Internet

Millions saw the critically-acclaimed film based on Facebook's rise from dorm-room foolery to international sensation. Even more significant may be the number of people (approximately 500 million) that own accounts on Facebook's web site. No wonder, ... then, that its controversial CEO has been named Time Magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2010. Mark Zuckerberg is one of the world's youngest billionaires; he's also now the youngest Time Person of the Year since 1927, when aviator Charles Lindbergh won the award. Queen Elizabeth was also quite young when Time Magazine gave her the honor, but ... (view more)

The next edition of Internet Explorer is said to include a new tool for users to restrict how their information is shared with websites. But it will likely mean that some web features and content will be unavailable to users if the special privacy ... feature is enabled. FTC Calls for "Do Not Track" Feature in Web Browsers Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) called on web browser producers and website owners to make it easier for users to avoid having their online activity shared with other web sites. For example, a site might share what a user reads with an advertising agency ... (view more)

Do you shop online or do you prefer brick-and-mortar stores? Ask anyone that question and you'd likely get a varying answer. For myself: I started shopping online 7 years ago. Back then, there wasn't user commenting / opinions and reseller ratings ... for websites, so purchasing anything online gave me great hesitation. Flash forward a few years and things have changed quite a bit. Buying online -- at least, for me, is a regular part of my life and I look forward to it because it's often a fun and an exciting experience. One such site, Amazon.com, is one of the biggest and best places I shop ... (view more)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is promoting a new campaign that would enable users to stop advertisers from tracking their online behavior. Similar to having your telephone number appear on the "Do Not Call" registry, the FTC believes that ... having your web browser set to "Do Not Track" (DNT) would make for a safer online environment. In activating the Do Not Track feature, your web browser sends out a virtual message to the website, asking the advertiser(s) not to track you. The message is repeated on every website you visit. Activation Control at the Discretion of the User Do Not Track ... (view more)

The recently-released film The Social Network explores (and exaggerates) the rise of Facebook.com, sparing none of the gory (or in this case, sleazy) details about the messed-up relationships of its founders, particularly Mark Zuckerberg, Sean ... Parker, and Eduardo Saverin. But it's the impact Facebook can have on the relationships of its users that is at the heart of the most recent debate involving the site. If You're Married, Get Off of Facebook New Jersey-based Reverend Cedric Miller says that, if you're married, it's time to get the heck off Facebook. Miller cites the social networking ... (view more)

The owner of an online eyeglasses store has been charged with making electronic threats to disappointed customers. However, in doing so, Vitaly Borker believes the threats actually helped to boost the site's position in Google search rankings, and ... thus bring more traffic to his website. Borker, who operates decormyeyes.com, has been charged with four offenses: cyberstalking, making interstate threats, mail fraud and wire fraud. In at least one case, he is accused both of delivering a counterfeit pair of "designer" spectacles and vastly overcharging the customer. When the New York Times ... (view more)

A Russian man has appeared in a US federal court accused of running a network of infected computers that had the capability of sending 10 billion unsolicited emails a day. Oleg Nikolaenko is said to be responsible for a third of the world's spam ... messages. 23-year old Nikolaenko has denied the charges, brought under the federal CAN-SPAM act. That doesn't make sending unsolicited email an offense in itself, but rather places specific restrictions upon the practice. In this case, the claim is that the email messages contained false information, for example by disguising the identity of the ... (view more)

There was good news and bad news this week for Microsoft. First, the good news: the Redmond-based firm saw the beta version of its Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) browser reach the 15 million download plateau. Next, the bad: usage of Google's Chrome ... browser jumped almost a percentage point in one month alone, eating up market share lost as users move away from Internet Explorer 6 (IE6). When the Internet Explorer 9 beta was first made available back in September, approximately 2 million users jumped on board in less than two days. Since then, an additional 13 million users have downloaded the ... (view more)

Facebook recently confirmed its enhanced messaging system, Facebook Messages. Officially launched November 15th, the system is designed to channel email, instant messaging and SMS text messages (cell phone messages) into a single @facebook.com email ... address so that users can manage their communications through a single inbox. (Source: eweek.com ) @Facebook.Com On-the-Way The idea of the service, which builds on the existing Facebook messaging feature, is to break down the barriers between different forms of communication such as email, site messaging, live chat, instant-messaging and the text ... (view more)

With over 30 years in computing experience, I'm often asked my opinion about computer hardware. Questions like, "What can I do to speed up my computer?", or "What type of laptop should I buy?" and things of that nature. Like anyone else, I love a ... good deal. In order to find the best deal possible, sometimes I spend an entire day shopping online to compare prices and features of similar components. Unfortunately, many of the "recommendations" I've read recently appear to be forged for the sake of making a sale, which means there's an awful lot of time wasted wading through ... (view more)