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Headlines for December 15th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:00:37 +0000

Want A Cheap Android Tablet? Modders Make Nooks Into PCs – "If you're looking for an Android tablet for less than $260, just modify a Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader — and you get a free Internet connection, too.
Reports from nookDevs show those interested in doing just that how to go about transforming the Nook into a Google Android-based tablet computer. But there are a few sticking points."
How Facebook Is Making Friending Obsolete – "We'll need to treat this increasingly public version of Facebook with the same hard-headedness that we treat Twitter: as a place to broadcast, but not a place for vulnerability. A place to carefully calibrate, sanitize and bowdlerize our words for every possible audience, now and forever. Not a place for intimacy with friends."
Supreme Court takes on texting privacy case – 'The Supreme Court said it will review a case on whether employers can review without consent text messages sent to and from employer-issued devices. The outcome of the case could have far-reaching implications on the level of privacy employees can expect on their work cell phones."
URL Shortening Frenzy Comes with Security Risks – "The options for shortening long URL's to a more manageable length are quickly proliferating with both Google and Facebook getting into the link shortening game. The shortened URL's are easier to send via e-mail, and they are a requirement for Twitter's 140-character limitation, but they also introduce security risks."
Teens blasé about sexting, but only 4% cop to sending pics – "It's no surprise that teenagers are sending each other sexual content on their phones. A new report shows that the teens who do so don't think it's much of a big deal, and it isn't… until it is."

Headlines for December 14th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:00:23 +0000

Viruses That Leave Victims Red in the Facebook – "It used to be that computer viruses attacked only your hard drive. Now they attack your dignity. Malicious programs are rampaging through Web sites like Facebook and Twitter, spreading themselves by taking over people’s accounts and sending out messages to all of their friends and followers. The result is that people are inadvertently telling their co-workers and loved ones how to raise their I.Q.’s or make money instantly, or urging them to watch an awesome new video in which they star."
Google employees testing new mobile device – "Google Inc.'s employees are testing a new mobile device that runs on the company's Android operating system, as the search giant continues its push into the wireless market and toward more direct competition with Apple Inc.'s iPhone."
New TomTom GPS iPhone App Slashes Price – "TomTom sees the writing on the free Google Maps Navigation wall–and has now introduced a U.S.-only version of its $99 iPhone GPS app at half price, four months after the app first hit Apple's App Store."
Microsoft: Windows 7 Leads, But Office 2010 Lags – "Techinciter believes 2010 will be another tough year for Microsoft, though less so than the year that is about to end. Windows 7 will be a hit with business users, but Office 2010 has a lot of convincing to do. Like Windows XP, Office 2007 is proving to be long-lived and hard to displace."
Are AT&T network problems really Apple iPhone component shortcomings? – "The New York Times has taken an in-depth look at Verizon's claims that its network is better than AT&T's and has discovered that the root of AT&T's problem could be Apple's iPhone. Telecommunication researchers at Nielson say that the electronics in the iPhone that connect it to cell towers have shortcomings that affect voice and data connectivity."
Apple Revamps App Store Interface: Bigger Icons, New Layout, More – "Apple began rolling out tweaks to the iTunes App Store's interface over the weekend. The company has changed the way screenshots for iPhone apps are displayed, rearranged the layout of each app's page, and increased the size of both the app's logo and buy button. In addition, the way customer reviews are displayed has been simplified, with large buttons to shift between reviews of the current version and all versions."

Headlines for November 10th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:05 +0000

Nov. 10, 1983: Computer ‘Virus’ Is Born – "1983: Fred Cohen, a University of Southern California graduate student, gives a prescient peek at the digital future when he demonstrates a computer virus during a security seminar at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. A quarter-century later, computer viruses have become a pandemic for which there’s no inoculation."
LinkedIn and Twitter Partnership: Do’s and Don’ts for Users – "LinkedIn and Twitter announced a partnership on Monday allowing you to push your LinkedIn status updates out to your Twitter account or pull your tweets into your professional profile. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone called it "bringing the peanut butter and the chocolate together to make the perfect combination.""
Say goodbye to sleep: Modern Warfare 2 arrives – "Arguably the most anticipated game of the year, Modern Warfare 2 finally lands today. Following a week of content controversy and broken street dates, Modern Warfare 2 promises to elevate the action and intensity beyond even the classic original game."
Apple’s Snow Leopard Update Zaps Bugs, Kills Hackintosh Netbooks – "On Monday Apple released an update to its Snow Leopard operating system (10.6.2 ) that fixes flaws, including one that wipes out a users' personal data. But along with fixes, Apple's update also kills support for Intel Atom processors, in a bid to stop users from hacking their netbooks and creating "hackintosh" systems."
Google Offers Free Wi-Fi in 47 Airports for Holidays – "One inevitable fact of the holiday season is that airports around the country will be packed. That means that millions of American's will be schlepping through airports on layovers looking for something to do with their time and keep in touch with friends and family.
Google has already given travelers its holiday gift with free Wi-Fi in selected airports. The free Wi-Fi service is available as of today and will remain free through January 15, 2010."

Headlines for April 30th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:07:53 +0000

Disney signs onto Hulu – This means that TV shows from Disney-owned channels like ABC, SoapNet, and ABC Family will be coming to Hulu. Among them are "Lost," "Grey's Anatomy," "Ugly Betty," and "Scrubs." There will also be Disney movies available on the ad-supported streaming video site, but a press release did not name any of them. Content will be available "soon," the press release explained.
New Phishing Attack Spreading On Facebook. This Time From FBstarter – "It comes in the form of a message from a friend telling you to “Look at this!” When you click on the link, you are taken to what appears to be a Facebook sign-in page. If you go ahead and sign in, the phishers have access to your account and can then send messages to all of your friends."
Time Warner Expects to Spin Off AOL – "In a regulatory filing Wednesday, Time Warner said it was nearing a decision to spin off America Online, and put an end to the travails that began with the merger in 2000 of the two companies, a deal that has resulted in the evaporation of more than $100 billion of shareholder value."
Swine Flu Frenzy Demonstrates Twitter’s Achilles’ Heel – Another reminder. Twitter is not a reliable source of information in a Crisis.
Scam swine flu emails steal data – Just a reminder – please be careful. Scammers will prey on our fears.

Headlines for April 28th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:00:20 +0000

Conficker adds new weapon: spam – Security- msnbc.com – "Cisco's chief security researcher, Patrick Peterson, says researchers are convinced "this is the two-pronged method (the criminals) are going to use to make a fortune" off the infected machines."
Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 Is Finally Here – The final Beta release before 3.5
In Cyberweapons Race, Questions Linger Over U.S. Offensive Capability – "Just as the invention of the atomic bomb changed warfare and deterrence 64 years ago, a new international race has begun to develop cyberweapons and systems to protect against them."
Security Fix – Scammers, Spammers Embrace Swine Flu News – According to McAfee Avert Labs, over the weekend spammers began pumping out junk e-mail with various Swine Flu subject lines to trick people into opening the missives.
McAfee launches free online cybercrime help center – "Is your computer acting funny? Are you worried that you may have visited a malicious Web site or opened an e-mail attachment with malware? Instead of worrying about it you can now go to a new Web site McAfee is launching on Tuesday that is designed to help computer users figure out if they have legitimate reason to be concerned."

Headlines for April 27th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:02:54 +0000

Pirate Bay lawyer files for retrial, cites bias – "Judge Tomas Norstrom's memberships of several groups for copyright protection should have disqualified him, the lawyer for one of the men, Carl Lundstrom, said in a document sent to the district court."
Conficker Worm Finally Begins Attacking PCs – Conficker is slowly being activated, weeks after being dismissed as a false alarm, security experts said.
Internet Users in Developing Countries Drag on Sites’ Profits – "Web companies that rely on advertising are enjoying some of their most vibrant growth in developing countries. But those are also the same places where it can be the most expensive to operate, since Web companies often need more servers to make content available to parts of the world with limited bandwidth. And in those countries, online display advertising is least likely to translate into results."
Microsoft: Schools, Libraries Need Broadband Funds – News and Analysis by PC Magazine – Government officials are still hashing out how best to allocate the broadband stimulus grants, but Microsoft this week pushed for that money to go schools, libraries, and hospitals. "We believe the country can get the biggest bang for the connectivity buck by using that $7 billion to ensure that each and every one of the nation's schools, libraries and hospitals are wired for fast and affordable broadband Internet access," Marc Berejka, senior director for technology policy and strategy, wrote in a blog post. "This is essential to achieve President Obama's goal of modernizing our education and healthcare systems."
Charities see potential, risk with social networks – Despite being among the more lucrative Facebook applications, (Lil) Green Patch accounts for less than 3% of The Nature Conservancy's online fundraising — which itself generates just 10% of all individual donations to the group, Citro said. Yet the conservancy is less concerned with raising big bucks than with planting seeds for future support from the younger generation active on social networks. "It's really a great branding tool," Citro said. "It's helping spread the word, educating people about our organization and its mission."

Headlines for April 24th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:00:49 +0000

Congress Begins Deep Packet Inspection of Internet Providers – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com – "Congress picked up its look at online privacy where it left off last year: whether Internet providers can look at where customers surf online."
Crunch Time For TV: “Upfront” Sales Could Be Down 15 Percent –
Macintosh botnet on the march – "The new network of infected machines is being called the iBotnet and is so far limited in its prevalence — only a few thousand Macs are thought to be infected to date — but as CNN notes, it's another ominous step toward the end of the Mac's free ride on the security train, as malicious hackers target the increasingly popular computing platform now that it's in use by a significant enough number of people to merit attention."
Report: Amazon’s $359 Kindle 2 costs $185 to make – An analysis by research firm iSuppli broke down the device's components and determined that the gadget costs about $185 in parts and manufacturing, or about 52% of the total price.
Report: Presidential BlackBerry coming soon – "With his new souped-up phone, President Obama will be able to text, e-mail, and make secure calls just like any other yuppy professional. But there's a catch. The new software will only allow President Obama to communicate with other people who have devices running the same encryption software."

Headlines for April 13th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:09:39 +0000

YouTube riddled with drug cartel videos, messages – Yet another horrific use for youtube.
Big Diaper Makers Square Off – Mom Bloggers have been invited to P&G Headquarters to see how their diapers have evolved. I'm waiting for my invite… perhaps it was lost in the mail?
How secure is the U.S. communications network? – "The San Jose Police Department is investigating the incidents, which took place in two different locations in San Jose and San Carlos and classified as acts of vandalism. Now that the network is up and running again, people are asking how difficult is it to take down the nation's communications network? And should we be more worried about the fiber optic cables that ring our communities and crisscross the country carrying all of our communications?"
Court Nears Decision on File-Sharing Web Site –
Conficker Eye Chart: The Simple Test to See If You’re Infected – A simple way to test for the Conficker virus
Twitter Worm Woes Continue, Fourth Round Of Attacks By Mikeyy (Updated) – Another worm infects Twitter

Headlines for April 1st, 2009

[modern media mom] — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:01:45 +0000

Marketers find Twitter a tweet recipe for success – Social Media is a great way to connect with both potential and current customers.
American to add Wi-Fi service to domestic flights – "American's service will cost laptop users $12.95 on flights longer than three hours, and $9.95 on shorter ones. Travelers using handheld devices, such as smartphones and PDAs, will pay $7.95 no matter the length of the flight. The service will be available only after planes reach 10,000 feet so it doesn't interfere with communications between the cockpit and air traffic control."
Doing the worm: Tweak in ‘Conficker’ sparks fears – Today is the day and all seems quiet. So far. (It's best to always make sure your computer patches and security are up to date.)
Kodak takes a page from Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” ad – Wouldn't it be nice not to have to mortgage the house just to print out 4 photos on your personal printer!
Sony Cuts Price on PlayStation 2 to $99 – There are plenty of great games for PlayStation 2. This is a fantastic option for someone looking to purchase a gaming system on a limited budget.
Confirmed: Facebook Loses CFO Gideon Yu –
Reddit wins the April Fools Day pranks – I thought that Google's was pretty funny.

Headlines for March 30th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:00:38 +0000

Who Needs a College Reunion? I’ve Got Facebook – Has Facebook affected your decision on whether or not to attend reunions?
That Famous Twitter Feed Could Be a Lot of Baloney – Are you really following who you thing you are?
H.P. Lowers Bar for Printing Glossy Color Magazines – Now you too can print your own glossy magazine.
Conficker Countdown: Experts Urge Caution – InternetNews.com – "As the code also known as Conficker, Downadup, Kido, Confick and the April Fool's Day worm starts its countdown, security vendors are cautioning users that if they've implemented basic security on your home computer or network, they'll be fine."
Skype for iPhone officially official –