Internet

You'd think Facebook redesigns were tantamount to government-administered colonoscopies. The popular social networking site recently faced a virtual revolt after adapting its interface to one that, intentionally or not, closely reflects rival ... Twitter. Sometimes people like change. A new home arrangement can change one's mood, and perhaps even a new TV can improve it dramatically. However, just about no one seems to enjoy it when Facebook makes alterations to its iconic web page, particularly when changes can make basic functions, like finding the 'events' tab, more difficult than it was the ... (view more)

Like whiling away those boring days at work listening to free streaming music? Many cubicle kings and queens enjoy no-charge service Last.fm, one of the most popular of these sites -- unfortunately, if you don't live and work in the United States, ... Germany, or Britain, it will soon cost you. It's becoming increasingly difficult to access free music online. Hot on the heels of Warner's decision to rip its music off popular video site YouTube, Last.fm fans living outside the aforementioned three countries will soon have to pay a fee to access the site's mountain of music. It's not yet known what ... (view more)

A recent report by the BBC News claims that makers of rogue anti-virus software are making as much as $10,800 a day from selling their dubious fake security software to unknowing computer users. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) A typical scenario: a user ... misspells a web address in a browser and is instantly redirected to a forged web page. From there, the visitor is bombarded with bogus popup warnings claiming that the visitor's PC is infected with malicious programs. The warnings say you'll need to download and pay for anti-virus software costing about $50 to clean up the (non-existent) infection. This ... (view more)

If you are thinking of complaining on Twitter about a company's service, your grumble might be more effective than you think. A customer relations management firm is now offering a service that lets companies monitor and deal with comments about ... them on the site. Salesforce calls its product the 'Service Cloud' and already covers posts on Facebook. The Twitter functionality will be added free of charge to existing customer accounts. Complaints In Context While Salesforce uses some serious jargon in its publicity, their product is remarkably simple. It takes advantage of the fact that a ... (view more)

With the growing popularity of social networking comes a growing list of social search engines that can turn up all kinds of embarrassing and potentially invasive information about you. The issue raises questions about what other revealing ... information is out there and what can be done to protect oneself. Besides making online stalking easy , specialized search engines are making it increasingly easier to combine socially shared information together into a highly detailed profile of our virtual lives. These specialized search engines go by a variety of terms such as "social search" ... (view more)

Microsoft has won another skirmish in the war for market share , as Queensland University of Technology agreed to transfer about 40,000 student email accounts to the Live@edu suite of applications. Queensland University of Technology has been ... internally testing email products from both Microsoft and Google for the past year, and made the choice to use Live@edu based on student feedback and the school's overall familiarity with the Microsoft environment. Professor Tom Cochrane, deputy vice chancellor for the Division of Technology, Information, and Learning Support, also noted that the ... (view more)

Nielsen.com reports that social networking and blogging have overtaken email to become the world's fourth most popular online sector after searching portals and PC software applications. Online networking sites are used to post gossip and other ... details about peoples' lives, but they have also become a crucial means of communication during disasters as they unfold. Time accounted for by 'Member Communities', or Facebook-like sites, has more than doubled in most of the countries monitored. 51% of Germans now access the sector, compared to 39% a year ago, giving Germany the strongest growth rate ... (view more)

Two different trials could be thrown out after jurors allegedly discussed the cases on social networking sites. One involves a $12 million civil trial and the other a five-month-long corruption charge. In one case, the jury decided construction ... company Stoam Holdings should pay $12.6 million compensation to a rival. But lawyers for the firm have complained that juror Johnathan Powell's Twitter comments broke rules when discussing the civil case with the public. U.S. courts usually allow jurors to discuss how they reached a verdict after the case. However, there are still strict rules against ... (view more)

Denise Finkel is suing Facebook, Inc. and four former classmates of University of Albany student for defamation. Finkel claims that comments intended to embarrass and humiliate her were posted on the popular social networking site. Filed on February ... 24, 2009 in New York Supreme Court, Finkel states her reputation and character were greatly injured by comments posted in a private group implying she has AIDS, uses drugs, and engages in deviant behavior, like bestiality. Denise Finkel was a victim of a growing Internet trend called cyberbullying . She is suing both Facebook for $3 million in ... (view more)

A new Facebook redesign rolls out today, with the changes intended to boost advertising on the site. Many still wonder if it's an attempt to imitate rival service Twitter, having failed in a bid to buy the firm . Facebook's last major redesign came ... just eight months ago when it introduced a cleaner look designed to cut down on clutter on pages. Though it drew some complaints at first, most users seemed to get used to it quickly enough. The latest revamp takes that process a step further. There's a much greater emphasis on the News Feed, the list of news about your Facebook friends including ... (view more)