John Lister

A Facebook "relationship notifier" application -- originally designed as a joke -- has proven to be a major hit. The app, which lets users know when a Facebook user changes their relationship status, has been downloaded more than 100,000 times. The ... app works in a simple manner: you click a list to confirm which of your existing friends you want to track, and then you receive an email whenever their listed relationship status changes. Facebook Users Love 'Breakup Notifier' Aptly named "Breakup Notifier", the Facebook app notifies you if a "friend" on your list changes their ... (view more)

As of February 22nd, 2011, Microsoft is officially in the process of rolling out Windows 7 Service Pack 1 to all Windows 7 users via the Windows Update (automatic) feature, as well as through Microsoft's website. Why a Windows Service Pack is ... Imperative In general, a Windows Service Pack is a method of bringing together multiple changes to the operating system. Windows 7 Service Pack 1 ("SP1") is a single download (also available on DVD) that includes all major and minor security and bug fixes since the original release of Windows 7, up to the last software update made available ... (view more)

Libya has followed Egypt's lead in restricting Internet access. But the operators of a service that helps foreign companies take advantage of the country's domain code says it will be unaffected. As with Egypt, the Internet crackdown is associated ... with anti-government protests. And as with Egypt, the measures mean all traffic into and out of the country appears to have been completely blocked. Internet Blocking: a Form of Curfew However, there is one key difference: the Egyptian incident involved net access going down and then not returning for several days, apparently after officials decided ... (view more)

A government agency intends to extend a rural phone subsidy program to cover high-speed Internet. It comes as the agency's chairman warns that as many as 24 million Americans may have no access to broadband whatsoever. The debate involves the ... Universal Service Fund, a scheme set up in 1997 to provide every home in the country with telephone service. Phone operators forward a portion of their revenue to the fund, which is used to subsidize phone service in areas where operators couldn't otherwise charge reasonable rates and still make a profit. (Source: washingtonpost.com ) The fund also ... (view more)

Republican Congress members have taken the first step in blocking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from enforcing net neutrality rules. But the political landscape means the final outcome is far from clear. The move follows a hearing by ... the House of Representatives committee that questioned all five FCC members about their decision in December to issue controversial guidelines attempting to enforce net neutrality (the principle that all lawful Internet traffic should be treated equally). (Source: pcworld.com ) With Republican politicians unimpressed by the evidence given by the ... (view more)

Microsoft says it's unlikely that hackers will successfully exploit a recently discovered security bug in Windows. The company says that if the bug is abused, it would likely result in a denial of service attack instead. As noted on Wednesday, the ... problem involves system files related to Windows network file and printer sharing. Hackers are often particularly interested in exploiting such system files as they are a potential entry point between a networked computer and the outside world (via the Internet). Denial of Service Risk to Windows In this case, the Windows exploit appears to have two ... (view more)

Microsoft has unveiled what should be the final version of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) before its official release to the public. The company says the latest round of changes take into account 17,000 different suggestions by beta users . The Internet ... Explorer 9 download currently available is in the Release Candidate (RC) stage. This is a stage forward from beta testing and represents the point at which Microsoft believes the current version of the program is (with a few exceptions) relatively bug-free, and good to go. At the Release Candidate stage, it usually means that there won't be any ... (view more)

The chief executive officer of Twitter says the site is helping maintain interest in live TV broadcasts, even in the era of the personal video recorder. Dick Costolo also claimed Twitter itself was making money -- though was unclear about the ... company's future financial strategies. Speaking at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Costolo said that Twitter use had helped encourage people to once again watch TV shows at the time of their original airing, rather than catch up with them later. That's because watching "live" allows users to discuss the show with one another in real time, ... (view more)

When Microsoft first announced it had discovered a third party was responsible for mysterious data use on some Windows Phone 7 handsets, it didn't confirm rumors that Yahoo was to blame. Now, it's firmly pointing the finger at Yahoo -- which is in ... turn passing the blame back to Microsoft. The problem emerged last month when some users noticed particularly high levels of data use even when their phones weren't being used. That led to complaints that some users risked unintentionally going over monthly data limits and facing blocks or excess use fees. Microsoft later said that the problem ... (view more)

A company offering a special discount on ordering flowers on line -- just in time for Valentine's Day -- was forced to shut down the deal a day early because customers complained the "offer" meant they saved little if any money. The offer came from ... Groupon, which issues a daily deal from retailers aimed at users in a particular geographical area. The way the deals work is that the offer is only good if a set number of people sign up to take advantage: that encourages more retailers to take part as they know they'll pick up enough extra business to make it worth their while. The all-or-nothing ... (view more)