Internet

The main challenger to Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser just keeps getting stronger. Just a few days ago, Mozilla revealed that its Firefox browser had surpassed the 1 billion downloads mark, with no intention of slowing down. Mozilla announced ... the impressive marker on July 31 with a celebratory Twitter feed. Mozilla has used the event to emphasize the viability of Firefox's challenge to market leader Internet Explorer (IE), which Microsoft has neatly packaged with each version of its ubiquitous Windows operating system software. Windows 7 Could Have Impact But time may be running out on ... (view more)

After a thirteen month investigation, Canada's Privacy Commissioner has announced its finding that Facebook's policies and practices violate Canadian privacy laws. According to Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, there are "serious privacy gaps" in ... Facebook's operations. A complaint from the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, or CIPPIC, instigated the investigation, which started in May of last year. The initial complaint was comprised of 24 allegations pertaining to 12 different subjects, including Facebook's default privacy settings, what the site does with member personal ... (view more)

The recession has affected Americans in many ways, forcing people to cut back on their spending and in some cases, out of their homes. According to a new study, it seems that more and more U.S. residents are heading online in search of solutions to ... their financial woes. In the past, community leaders and social workers were relied upon by Americans looking for help during tough economic times. However, today there's an easier way to consult experts for assistance. Americans Hope for Quicker Solutions Online A recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that most ... (view more)

Is manipulating a teenager with obvious self-esteem issues to the point where they commit suicide tantamount to a criminal offence? Not so, it seems, given that a federal judge has overturned the misdemeanor guilty verdict handed down to Lori Drew ... last year. Known as the "MySpace Mom," Lori Drew made headlines worldwide during the suicide investigation of Megan Meier, a 13-year-old who hung herself in Missouri a few years back. Investigators soon uncovered a complex web of deceit that pointed back to Drew, who, angry with Meier for having picked on her daughter Sara, created a fictional ... (view more)

According to reports, the death of Michael Jackson, and the online whirlwind it created, helped crash some major news sources. In addition, there have been incidents where online wrongdoers have sought to take advantage in Jackson's death , with ... both hacking and spam related to the subject. Google News Unresponsive Google News was inaccessible for many users for 25 minutes on Thursday afternoon, replaced by a message stating: "We're sorry, but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't process your request right ... (view more)

Micro-blogging site Twitter is working on a scheme to verify that "celebrities" posting on the site are the real deal. But it says it will not be settling out of court in a legal action brought by St Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. Starting ... this summer, the site will work on a beta (test) program to allow public figures to verify their identity. Once they have done so, their account will be labeled with a special logo to show it is indeed run by the claimed personality. Potential Charges for Account Verification At first the scheme will be open to celebrities, sporting stars, ... (view more)

One of the most powerful figures at Wikipedia has resigned after it was discovered he'd been editing entries under bogus names. David Boothroyd, who is also a British politician, had even used the fake account to edit the pages of political ... opponents. As well as being a registered volunteer editor, Boothroyd had been elected to the powerful Wikipedia Arbitration Committee: a group of around 15 editors which make final and binding decisions for any disputes on the site that cannot be resolved informally. In some cases, the committee could even overrule Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. ... (view more)

Circuit City has reopened as an online-only business under new management. However, it's brought in a tough, new returns policy which many consumers will consider a gamble. One of the first major victims of the economic downturn , Circuit City went ... into liquidation last November. Its woes were cause by a combination of poor sales and bad timing: the firm's struggling business prompted wary creditors to offer much less generous terms. This stretched its cash flow to the point where it could no longer operate. Circuit City had already received threats that if its stock price continued to hover ... (view more)

Researchers at Northwestern University and New York's Yahoo! Research have shown that they can catch spammers by the timestamps of their emails, paving the way for smarter advertisements, better spam filters, and more convenient social networking. ... (Source: wired.com ) The new technique can differentiate people by using only the timestamps in their Sent folders with a snapshot of what they're doing. You can get meaningful information by knowing what time people send their emails. 80 to 90 Percent of the World's Email is Spam Yahoo! is interested in finding a better way to catch spammers. ... (view more)

Facebook is exceptionally popular, and with all of that fame comes plenty of trouble. Scams are hardly new to the social networking site, and now it Facebook faces one of its most serious yet: a phishing routine that threatens to infect user ... computers with malware. The scam, which started nailing Facebook users yesterday, goes something like this: a member receives a message from a friend packing a link, usually with the subject line "Hello" or "areps.at" or other addresses ending with ".at". Those who click on that link will be sent to a website asking for their login information, which is ... (view more)