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Superfast Plane Crashes In Pacific Ocean

2011-08-12T15:41:00.000+01:00

A test flight of the 'world's fastest plane' has ended in disaster after the vehicle crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

The US military's Falcon HTV-2 - which travels 22 times faster than a commercial airliner - was launched amid promises of flights from London to Sydney in less than an hour.
Attached to the back of a rocket, the plane blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, before detaching at the edge of space.
But after around nine minutes, the craft stopped sending signals and is believed to have plunged into the ocean.
Engineers had hoped to guide the plane on a hypersonic flight, and that it would reach speeds of around 13,000mph upon its return to Earth.
Travelling at about 20 times the speed of sound and withstanding temperatures of 2,000C, the plane was designed as part of a research project.
A previous launch attempt was abandoned and plane designs changed in April due to a fault on board the aircraft.
Nine minutes into that previous mission, at which point the plane had flown for 139 seconds reaching 16,700mph, an onboard computer detected an anomaly and ordered the plane to ditch in the ocean for safety reasons.
A second attempt on Wednesday was delayed to Thursday because of poor weather conditions.

Apple Is Richer Than The Us Govt.

2011-07-31T02:49:00.000+01:00

Apple is now more liquid than the United States government, the Financial Post reports.
As the government struggles to resolve the debt ceiling debate, the operating balance in Washington is at US$73.768 billion and falling.
Meanwhile, Apple has US$75.876 billion – and that number isn’t going anywhere but up as the company continues to break records and make its competitors look bad.
You can check the treasury numbers yourself here and the Apple numbers from the most recent quarterly earnings report here.
Apple’s lead over the government is more pronounced than it would seem if you treat cash as more valuable than credit. Washington’s “operating balance” refers to the amount of money it can spend before it hits the debt ceiling.
The phrase “richer than a small country” is not uncommonly heard, but this is another thing altogether. Congratulations Steve Jobs — you’re now more powerful than one of the largest nations on Earth.

Blog Titles That Work

2011-07-14T17:01:00.001+01:00

The one thing that separates the good from the bad when it comes to blog posts is the title. If the post's headline is poor then there's a good chance the post will be just as poor. Read on to find out how you can write attractive titles.
Make Claims and Promises: There are many ways to grab the attention of the readers and make them read your post. One of the most efficient methods, though, is to make
pledges and claims that you can support.
These types of titles can skyrocket your articles into the stratosphere if you do things right. Let's be honest, everyone wants to get a little more than they expect or something that is very tempting and promises them a certain benefit. You will spark people's curiosity to read the whole article by making a powerful claim in your title and they will want to learn more about it. You need to be careful though, because you need to make sure that the content of the article complies with the headline and makes a good impression on the reader. If your readers feel that the content doesn't deliver on the promise of the title, the result will be the opposite of what you wanted and you'll end up losing a reader.
Put Keywords In: Since most of the visitors to blog are organic traffic, or come from search engines, it is important that you include your main keywords in the title. This not only helps you get targeted traffic from the search engines, but it also allows you to instantly grab the attention of your potential readers. Think of someone searching for a certain keyword and they find your blog post in the SERPS, the first thing that person will look for is whether or not the title contains the keyword. Besides this, search engines like Google tend to bold the keyword that appears in the title so that the user is able to identify it more easily. However, keep in mind that when you're inserting your keyword in the title, it should make complete sense. You can't ruin your headline by stuffing keywords in it. You want to build your title around the keyword and not the reverse.
Find a Friend: It can get pretty boring working on headlines on your own all the time. You could get in touch with other bloggers in your field to brainstorm new titles together. It's an enjoyable way to leverage your relationship with other bloggers while also growing your network.
If you've got a couple of good blogger friends, then get them on the instant messenger and start chatting/bouncing ideas about the blog post that you're writing. You'll be surprised to see the kind of results you can get from this method.
Owning and managing a popular blog means doing quite a few things, including writing excellent quality posts. The content of your article is important but it's not the only thing that matters because an attractive title is critical to getting people to read your post.

Learn How You Too Can Get on the Front Page of Google

2011-04-30T19:24:00.000+01:00

Google happens to be one of the most successful search engines out there, and that's for a reason - it gives high quality results for whatever you search. Google is committed to providing excellent quality to their users and that is what they expect from the sites ranked on page one. Many have succeeded and will continue to do so, which simply proves that getting to the top isn't rocket science. Strategy is not as important to reaching the top of the SERPs as persistence is, and that's a fact that you need to remember. In other words, no matter how well you plan out your strategy, it won't work unless you're persistent in your efforts. This article will offer you some advice on how to rise in the SERPs.

You should try to get as many links as possible from .edu sites because Google considers them to be very powerful. A little research will reveal that it can be easy to get these types of backlinks. The reason why such backlinks are given so much importance is because they come from trusted sources, and have an educational background.

Google will naturally rank a site better that is linked to by an academic site since the site must have some form of value. So put your effort into getting a few .edu backlinks here and there to make a good impression on the search engine. When you are trying to impress Google, having relevant incoming links from other sites with a good page rank will certainly help. Every link that you gain for your website either works in your favor or against, in terms of ranking. So, if you want to be considered as a potential first page site by Google, then it goes without saying that you need to get as many one-way, incoming links from powerful sites in your niche. A site with a page rank of 2 will always provide a more powerful link than one with a page rank of zero. The quality of your backlinks matters much more than quantity when you're dealing with Google - that's how you get top rankings.

Separating the keywords in your URL with hyphens is a good approach. It's a good way of showing Google what keyword the page should rank for, which will increase your chances of getting to the top. Simple things are quite important if you want to impress Google and land on the first page. If you have limited SEO experience, you shouldn't expect results immediately, but with a little persistence and some education, you will get there eventually.

FACEBOOK FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW

2011-04-29T18:00:00.005+01:00

You might have a facebook account, and it is likely that you check your facebook account once everyday if not more than that, or you might even be the founder of various facebook groups. but there are a lot of things that you might not know about this biggest social network of our time founded by Mark Zuckerberg.

So go through this article to see them.

Facebook was initially bank-rolled by Peter Thiel, the co founder of PAYPAL. His $500,000 investment also helped to launch facebook

facebook was almost shut down in the beginning after a lawsuit by ConnectU, claiming that mark stole the idea for facebook and as well the technology used in creating it. The issue was settled out of court of an undisclosed amount.

Today facebook has grown both financially and otherwise to become one of the most influential web based companies of our time. More than 400 million people log into their facebook account at least once every month. More than 60% are on the site everyday.

Facebook ranks second in traffic in the whole world after google which is on the first position

In 2006, Yahoo offered to buy facebook from Zuckerberg for $1 billion

which he refused.

In 2009, Facebook was valued at $4 billion.

Today, it is valued at $7 billion to $11 billion

Monthly amount of time spent on facebook ranges between 8.2 to 8.3 billion hours.

Average number of facebook friends is 130.

The total number of servers running facebook’s infrastructure is more than 10,000.

Facebook makes most, if not all of its money through contextual advertising which is also applicable to other web based companies like Google and Yahoo.

you can subscribe via email at the end of this article to receive new posts in your inbox.

Will military drones terminate man's role in war

2011-04-27T11:40:00.003+01:00

Debates are growing over the increasing use of remotely piloted and armed drones, with a new study by the British Defense Ministry questioning whether advances in their capabilities will lead future decision-makers to “resort to war as a policy option far sooner than previously.”

Active and retired US Air Force officers involved in developing drones stress that the aircraft brings in more decision-makers, better targeting data and more accurate delivery systems than fighter jets.

But use of the unmanned aerial vehicles has drawn growing public scrutiny based on their lethal attacks in Pakistan against Al Qaeda, in Afghanistan against the Taliban, in Yemen against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and most recently in Libya, as announced last week by US Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

The British study noted that drones were becoming increasingly automated. With minor technical advances, it said, a drone could soon be able to “fire a weapon based solely on its own sensors, or shared information, and without recourse to higher, human authority.” It cautioned that the Defense Ministry “currently has no intention to develop” such systems.

Nonetheless, the aircraft, piloted by people far from the battlefield, represents an approaching technological tipping point “that may well deliver a genuine revolution in military affairs,” according to the Joint Doctrine Note, which was conducted under the direction of the British Chiefs of Staff. Titled “The United Kingdom Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems,” it was first disclosed last week by the Guardian newspaper.

The British study said it was essential that military officials not “risk losing our controlling humanity and make war more likely” by using armed drones. It also asserted, however, that the laws of war call on commanders on both sides of the fight to limit loss of life and that “use of unmanned aircraft prevents the potential loss of aircrew lives and is thus in itself morally justified.”

At a Washington conference of the International Institute for Strategic Studies last week, the issue of drones was also discussed.

Lt. Col. Bruce Black, program manager for the Air Force Predator and Reaper aircraft, noted that some 180 people are involved in each drone mission. The result, he said, is that “there is more ethical oversight involved with unmanned air vehicles than with manned aircraft.”

At the same conference, former CIA director Michael V. Hayden described how, with a Predator circling overhead, those involved in ordering use of its missiles from thousands of kilometers away can call up computer maps that show the potential effects of each weapon.

Before any of the Hellfire missiles are launched, he said, the backup team asks for a readout of the impact the missile would have on its ground target. Nothing similar can be done with ground-supporting manned aircraft, he said.

But the drones have become part of the propaganda war where they are used. Without referencing the Taliban or Al Qaeda, the British paper noted that insurgents had cast themselves as the underdog against a bully that was “unwilling to risk his own troops, but is happy to kill remotely.”

Black said that when a Predator operator was connected to a fighter on the ground in Afghanistan, “you can hear his voice.”

Col. Dean Bushey, deputy director of the Air Force Joint Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center, said that the crews that ran Predators went through the exact routines that airplane pilots do prior to a mission.

Mobile phone flirting is growing

2011-04-23T18:24:00.000+01:00

Spending on flirting and dating services on mobiles phones showed signs of hotting up, official figures show.

The amount spent rose by 36% in 2010 compared with the previous year to £34.7m, premium rate regulator Phonepayplus said.
Mobile and online flirting services reported a boom in sales of "virtual gifts" - such as a virtual kiss sent to somebody's mobile.
Men are more likely to phone flirt, the report said.
Some 63% of users were men, with 18 to 34-year-olds the most likely to use the premium rate flirting services.
"As a regulator, we welcome innovation in the market and very much want consumers to enjoy fun new services with the reassurance that there is a regulator working with industry to prevent consumer harm," said Paul Whiteing, chief executive Phonepayplus.

Facebook a month away from 700 million users?

2011-04-22T17:58:00.000+01:00

When Facebook began, a million users was a big deal. Then it hit 100 million, then 500 million. Now, one billion doesn't seem so far off now that unofficial stats on Facebook point to the sprawling social network reaching 700 million active monthly users in as little as a month from now, maybe two.

Inside Facebook, an independent news and analysis site focused on Facebook, has revealed that "Facebook grew by 21.5 million new users in March to reach 661.5 million monthly active users worldwide," which puts it on track for an expectation of lucky 700 million by this summer.

In the U.S., Facebook's steady growth added 2.78 million users in March, for a total of about 155 million active monthly users. This aligns pretty much with comScore, which recorded about 153 million monthly actives, and an increase of about 15 million worldwide every month.

Inside Facebook acknowledges its numbers aren't in sync with other third-party stats trackers, such as "Google’s DoubleClick Ad Planner service shows Facebook with an extremely high 860 million monthly active users, fully 270 million above what we previously recorded. We’re not sure what accounted for the difference." On the other end of the spectrum, Inside Facebook's numbers diverge from Quantcast's lower showing of 136 million monthly Facebook users.

From Facebook itself, its publicly released stats remain at "more than 500 million," (from July) although it's been widely reported it crossed 600 million late last year by several outlets, including All Facebook and Business Insider

Brain waves from thoughts of sounds used to move cursor

2011-04-08T07:52:00.002+01:00

The studies used large arrays of electrodes but the job could be done with far smaller implants

A cursor on a computer screen can be controlled using thoughts about a range of vowel sounds, research has found.

The approach uses sensors placed directly on the surface of the brain.

The authors of the Journal of Neuroengineering paper also said that this technique will lead to better "brain-computer interfaces" for the disabled.

A great many studies and demonstrations have in recent years made use of the electroencephalograph, or EEG, typically worn as a "cap" studded with electrodes that pick up the electric fields produced by firing neurons.

The technique has been shown to guide electric wheelchairs or even toys, based only on the wearer's intention.

Sound idea

However, EEGs lose a great deal of the precious information that is available closer to the brain itself, what lead author of the study Eric Leuthardt, of Washington University in St Louis, in the US, calls the "gold standard" brain signal.

"One of the key features in signal resolution is seeing the higher frequencies of brain activity - those higher frequencies have a substantial capability of giving us better insights into cognitive intentions, and part of the reason EEG suffers for this is it acts as a filter of all of these high frequency signals."

That is, the EEG picks up signals outside the skull, which acts to absorb and muddle the signals.

Electrocorticography, by contrast, is so named because it taps directly into the brain's cortex - the outermost layer of the brain.

In a surgical procedure, a plastic pad containing a number of electrodes is implanted under the skull.

Its power has already been shown off in allowing video game play by thought alone - but in the new study, the researchers have tapped into the speech network of the brain.

Prior studies have made use of the motor control signals in the brain: the thought or will to move in a particular direction.

But Dr Leuthardt said that the units of speech known as phonemes allow signals of a particular "discrete" nature, rather than signals that range in intensity, as with thoughts of motion.

"(It's) for the same reason that you don't type a paper with a mouse - you have a keyboard with a number of discrete commands," he explained.

"We would want to facilitate somebody's abilty to communicate by having different phonemes - or essentially key presses - that could allow them to have discrete type of control."

Four patients who were already undergoing the electrocorticograph implantation - to establish the source of incurable epileptic seizures - participated in the latest study.

They were asked to think of four different phonemes - "oo", "ah", "ee" and "eh" - and their brain signals were recorded. Those higher-frequency signals were shown to reliably move a cursor on a computer screen.

"Do we need that gold standard to get this simple level of control? I think the likely answer is yes," Dr Leuthardt explained.

"For a brain-computer interface, especially for someone who is severly impaired, they need something that is absolutely, completely reliable. If you think of EEG (systems), they move, they're susceptible to noise, and the likelihood for reliablity is much lower."

Just a few discrete but reliable signals - tantamount to being able to move a cursor in two dimensions and effect a "click" - could lead to a vast number of applications, he continued.

"What is one of the most prolific '2D-plus-click' devices we have today? It's an Iphone. Once you have 2D plus click... there's innumerable different types of functionality you can create on an application base - but what you first need is the control."

The study also showed that the large-area arrays utilised for the epilepsy research would not be necessary for future electrocorticography implants; an area just 4mm by 4mm can provide the same level of information.

what is google +1

2011-04-06T00:35:00.001+01:00

Google is introducing a new feature in Google search results today: +1. But what is it? A new social network? A social thingy? A social search engine? Is it even social?

It's a simple way to Like Google search results...

When you're signed into your G

oogle

account, every Google search result will now have a +1 icon next to it (right now you have to activate in Google Experimental). If you find the search result useful or just enjoy the linked site, you hit the +1 icon. Google says by +1-ing a result you're giving it a recommendation, a stamp of approval. More +1's on a result means the site is more interesting.

...and is definitely social...

You can see what your friends +1'd which ideally lends more credence to a particular search result. Since Google displays so many sites, these little +1's will help you sift out the crappy ones (. Imagine if your best friend found a link interesting and +1'd it. When you stumble upon that in the future, you're probably going to click it.
...but isn't a social network...

When the Google +1 project first started (as Google Me), it was billed to be Google's Facebook killer. Clearly, it's not. The +1 system works more like Likes in Facebook or Diggs in Digg, meaning to say it's a bare bones simple way to show that you like something. That's good! Google became the king of search because it was simple. +1 is simple.

...that will help Google target ads better...

You can also +1 ad's, which combined with the data of your usual +1s of search results, will let Google learn more about you and better target their ads. It's sort of like data research masked as a feature, like when Google offered free Google 411s to improve their voice recognition software, Google +1 improves their ad delivery system.

...and will eventually grow bigger...

Google isn't done with +1 yet. They've learned from previous mistakes in Google Buzz and Google Wave where they dug a grave for those products by over hyping them. This time, by starting small with a simple +1 icon only available on Google search results, they can quietly go about their business and slowly add to it (like +1-ing directly from a website, from Chrome, from apps etc.).

...but won't change the way you use Google. Yet.

Google +1 is another sign that Google wants to evolve into a more social search engine. All those +1's they keep track of will not only help Google make their searches better, but also make them more relevant to your social circle. As the Internet gets clotted in cobwebs, having friends personally +1 the best sites keeps Google from falling too far behind Facebook and Twitter in social sharing. [Google +1]

Mercury Photos Could Unlock Planet's Secrets

2011-04-05T04:09:00.000+01:00

The first new images of Mercury have been sent back to Earth after a six-and-a-half year voyage by a Nasa spacecraft.

Professor James Head said the team studying the images will be making discoveries every day of the scheduled year-long mission.
"On Earth, we don't understand how plate tectonics started several billion years ago. Mercury may hold the answer," he said.
Professor Head said data would be studied to find out whether water ice exists in craters of Mercury that never see the Sun.
If it did exist, said Professor Head, it might provide a history of water in the solar system.
The Messenger probe covered a total of 4.9 billion miles (7.9 billion km) on its journey to Mercury although the planet, the closest to the Sun, is 62 million miles (100 million km) from Earth at its closest.
It has flown by Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury three times before becoming the first spacecraft to be placed in Mercury orbit.
The 485kg robotic probe is to begin continuous mapping of Mercury on April 4 during highly elliptical orbits that will take it as close as 124 miles (200km) from the planet's surface.
An earlier Nasa spacecraft, Mariner 10, mapped about 45% of Mercury after making three passes near the planet in 1974 and 1975.
Although it is relatively close to Earth, Mercury has been little explored because of the difficulties posed by the enormous gravitational pull of the Sun and massively high levels of radiation.
Mercury itself is subject to extremely high and low temperatures.
Daytime temperatures of 427C plummet at night to -150C.
Mercury is the smallest of the eight planets in our solar system and orbits the Sun every 87.969 Earth days.

US eagle webcam becomes internet sensation

2011-04-05T03:42:00.000+01:00

Cameras installed high in a tree in the US state of Iowa have made an internet sensation of a family of bald eagles, whose nest is streamed online live day and night.
"Why viral, I'm not really sure," Bob Anderson, director of the Raptor Resource Project, said of the success of the eagle webcam.
"The world just likes to hear something good instead of negative," he said. "This is all positive, this makes people feel good."
Anderson had been transmitting live images of the nest, 80 feet high in Docorah, Iowa, mainly for schools and universities.
But this year, using a new site, UStream, the eagles are challenging the likes of troubled actor Charlie Sheen for internet popularity. There have been 11 million online views, according to the project's website.
Some 150,000 viewers at a time check out the live action, captured by two cameras installed on branches five feet above the nest.
The male and female eagles have been together since the winter of 2007-08, the project's website explained. They have successfully hatched and fledged eaglets each year since.

Interest spiked in late February when the mother laid three eggs, two of which have hatched. The third is expected to hatch any day now.
Most days viewers can see the wind pushing about the feathers of the eagles, as well as spot the remains of a muskrat, rabbit, crow and trout lying in the nest.
"Our dream always has been to provide an insight to wildlife, as a science tool for school," Anderson said. "It's a wonderful education tool, people are learning the good and the bad of nature."
"Now," he continued, "kids are learning that animals do eat other animals and that is the way of life. They are gaining a great insight to Mother Nature."

Obama turns to social media again for 2012 bid

2011-04-05T03:26:00.001+01:00

US President Barack Obama launched his reelection campaign with a social media barrage Monday, turning once again to the online tools that helped propel him to the White House three years ago.
Obama, 49, announced his 2012 candidacy with a message on Twitter, a status update on his Facebook page and an email blast to his millions of supporters, all of which provided a link to his BarackObama.com campaign website.
"Today, we're filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign," the Democrat told the 7.28 million followers of the @barackobama account on Twitter.
The Twitter message, Barack Obama page on Facebook and email all urged voters to "Say that you're in" and provided a link to barackobama.com where they could provide an email address and a zip code.
The website invites supporters to make a donation to the campaign, volunteer and offers a new range of branded merchandise, including 2012 badges, bumper stickers, water bottles and T-shirts.
The new campaign logo featured on the items includes the celebrated image of a rising sun used in 2008, but this time nestled in the "0" of 2012.

An "Are You In?" application on Facebook lets members of the social network write a message of support for Obama's candidacy and invite friends and family to do the same.
"I am so IN!," wrote Facebook user and Obama backer Debra Wilhoite.
"Of course I am in just like I was in 2008!" said another, Elizabeth Boergert.
Obama also released a two-minute YouTube video that did not feature the candidate himself speaking but a diverse range of supporters explaining why he should be given another four years in the White House in the November 2012 elections.
Obama relied heavily on the Internet during his 2008 presidential campaign for organizing, fundraising and communicating and Monday's launch made it clear he plans on doing so again, building a grassroots campaign online.

YouTube Adds Animation Tools for Easier Content Creation

2011-03-25T21:44:00.001+01:00

Google’s youtube has added another feature into youtube which includes xtranomal movie maker, goanminate and stupeflix video maker.

If you're not familiar, GoAnimate and Xtranormal Movie Maker allow users to make animated videos with prepackaged characters (my favorite of this ilk being "Hipster Dating"), while Stupeflix lets you make slideshows from your photos, clips, pictures, etc.

The above is good news for everyone who has had the ardent dream of creating their own YouTube show, but lacked a camera or editing skills(although this hasn’t stopped some people)

So over to http://youtube.com/create and lets start creating……..

Brain Scans 'To Predict Future Criminals'

2011-03-23T18:20:00.000+01:00

Scientists may soon be able to identify potential criminals using developments in brain research on children as young as six months, an expert has claimed.

Psychologist Dr Adrian Raine said recognising problems in a child's limbic system, which controls emotion, will allow scientists to predict future offenders and psychopaths.
"Seeds of sin are sown quite early in life," Dr Raine told a science conference in the US.
The British scientist, who is at the University of Pennsylvania, said three year olds with a poorly-functioning amygdala, a key part of the limbic system, were more likely to commit crime 20 years later.
Further research presented at the conference showed emotional problems, like "callous-unemotional" (CU), were hereditary.

Its very simple - bad brain, bad behaviour…improve brain functioning and you will improve behaviour

Dr Adrian Raine - Psychologist

CU traits are associated with a lack of emotion, empathy and guilt and are linked to persistent bad behaviour in young children.
After assessing more than 9,000 twins between the ages of four and 12, Dr Nathalie Fontaine concluded that genetics played a fundamental role in the emergence of CU traits, especially in young boys.
Dr Raine said that a time would come when "we are going to be able to predict reasonably well which individuals at a modest age say eight to 10 years old are predicated to become criminal offenders".
The scientist added people would have to decide whether or not to intervene at an early age to stop crime despite possible mistakes in predictions.
Omega 3 - a fatty acid that helps build brain cells - was identified as being able to reduce aggressive behaviour in children based on studies that have shown giving supplements to prison inmates cut serious offending by a third.
"Its very simple - bad brain, bad behaviour… improve brain functioning and you will improve behaviour," Dr Raine said.

Facebook Flub: Man Charged with Polygamy After Posting Second Wedding Photo Online

2011-03-22T18:07:00.000+01:00

You'll never believe who turned him in: his first wife - because the two were still married.
Here's a tip we never thought we'd have to share: If you're already married, don't post pictures of your new wife on Facebook.
An already-married Grand Rapids, Mich. man had what NewsFeed can only assume was a joyous wedding ceremony last July. But it turns out Richard Barton, Jr. already had a wife, whom he married in 2004. (See photos of a convicted polygamist.)
When photos of Barton and his new Michigan wife turned up on Facebook, his old (but still current) wife, living in Rhode Island, took issue with Barton. She alerted authorities, who arrested Barton for polygamy.
The saga started in 2004 when Barton married the R.I. woman. Months later, Barton mysteriously failed to return home one evening, leaving his wife clueless as to his whereabouts. He was behind bars and not to return home, well, ever. (Is Utah, a polygamist haven, trying to shed its image?)
It appears that post-release, he fled to Michigan and started anew, though he failed to divorce his R.I. wife. She was clued in to the new wife when Barton defriended her on Facebook. Barton now faces polygamy charges, which carry a four-year jail sentence.
We predict Barton will soon go from having two wives - to zero.

Google Accuses China of Blocking Gmail Amid Unrest

2011-03-22T00:33:00.001+01:00

It's Google versus China -- again. Google is accusing the Chinese government of blocking Gmail in the communist nation. The search giant said China is making it difficult for users there to access the web-based e-mail service.
Google is convinced it's not just a glitch like the one that took down thousands of Gmail accounts stateside earlier this month. After receiving complaints from Gmail users for several weeks, Google exhausted the internal possibilities.
"There is no issue on our side; we have checked extensively," Google said. "This is a government blockage, carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail."
Silencing a Revolution?
The Gmail blockage comes in the wake of calls for political protests in China. Dubbed the Jasmine Revolution, the February protests got the government's attention.

Now censorship watchers believe China is purposely blocking Gmail as a communications vehicle for would-be protesters. China cannot compel Google to hand over information on its users, and Gmail has become one of the most popular webmail services in the nation.
Gmail appears to be one of the tools of choice for Chinese activists, and thus the Chinese government targets activity on Gmail to put down potential social unrest, said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.
"What's striking is not the Chinese government's or its surrogate's behavior -- the hacking -- but Google's lack of hesitation in calling this episode a 'politically motivated attack,'" Sterling said. "That stands in contrast to the cautious tone and unwillingness to name names that characterized Google's reaction when Gmail was initially targeted."
Google's Rush To Judgment
This isn't the first time Google and China have butted heads. In December 2009, Google revealed a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on its corporate infrastructure that originated from China.
That attack, Google said, resulted in a theft of the search giant's intellectual property. In its internal investigations, Google discovered it wasn't the only target. Large U.S. companies from many industries were also hit.
The cyberattacks, which largely targeted the Gmail accounts of Chinese human-rights activists, seem to have fueled Google's decision to stand up for freedom of speech in the communist nation. In January 2010, Google made a strong move against communist China by refusing to continue censoring search results on its Chinese site. In the wake of cyberattacks it linked to China, Google also said it would consider shutting down operations in that nation.
Google wound up renewing its agreement with China, but soon butted heads with the Chinese again. In July 2010, Google accused China of blocking its search engine, Google Mobile, and Google Ad products. Google also said its news and image services were being "partially blocked." However, Google apparently rushed to judgment. Later in the day, Google said the blockage levels were misreported by the company's internal tracking system.

France Fines Google $142,000 for Privacy Violations

2011-03-21T17:23:00.000+01:00

France's data privacy regulator has fined Google €100,000 ($141,670 USD) for gathering data from private Wi-Fi networks while collecting imagery for Google Street View.
Google Street View has been controversial from the start; Many people and privacy groups didn't like Google collecting imagery of buildings, license plates and faces for the panoramic view service, complementary to Google Maps.
Google answered those complaints by blurring sensitive parts of the images, but the service raised far more privacy concerns in May 2010, when Google admitted that its Street View cars (mistakenly, according to Google) collected and stored data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. The incident instigated privacy probes against Google in countries all over the world, including in Australia, Canada, Germany, South Korea and the U.S.
In August 2010, French police stopped a Google Street View car under orders of National Commission for Computing and Civil Liberties (CNIL) to inspect whether Google was still collecting Wi-Fi data.
Now, CNIL said that Google has pledged to erase the data it had collected, but it found "that Google has not refrained from using the data identifying Wi-Fi access points of individuals without their knowledge," which prompted the fine.
"It is a record fine since we obtained the power in 2004 to impose financial sanctions in 2004," the head of the CNIL Yann Padova told Le Parisien.
In July 2010, Google said that its “cars will no longer collect any Wi-Fi information at all,” but the fallout from the incident is still a reminder of how unpleasant the consequences of not respecting users' privacy can be -- especially for a giant company like Google.

New York Time's website "from free to fees"

2011-03-20T02:49:00.000+01:00

The New York Times will start charging people for unlimited access to its website and mobile services this month, ending the free usage that online readers of the third-largest U.S. newspaper have enjoyed for most of the past 15 years.

The Times will charge $15 every four weeks, or $195 annually, to read more than 20 articles per month on its website. That fee also covers a subscription on the newspaper's software for smart phones. Readers who want unlimited access on the website and the Times' software for Apple Inc.'s iPad tablet computer will have to pay $20 every four weeks, or $260 annually. A digital pass covering the website and both mobile options will cost $35 every four weeks, or $455 annually.

Subscribers to the Times' print edition will still get digital access for free while other readers will be limited to 20 free articles on the website each month. People using mobile applications will get the "top news" section free.

The long-awaited pricing system was announced Thursday as The New York Times Co. tries to counter a steep drop in print advertising. The publisher's annual revenue fell 27 percent from $3.3 billion in 2006 to $2.4 billion last year even as higher prices for its print editions have brought in more revenue from readers. While growing, digital ad revenue hasn't been large enough to offset losses in print advertising.

The newspaper is hoping to bring in more revenue from readers without triggering a backlash that diminishes its Web traffic and slows its rapidly growing sales of Internet ads.

Finding that balance is the primary reason the Times spent more than a year studying the way readers use its website and talking to them about what they might be willing to pay. The newspaper began testing the fees Thursday in Canada and will impose them everywhere else beginning March 28.

Other newspaper publishers will be monitoring the Times' effort as they try to decide whether to charge online readers, too. The Times becomes the second major U.S. daily this month to introduce online fees, joining The Dallas Morning News, which is owned by A.H. Belo Corp.

"This is a big moment for newspapers," said Rob Grimshaw, managing director for FT.com, which introduced fees for unlimited digital access to The Financial Times in 2007. "I think this will show that people are willing to pay for high-quality, original reporting."

After the 20 free articles, craftier Web surfers will still be able to read an unlimited number for free if they can find them through search engines run by Microsoft Corp.'s Bing and Yahoo Inc. or through links posted on content-sharing sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The Times is imposing a daily limit of five articles for traffic coming from Google, which processes about two-thirds of all Internet queries.

The digital fees reflect the Times' confidence in the quality of its newspaper, which has won more than 100 Pulitzer Prizes. Executives are betting that the Times coverage is distinctive enough to persuade readers to pay instead settling for news available on hundreds of websites, including some that crib information from the Times and other newspapers.

The Times' digital fees seemed too high to newspaper analyst Ken Doctor of Outsell Inc. He expected a $10-per-month option to reduce the chances of alienating a generation of younger readers who have grown up thinking online news should be free. "They need to be cultivating readers who are going to be their customers," he said.

A recent survey of 755 U.S. adult Internet users by Pew Internet & American Life Project last fall underscores Doctor's concerns. The typical user paid an average of $10 per month for online content, with people ages 30 to 49 most likely to do so. Overall, just 18 percent of the respondents had paid for a digital newspaper, magazine or article. One-third had bought digital music or software online.

The Times has introduced digital subscription fees twice before, only to rescind them because they weren't bringing in enough revenue.

Without providing details, the Times said it will offer introductory discounts to ease the transition to digital fees.

China Closes 130,000 Internet Cafes as It Seeks More Control

2011-03-18T16:47:00.000+01:00

China shut down more than 130,000 illegal Internet cafes in the country over a six year period, as part of crackdown to control the market, according to a new Chinese government report.
Internet cafes in China are highly regulated by the government, which can issue and revoke their licenses. Authorities have made it illegal for Internet cafes to serve minors under the age of 18, stating that the Web's content could endanger their well-being.
Last April, the Ministry of Culture issued new rules declaring that Internet cafes would be closed down if they were found admitting minors.
The Ministry of Culture said it will make the report public in a month's time. But in statements made to China's official Xinhua News Agency, the ministry said it is continuing to promote Internet cafe chains, while enforcing rules to stop the establishment of independently run Internet cafes. The ministry also plans on instituting harsher penalties for Internet cafes found admitting minors.
"Promoting Internet cafe chains allows the government to have more control," said Yu Yi, an analyst with Beijing-based research firm Analysys International. "The Internet cafe chains all adhere to the same standards on service and security."
Around a third of China's Internet population surfs the Web from Internet cafes. The Ministry of Culture said the number of Internet cafe users in China reached 163 million in 2010. The country's total Internet population stands at 457 million users.
There are currently 144,000 Internet cafes in China, according to the ministry, and close to 30 percent of them are operated by chain businesses.
China has invested heavily in systems to control how users access information on the Web.
Sites or content deemed too politically sensitive are blocked or taken down by government censors. This has included topics relating to the "Jasmine Revolution", a term an anonymous group of activists has been using in the last several weeks to urge the Chinese people to protest the government. Authorities have responded by preventing microblog searches on the term, as well as by arresting Chinese activists and deploying police patrols in cities across the country.
Despite efforts aimed at closing down Internet cafes, the number of people using Internet cafes to access the Web increased by 28 million people in 2010, according to the ministry. The rising total appears to be at odds with the closures, but over the past six years more legal Internet cafes have entered the market, Yu said. The ministry's report also does not say if some of the illegal cafes that were closed later reopened.
About half of the people who use Internet cafes in China are 18 to 25 years old, according to Analysys International. Nine percent of the users are under the age of 18. At the same time, 60 percent of the users have monthly incomes at 3000 yuan (US$456) and under.
China has the world's largest Internet cafe market, said Yu. "The leadership has been trying to regulate it for some time now," he said. China is actively closing down Internet cafes that don't meet regulations in an effort to standardize the way they operate, he added.

US politicians seek to connect with voters online

2011-03-18T16:36:00.000+01:00

us politicians embrace the internet to connect with voters

American voters are going online more than ever to engage in politics, and their elected representatives are seeking to meet them there -- with mixed results.
According to a report by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project released on Thursday, more than half of American adults went online for political activism and to seek information during November's election campaign.
The study found that 54 percent of voting-age Americans used the Web for political purposes during the 2010 midterm vote, going online for election news or to take part in campaign-related activities.
"These online spaces are a meeting place where politically engaged Americans of all stripes -- young and old, conservative and liberal -- can come to catch up on the latest events, share their thoughts on the political news of the day, and see what their friends have to say," said Aaron Smith, the report's author.
As voters spend more time on the Internet, politicians are following and there has been an explosion in the number of members of Congress with Twitter accounts, Facebook pages and YouTube channels.

President Barack Obama outdueled Republicans online during his White House campaign, using the Internet for organizing, fundraising and communicating, but Republicans have caught up -- and may even have surpassed the Democrats online.
"Social media and networking is the way America communicates so it's really important for us to engage the people of this country," House majority leader Eric Cantor, a Republican from Virginia, told AFP.
Cantor, who has 33,550 followers for his Twitter account @EricCantor, has launched an online initiative called YouCut which allows visitors to vote on which programs they would like to see eliminated from the federal budget.
"The YouCut program has been tremendously successful in engaging people," said Patrick Ruffini, a Republican political strategist.
Representative Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine, is an avid user of Twitter, where she has attracted over 3,760 followers, and she said the use of the micro-blogging service is growing in the halls of Congress.
"Some members, they get into contests to try to get more followers," Pingree said.
If it were a contest, Senator John McCain wins by a mile. The Republican from Arizona has 1.7 million followers on Twitter, many of which he picked up during his failed 2008 presidential bid.
Pingree said Twitter allows her to connect directly with constituents.
"Twitter is sort of the beginning of the chain," she said. "It's one way for me to easily send out a piece of information.
"It doesn't have to be my staff, it doesn't have to be a press release," she said. "It's just 140 characters and I tell people what I'm thinking and what's going on."
Obama may have been the pioneer in using the Internet to energize voters, but Pingree said Republicans have turned the tables.
"I do think more Republicans are using social media than Democrats," she said. "Who knows why we're behind?"
Ruffini, the Republican strategist, said that while more politicians are adopting social media "many candidates are still making very basic mistakes."
"They allow word to spread in the press that they are running for something when they don't even have a website up," Ruffini said.
"If you've launched a campaign be ready, be ready with a website, be ready with a Facebook presence, be ready with a YouTube video explaining why you're running," he said.
Ruffini also said not enough members of Congress are personally engaging with social media.
"There's still a very small handful of people who are actually doing it themselves," he said. "Many members of Congress, many political candidates prefer to have a staff member tweeting on their behalf.
"They're afraid of potentially making a mistake."
Ruffini said some politicians were also treating Twitter as a "one-way medium" instead of engaging in a conversation with constituents.
"You have the ability to answer and respond to questions in real-time," he said. "That's the way the smart people are using it."
At the same time, Ruffini said, "we've made progress."

Facebook can help in disasters

2011-03-18T16:16:00.000+01:00

An Australian academic Friday praised the increasing use of social media during disasters, saying there had been a "beautiful display of humanity" on Facebook during recent catastrophes.
Communications expert Gwyneth Howell said she had been prompted to research the use of social media following last year's major earthquake in New Zealand's second city Christchurch -- which caused damage but no deaths.
The University of Western Sydney academic could not have known more disasters were to follow -- floods and cyclones in Queensland, bushfires in Western Australia, a deadlier quake in Christchurch and Japan's quake and tsunami.
Howell said that interviews with people who established Facebook sites to help victims of Queensland's devastating floods in January had demonstrated a "sense of real community" existed in the virtual space.
"That was the thing that struck me... this beautiful display of humanity and generosity and a sense of 'I don't know you but I want to be able to help'," she told AFP.
"If that's what Facebook is providing and social media is providing people with in times of terrible anguish, I think it's a fantastic resource."
Howell said part of her ongoing research, which will examine how people use social media such as Facebook and Twitter during a time of crisis, will seek to discover how this medium can be deployed to even greater effect.
She said in the Queensland floods, during which Facebook sites offered news of people's whereabouts, help in reuniting pets with their owners and up-to-date information on flood zones, people used social media as an information source.
"They look at news media on television but they go to places like Facebook," Howell said.
Howell added that in the Queensland town of Toowoomba, which was hit with deadly flash floods in which many people were swept away, most people found out about the tragedy when friends changed their status on Facebook.
"That is where people learned about the disaster, they didn't learn it from mainstream media."
She said even as the situation in Japan, still reeling from last week's 9.0-magnitude quake and deadly tsunami, was unfolding, Facebook and Twitter were being used to make tribute pages and send messages of goodwill.
"That sense of community, I think, is outstanding, and it's what we need," she said.

New York Times again seeks to charge for Website

2011-03-17T18:16:00.000+01:00

The New York Times will begin to charge people to access some of its digital content as it makes another stab at getting readers to pay for digital news.
New York Times Co's namesake newspaper said on Thursday it will begin charging readers in Canada to access some of its content and will roll out a similar model in the United States and globally on March 28.
Subscribers to the print edition will be able to have full access for free. Those who do not have home delivery of the print edition will be able to access 20 articles for free each month before having to pay to read more.
The New York Times is charging $15 per month for unlimited access to NYTimes.com and a smartphone application; $20 per month for online access and an Apple Inc iPad app; or $35 per month for online, smartphone and an iPad app.
The New York Times said it will begin using Apple's new subscription service in its app store by June 30.
"Today marks a significant transition for The Times, an important day in our 159-year history of evolution and reinvention," New York Times Chairman and Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said in a statement.
"Our decision to begin charging for digital access will result in another source of revenue, strengthening our ability to continue to invest in the journalism and digital innovation on which our readers have come to depend."
The move marks the second go-around for one of the world's most prestigious papers to diversify its revenue stream in the face of declining advertising sales and a drop-off in print readership.

The newspaper attempted to get readers to pay in 2005 when it charged non-print subscribers for online access to columnists such as Frank Rich, Maureen Dowd and Thomas Friedman. The New York Times iced the concept. known as TimesSelect, after two years in order to attract more readers to the site.
Yet in January 2010 the New York Times announced it would try again and roll out a metered pay system inspired by sites as varied as those of Pearson Plc's Financial Times to Consumer Reports to WeightWatchers.
The model allows causal readers to access the New York Times, unlike some other pay strategies employed by other news organizations, such as News Corp's experiment with the Times of London. The British paper bars anyone who does not pay from reading its website, an action that has resulted in a 90 percent plunge in visitors.
FT.com, the online version of the Financial Times, has roughly 207,000 paid subscription out of roughly 3 million registered users, Rob Grimshaw, managing director of FT.com, said at a recent industry conference in New York.
About 31.4 million individuals in February visited NYTimes.com, according to online research measurement firm comScore.
"Publishers have a good opportunity to get about 10 percent of unique visitors to pay for full access," said Gordon Crovitz, co-founder of the platform company Journalism Online that allows publishers to charge for online access. Crovitz is the former publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal, owned by News Corp, also charges for some of its online content.
Aside from a handful of papers like the FT and Wall Street Journal, it remains to be seen whether other newspapers will be successful at charging for content.
For instance, of the three dozen newspapers that have moved to some sort of online pay model, only 1 percent of readers have opted to pay, according to a recent study from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Near midday, New York Times Co's stock was up 38 cents or 4.3 percent at $9.24 per share.

Man fired over obscene Chrysler tweet apologizes

2011-03-17T18:08:00.000+01:00

A Chrysler contractor who posted an obscene tweet on the Chrysler brand's official account says he's sorry his four-letter flub has cost his firm the account and him his job.
Scott Bartosiewicz's Twitter posting from last week read: "I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the (hash)motorcity and yet no one here knows how to (expletive) drive." It was meant to appear on his personal account, but Bartosiewicz mistakenly sent it to the Chrysler brand's feed while he was stuck in traffic on Interstate 696.
The error resulted in the 28-year-old Ferndale resident's dismissal and contributed to Chrysler's decision not to renew its contract with Bartosiewicz's employer, New Media Strategies, a Virginia-based marketing firm.
"As a Detroiter, it was cool to know the work I was doing was part of this larger comeback for Detroit and the Big Three," Bartosiewicz told the Detroit Free Press. "I poured all my heart and soul into that. It's unfortunate it's all being overshadowed by 140 characters."
Bartosiewicz, a University of Michigan MBA student, blamed the mistake on a mix-up using a program that aims to help users juggle multiple Twitter accounts.
"I've tweeted and posted on Facebook thousands of time before," he said.
Chrysler said it did what was necessary and has moved on.
"The company has invested greatly, not only financially, but philosophically ... in supporting Detroit and the U.S. auto industry, and we simply couldn't tolerate any messaging — whether or not there was an obscenity — that was denigrating to Detroit," company spokesman Ed Garsten said.
Bartosiewicz said he understands the automaker's position.
"This brought a large amount of visibility to (Chrysler's) brand and to their company that they didn't want or ask for," he told WXYZ-TV. "And unfortunately somebody has to pay for that, and I don't think they can be blamed for that."
New Media Strategies spokeswoman Lyndsey Medsker said Thursday no decisions have been made on the future of the 20 or so employees in Michigan and Virginia who worked on the Chrysler account.
"In fact, it may very well be that we are able to reassign people to other accounts," she said.
Regardless, Medsker said, "New Media Strategies remains committed to Detroit and are big believers in the city's comeback."

Game over Guitar Hero: Rocksmith is the real guitar video game

2011-03-17T18:02:00.000+01:00

How many times have you heard a Guitar Hero-hater declare “It’s just not the same you know? For real musicians, it’s just so fake.” And now that Guitar Hero has had its fun and exited the market, a new contender is here to fill its shoes – and to do so more realistically.
The new Ubisoft title Rocksmith will be released for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC later this year and is supposed to “revolutionize” the music game industry. Rocksmith will trade in the plastic button-push models of Guitar Hero for actual electric guitars. Any guitar with a standard quarter-inch jack will become the controller.
With older music game titles, there are prescribed settings for your skill level, but Rocksmith will adjust to an individual’s level of play, giving you a customized jam session. Ubisoft also says titles from Interpol, The Black Keys, and Nirvana will be among those in its “sizable library.”
We only have a teaser trailer to glean details from thus far, but we’re hearing that the UI will be a much more familiar experience for actual musicians. Rock Band and Guitar Hero (as any instrumentalists will repeatedly let you know) music highways. These visual representations of notes are nothing like actual written sheet music. If Rocksmith can find a way to combine the visually interesting and low learning curve of games like Guitar Hero into the process of interpreting written music, Ubisoft could have a hit on its hands for young instrumentalists and musically gifted gamers alike.