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Headlines for May 5th, 2010

[modern media mom] — Thu, 06 May 2010 03:02:16 +0000

Is there really a cyberwar? Term might be misused – Is there really a “cyberwar” going on? Some officials and computer security companies say yes, arguing that armies of hackers are stealing online secrets and using the Internet to attack infrastructure such as power grids. However, some security analysts said at a conference this week that “cyberwarfare” is such a broadly used term that it might be hurting efforts by countries to agree how to cooperate on Internet security.
Apple’s Behavior a Throwback to 1984, Adobe CTO Says – PCWorld Business Center – Apple's refusal to allow Flash on the iPhone hurts innovation and is "like 1984 in a lot of ways," Adobe Systems' CTO said on Wednesday, implying that Apple has become the "Big Brother" it rebelled against in its iconic TV ad from that year.
iPhone Search Documents Should Be Public, Judge Told – BusinessWeek – Secret documents justifying a search warrant in an investigation of an Apple Inc. prototype iPhone, which prosecutors say was reported stolen, should be made public, media organizations said in a court filing.
Glitch Brings New Worries About Facebook’s Privacy – NYTimes.com – On Wednesday, users discovered a glitch that gave them access to supposedly private information in the accounts of their Facebook friends, like chat conversations.
Updated Google search page features brighter logo, icons – Updated Google search page features brighter logo, icons

Headlines for April 15th, 2010

[modern media mom] — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 19:00:48 +0000

Twitter Hits Its Stride, Plans New Features – “Twitter has more than 105 million users and is adding more than 300,000 new ones every day, the micro-blogging network said this week at its developer conference, Chirp, in San Francisco. Twitter also used the event to announce several new features, such as geolocation services, more official mobile clients, and its own URL shortening service.”
Google launches archive search for Twitter – “Trying to track down a single tweet from 2007? With the new Twitter archive search, Google is opening up access to years of Twitter activity.”
Caller ID Spoofing Ban is Bad for Business – “Caller ID is a great tool for managing business communications and improving productivity and efficiency. However, the way that some businesses employ caller ID may cross the line drawn by a new law–the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2010.”
Microsoft Will Investigate ‘Prisoner’ Conditions at Chinese Factory – Government IT from eWeek – “Microsoft claims that it will investigate the alleged labor violations at the KYE factory in China’s Dongguan City, after an April 13 report by the National Labor Committee, a nonprofit NGO. That report suggests that workers producing Microsoft PC cameras and mice are subjected to excessive working hours, poor pay, restricted freedom of movement, harassment by guards, and substandard living conditions. Although Microsoft claims that it uses vigorous auditing to its vendors’ working conditions, the report suggests that these conditions at the KYE factory have endured for some time.”
Opera Mini for iPhone already over 1 million downloads strong – “Three days after its late Monday launch, Opera Software spread the news that its server-assisted Opera Mini browser for the iPhone capped over a million downloads the first day of widespread availability, which was Tuesday.”
iPad Is Banned In Israel – “The Israel government has barred importation of the iPad and is also seizing units from tourists who attempt to enter the country with one of Apple’s new tablet-style computers.
Israeli officials told the Associated Press that the ban was imposed because the iPad’s Wi-Fi connection uses a frequency that conflicts with Israeli standards for wireless networks.”
Apple-Adobe rancor to result in lawsuit? – “This whole Apple-Adobe spat is about to get a lot uglier, according to IT World. Their sources say Adobe Systems is prepping for a major lawsuit against Apple in the coming weeks.
The updated SDK that was released with the iPhone 4.0 dev kit seems to be the last straw, with its new rules banning apps converted from Flash (and Microsoft Silverlight).”
Google launches Twitter timeline search – “Almost everything you’ve ever said on Twitter is about to be discoverable through Google.
Google announced plans Tuesday to roll out a timeline of archived Twitter messages organized by topic, allowing searchers to see when Twitter activity spiked with tweets related to their search query. When the user clicks on a particular day that contained an outsized number of tweets related to that topic, they’ll be presented with a scrolling list of the individual tweets from that day.”

Headlines for April 14th, 2010

[modern media mom] — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:55:34 +0000

Microsoft acts to avoid Windows blue screen repeat – “Microsoft took steps Tuesday to avoid repeating the debacle two months ago that left Windows XP users staring at the notorious “Blue Screen of Death” error message after they applied a patch.
In February, a security update that fixed two flaws in the Windows kernel — the operating system’s most important component — wreaked havoc when it was applied by users, who almost immediately flooded Microsoft’s support forum with reports of crippled computers.”

Revamped Facebook Safety Center: Teach Your Users Well – “Facebook Tuesday launched a redesigned version of its online Safety Center to make it not only more user-friendly but also to include advice targeted to specific groups of Facebook users. The Facebook Safety Center now includes content from various safety organizations as well as specific resources for parents, teachers, law enforcement officials and teenagers.”

Google Optimizes Search App for iPad – “Google has tweaked its iPhone Google Mobile App for the iPad, optimizing it for the device’s larger screen.
The revamped app, at its core, is the same as the existing iPhone Google Mobile App that offers mobile search tools such as search by voice and search by My Location, which uses your device’s location for local business searches. The big iPad optimization takes place with Web apps like Gmail, Google Reader, Maps, and Buzz.”

Apple Delays International Release of iPad until May – “Responding to strong demand in the United States for its iPad, Apple said Wednesday that it would delay the worldwide release of the tablet computer for a month.”

Headlines for December 18th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:00:42 +0000

RIM Wants Cheaper BlackBerry Plans, More Love – "With Verizon's aggressive Droid ad campaign, RIM may not be feeling the love any more.
After all, Verizon pretty much submarined the BlackBerry Storm 2 launch in favor of a pair of Android phones – perhaps as payback for the dog's breakfast that was the BlackBerry Storm 1."
Design Company Bing Sues Microsoft Over Trademark – "A small Missouri company with the word "Bing" in its name has sued Microsoft for branding its search engine with the same word, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition by the software giant."
Privacy Groups Call on FTC to Investigate Facebook – "Privacy is one of the top concerns for millions of Americans who go online each day. A very large percentage of the millions of Americans who go online end up using social networking site Facebook to keep in touch with friends and coworkers."
Google in talks to buy Yelp – Google is in talks to acquire Yelp Inc, an Internet local search and review provider, according to published reports.
Windows Mobile on Life Support, Drops Behind iPhone – "The iPhone has leapfrogged Windows Mobile to jump into the number two position for smartphone platforms in the United States. That news could be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back for the floundering Windows Mobile operating system."

Headlines for December 17th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:00:38 +0000

Shut Down “Fake Steve Jobs” Not AT&T – “I am asking readers not to take part in this silly protest. Why? Because to the extent it hurts anyone, it won’t hurt AT&T. The actual damage will be done to customers–businesses especially–running critical wireless apps during the protest hours.”
New phones could send computers to the trash – “You may soon start feeling nostalgic about your computer, thinking of it as an archaic throwback, akin to a turntable or an eight-track tape.The recent disclosures about a Google phone may be a turning point in the history of the personal computer. PCs had their heyday, and it was yesterday. Now is the moment for the phone.”
Check your Facebook privacy settings. Now! – “If Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg can’t figure out his social networking site’s privacy settings after they were ripped open earlier this month, what hope is there for the rest of us?”
Is Google building a netbook? – “A few days ago a contact tipped me off to the possibility that Google might not just be developing an operating system for netbooks, but that the company could actually be involved in building a netbook that it would sell under the Google brand name. You know, sort of like it’s expected to do with the Google Nexus One cellphone soon.”
Bing for iPhone Shows Microsoft Getting Smart About Search – “The fact that Microsoft’s Bing search engine is now an Apple iPhone app might be a sign of new friendship between Microsoft and Apple. But more than likely, it means Microsoft is getting savvy about where and when to place Bing. The iPhone is one of the most visible of mobile platforms, the App Store is exploding in popularity, and Microsoft is in need of new ways to pump up Bing’s profile.”
The Year Marketing Dies… – Marketing’s been under attack for some time, but in 2009 we witnessed the most profound evolution the marketing world has seen in fifty years or more. The pace of change is not going to lessen in 2010. Core elements that have driven marketing practices for decades–such as messaging strategy, mass media, PR, advertising, and others–will continue to change rapidly.

Headlines for December 11th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:00:08 +0000

AT&T All Over the Map in Addressing Challenges – "AT&T's assertion that customers consume too much data, and its threat to institute tiered pricing rather than providing unlimited data plans is just the latest folly in AT&T's chaotic struggle to address the myriad challenges facing it. The kitchen sink approach doesn't appear to have any long-term strategic goal, and is creating more problems than it is solving so far."
Arrington sues over CrunchPad – "Michael Arrington, head of TechCrunch, the widely followed tech blog, sued his former partner in developing a blog reader device in federal court on Thursday."
Google opens satellite images, tools, to study deforestation – "In conjunction with the Copenhagen climate meeting, the search giant has demonstrated software tools that use its archive of satellite imagery to track deforestation, hoping they'll help nations prevent the liberation of the carbon sequestered in its forests."
Facebook backtracks on public friend lists – "It's been a matter of days since Facebook's new privacy controls went into place, and the company is already making modifications in response to user complaints that they expose too much information. Namely, the company has made it easier to prevent people from seeing who your friends are."
Even Modern Warfare 2 Can’t Save Game Sales Slump – "Despite the big success of Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which earned $310 million in one day and has shipped at least 6 million copies, the video game industry took a punch in the gut last month, according to the market research group NPD."
Apple and Nokia’s battle hots up – "The legal battle between Finland's Nokia and its US rival Apple has taken a new turn, with Apple countersuing Nokia over alleged patent violations."
Google Search Appliance Now Indexes Twitter Tweets – "Google's enterprise team Dec. 10 said it now surfaces tweets next to search results in the Google Search Appliance (GSA). Cyrus Mistry, product manager for Google's Enterprise Search team, said even corporate workers want social information in their knowledge work diet. Twitter results will appear to the right of the corporate search results, sitting right above related results, which GSA culls from the core Web search on Google.com. The move came after Google began streaming tweets in its core Web search results in real-time."

Headlines for December 2nd, 2009

[modern media mom] — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:00:32 +0000

PrevX U-turn on Windows update Black screen of Death claim – "PrevX has backtracked on earlier claims that a Windows update caused Windows machines to lock up with a so-called "Black Screen of Death".
An updated blog post from the UK-based software security firm withdraws earlier claims that a recent Microsoft update caused a glitch that resulted in affected PCs displaying only the My Computer folder on a blank screen. PrevX's new line is that changes in the Windows Registry that trigger the behaviour might be caused by malware or some other factor, which it is yet to pin down, but not the Windows update that it earlier held culpable."
AT&T: Not As Lousy As Everyone Thinks? – "Is it possible that AT&T is getting a bad rap? It is hard to be sympathetic to such an unsympathetic company, but suppose AT&T isn't quite as bad as everyone assumes? Or more likely, that other carriers aren't much better?"
UK climate expert steps aside after hacked e-mails – "The head of a British climate research institute has stepped aside after hacked e-mails were seized upon by skeptics as evidence that the case for global warming has been exaggerated."
Twitter creator wants to give away Square, his credit card payment gadget – "Twitter was just the beginning. After dreaming up the innovative communication medium, Jack Dorsey is looking to revolutionize another core aspect of society — money.
On Tuesday, Dorsey announced his new start-up, Square, which will let anyone with a cellphone or iPod become a merchant and accept credit card payments."
Google vs. Microsoft – Google, Microsoft Bing Trade Search Blows as They Exit 2009 – "I've made a point to point out how Google and Microsoft duel each other in search.
Actually, of late it's been Bing that's been beating Google to certain things. Case in point, Microsoft announced its deal to index Twitter tweets on stage at the Web 2.0 Summit in October. Google followed hours later by pre-announcing its own Twitter deal."
Google Alters News Indexing to Accommodate Pay Walls – "In a bid to appease publishers, Google has updated its search programs, allowing publishers who charge for their content to limit users to only five free page views per day."
TechBytes: Facebook Privacy Changes – "Facebook has announced a major overhaul to its privacy controls. The social networking site is simplifying its settings, offering users three options. Members can share their content with only friends, friends of friends, or everyone. Facebook is also giving users the ability to control who sees each individual piece of content they create or upload. The changes will be rolling out in the coming weeks. Facebook also announced that it's hit another membership milestone with more than 350 million users."

Headlines for October 30th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:00:42 +0000

Google puts songs a click away in search – "A new music feature rolled out by Google Inc. Wednesday will bring its U.S. searchers one click away from listening to a full-length song."
The Twittering Masses Get Lists – "After a two-week test launch, Twitter Lists have been fully rolled out. The new feature allows Twitter users to organize the people they follow and streamline their feeds."
International Domains Get ICANN Thumbs Up – "Starting in mid-November, countries and territories will be able to apply to show domain names in their native language, a major technical tweak to the Internet designed to increase language accessibility."
Palm Lost the iTunes Sync Battle (Again) – "The release of the iTunes 9.0.2 update on Thursday yet again disables Palm's workaround to sync with Apple's popular jukebox software. Perhaps it's high time Palm moved on and created its own software."
Spammer Ordered to Pay Facebook $711 Million – "Facebook was awarded US$711 million in damages from a convicted spammer on Thursday, but the social networking site is hoping a separate criminal action will eventually send him to jail."

Headlines for October 27th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:00:37 +0000

Microsoft Pulls Out of Family Guy Special – "Well that was fast. Microsoft has yanked its sponsorship from an upcoming half-hour special on Fox featuring Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, according to Variety. The special was set to air on November 8, and was going under the working title "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show." The show, announced earlier this month, was to be commercial free, but would feature Windows 7 marketing messages woven into the fabric of the program."
Facebook ‘memorialises’ profiles – "Facebook has announced that it will be giving friends and family the option to "memorialise" the profiles of members who have died.
It follows some cases of members receiving updates about dead friends.

If a user is reported as deceased, Facebook will remove sensitive information such as status updates and contacts."
RIP GeoCities: End of an Era – "GeoCities has finally closed its doors, ending an era of free homepage service that many PC enthusiasts remember from the mid-90s.
GeoCities, a Yahoo subsidiary, hosted millions of free websites that were mainly built from stock templates that allowed anyone to have a personal site for blogs and pictures before Blogger and other similar services were launched."
Google Voice Without a New Number – "Until now, every story praising Google's Google Voice phone service has had to explain one significant catch: All of its useful features required you to train your friends, relatives, and acquaintances to forget whatever phone number you'd given them and to start using a new one assigned to you by Google.
Now there's a workaround: Google has announced a new version of Google Voice that doesn't require you to change your phone number."
Google stalks your social circle – "Google took its beach towel down to the social networking pool yesterday with the release of its latest Facebook-apeing Web 2.0-stylie search tool.
Mountain View announced a new Google Labs experiment – dubbed “Social Search” – that creepily helps users probe more “relevant public content” from their “broader social circle”. The company has already been improving search results to make them more personally tailored to an individual surfer’s stalker needs."

Headlines for October 8th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:01:41 +0000

Microsoft Pushes Windows Phone for Business Users – "Software heavy Microsoft has officially released its brand new Windows Mobile 6.5 mobile operating system (OS), along with a global launch of many new devices running the software from companies including HTC, Samsung and LG–all of which are officially called "Windows phones."
Twitter on the verge of big search deals? – "Are Microsoft and Google hoping to get into Twitter's treasure trove of real-time information? Yes, says Kara Swisher of AllThingsD, citing sources who indicate that the two companies are separately in talks with Twitter about data licensing deals."
IPhone Tethering Still Unavailable, AT&T Says – "AT&T subscribers still won’t be able to use their iPhones as wireless modems for their computers, despite the carrier’s reversed position on Internet-phone applications."
FCC says lack of wireless spectrum is a "looming crisis" – "The Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Communications Commission is looking for ways to free up wireless spectrum for cellular networks. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said at the CTIA conference in San Diego that a lack of wireless airwaves is "a looming crisis" as U.S. consumers increasingly rely on devices that require heavy data usage."
Google Adds More Mobile Search Options – "In today's bustling world of smartphone apps, Google has kept an eye on the guy who may not have hundreds to drop on a phone. Google continuously revamps its mobile browser edition so basic handhelds get the same thorough search experience you'd find on a smartphone."