chrome dropped from a daily high of 1.7-percent of the market last week to a daily high of 1 percent this week.

The drop off isn't a complete surprise: Many rushed out to try the new product, but went back to their browsers of choice after giving Chrome -- which is still a work in progress and plenty buggy -- a spin. The question for Google now is whether is can continue to improve Chrome enough to win over more users. [From: Silicon Alley Insider]

Airlines Won't Block 'Porn' on In-Flight Internet Access

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 28th 2008 at 11:47AM


At long last, Internet access is finally becoming consistently available on flights around the country (and the world). While most technophiles like us are completely jazzed at the prospect of surfing while jet-setting, other folks aren't so sure. As you can see from the above video, many parents and other porn-averse folks are concerned that mile-high-Wi-Fi will just open the door to some shady fliers surfing illicit porn sites as they cross the country. They might be right -- US Air is indicating it won't filter 'Net access, but will instead rely on its stewardesses to maintain the peace and handle any complaints.

This, too, has people up in arms, particularly the stewardesses who say they already have enough to do without having to worry about looking for smut (it sure is a long way from the days of 'Coffee, Tea, or Me.'). But we're inclined to think this is being blown way out of proportion. People have been watching R-rated DVDs and videos on laptops mid-flight for years now and we haven't exactly heard a flood of complaints yet.

What do you think? Should in-flight Internet be censored? [From: CNN]

Internet Provides New Opportunities For Political Dirty Tricks

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Aug 27th 2008 at 1:01PM



Dirty tricks used to mislead voters and keep them away from the polls, but new Web-centric attempts to disenfranchise voters are stoking fears amongst voters and activists. In the past, political trickery has relied on phone calls, fliers, and direct mailing, which are much easier to track and prosecute than the new wave of political scare tactics.

Traditional calls, like the push polls in 2000 that lifted Bush over McCain in South Carolina, have been replaced by robo-calls via VoIP that are harder to trace and not subject to the same restrictions land-line and cell phone based political phone campaigns are. Such tactics were turned on African-American voters in North Carolina during this primary season when calls were placed that led voters to believe they were not properly registered.

More familiar online techniques such as phishing, pharming (secretly redirecting traffic from one site to another), and good old fashioned typo-squatting have also made their way to the political arena. The primary battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton saw hackers redirecting visitors to Obama's social networking site MyBarackObama.com to Clinton's home page.

Experts expect to see spam e-mails giving out incorrect polling locations, misleading information about who can and cannot vote, and even money making and identity theft schemes centered around voter registration.

Of course all of the uses of the Internet in politics are not nefarious. Barack Obama has proven himself adept at utilizing social media and activists have been using it to organize large numbers of people since the 2004 Howard Dean campaign. [From: CNN]

Study Finds Kids Spending More Time Online

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Aug 25th 2008 at 3:09PM

Kids Spend More Time Online, Less in Front of the TV
Parents used to worry about kids sitting in front of the TV all day, but now it looks like the Internet has finally surpassed the boob-tube for time waster of choice with today's youth. According to DoubleClick Performics, a search marketing company, 83-percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 spend at least 1 hour online each day. Only 68-percent of the same age group spent and equal amount of time watching TV.

The study found that children spent most of their time online researching products before making (or asking parents to make) a purchase, and hanging out on social networking sites like MySpace. In fact, 72-percent said they spent time on a social networking site, yet only 60 percent spent any time on blogs (looks like we're not pulling in the 10-14 year old crowd here at Switched).

It's no surprise that the Internet would eventually surpass television. The Internet offers more information and potential for distraction in an interactive form, while watching TV is a relatively passive activity. Besides, have you seen the crap that passes for TV these days? [From: NY Times]


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