Internet

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has had a private meeting with the head of China's largest search engine, Baidu. It's prompted speculation Facebook is trying to find a way past that country's ban on the site. Zuckerberg had lunch with Robin Li, ... head of Baidu, while making a visit to China officially described ad as a holiday. However, a Baidu spokesman said he thought Zuckerberg wanted to "get the advice of someone who knows the Internet landscape well here." (google.com) The Great Firewall of China At the moment, Chinese users are blocked from accessing Facebook by a government filtering ... (view more)

Technical difficulties ruined one of the busiest days of the year for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) company Skype. The video long-distance chat service experienced significant outages throughout the period December 23-25. Skype may be the ... cheapest way to see and chat with friends and family from around the world using a PC or laptop. The software is free to download, and costs nothing to use if two users of the program connect over their computers. The only charges apply where someone decides to dial into someone's phone with their laptop, but even in that case rates are incredibly low ... (view more)

For 'Millenials,' (individuals between the ages of 18 and 33), going online is as natural as brushing one's teeth or turning on the television. But a recent study finds that members of much older generational groups are rapidly catching up with ... their younger counterparts in terms of how much time they spend online. According to findings from the Pew Research Center, Millenials are still by far the most likely generational group to use the Internet via laptops, desktops, smartphones, or tablet computers. They are also mostly likely to connect to social networking sites like Facebook and ... (view more)

Internet activists that stand behind " Operation Payback " have waged war on corporations deemed enemies of the Wikileaks web site, the non-profit organization that publishes otherwise unavailable documents from anonymous news sources and leaks. ... Distributed Denial of Service Attacks Flood Targets What began as a vengeful campaign intended to target opponents of Internet piracy, Operation Payback utilizes distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against their enemies. In short, a DDoS attack occurs when many computers band together to flood a target computer (usually a web server) with ... (view more)

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

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

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

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

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

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