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Thursday, February 17, 2011
Report: Obama to Meet with Jobs, Schmidt, Zuckerberg in San Francisco
Report: Obama to Meet with Jobs, Schmidt, Zuckerberg in San Francisco: "President Obama will travel to San Francisco today to meet with top tech executives, including Apple's Steve Jobs, Google's Eric Schmidt, and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, according to ABC News.
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How Many Floppy Disks Would It Take To Equal 1 Gigabyte?
How Many Floppy Disks Would It Take To Equal 1 Gigabyte?: "Have you ever wondered how many floppy disks it would take to equal 1 Gigabyte?"
Old School ad scam hits Facebook; switches users to Microsoft's Bing
Old School ad scam hits Facebook; switches users to Microsoft's Bing: "
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It’s been a long time since we’ve seen any of those old ad scams that reset the browser’s home page and changes the default settings - but they’re back. And this time, the ad is working its way through Facebook - and benefiting Microsoft’s Bing search engine. (Techmeme)
The word “scam” is a loaded one because it implies that the people behind it are doing something illegal - and that doesn’t necessarily seem to be the case. What they’re doing may be deceptive but the folks who click a mouse button to grant permission without reading the fine print are certainly opting-in to allow a third-party to change their settings - just like they would do to activate the pop-up windows back in the early days of Web surfing.
This issue surfaced when Advertising Age reported on an eMarketer report that found an unknown site called make-my-baby.com was the third largest advertiser on Facebook, buying 1.75 billion ad impressions in the third quarter. That’s when Matt Cutts, a software engineer at Google, started poking around - and posted his findings on Buzz. He wrote:
Visiting make-my-baby.com instantly prompts you to install a browser plugin. The “terms and conditions” link takes you to http://mmb.bingstart.com/terms/ which has phrases like “If Chrome (”CR”) is installed on your PC we may change the default setting of your home page on CR to Bingstart.com.”
…If make-my-baby.com is Facebook’s 3rd biggest advertiser, I wonder how many people are installing this software without reading the fine print that says “Installing the toolbar includes managing the browser default search settings and setting your homepage to bing.com” ?
Now, nothing here implies that Microsoft is even hip to what’s going on. After all, this is affiliate marketing and there are plenty of third-party companies out there who find creative ways - or revive old ways - of getting people to agree to terms and conditions in exchange for a plug-in that unlocks a game or some other feature. It’s not necessarily illegal when users offer their consent. But it certainly reeks of unethical behavior.
More importantly, it also prompts a question over the advertising practices. If this is the third-largest advertiser on Facebook - behind AT&T and Match.com - then it certainly must have caught the attention of someone at that company. Is anyone watching what these advertisers are doing or are they just humming all the way to the bank with a fat check?
Again, this isn’t to say that Facebook is doing anything wrong either - but for a company that’s constantly under the spotlight for its practices around user privacy and other sensitive matters, one might think that the company would keep a closer eye on what it’s advertisers are subjecting the users to.
Then again, there are plenty of people on Facebook who are doing some pretty crazy things - like downloading any and every game or posting their new cell phone numbers on their profiles. It’s no wonder that this third-party company saw an opportunity to make a few bucks on an audience that often leaves its guard down.
This is a guest post from Sam Diaz, Senior Editor at ZDNet, TechRepublic’s sister site. You can follow Sam on his ZDNet blog Between the Lines (or subscribe to the RSS feed).
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Social networking sites: What information will they release about you?
Social networking sites: What information will they release about you?: "Michael Kassner takes a closer look at the kinds of information released by social networking sites about members if requested by law enforcement. Concerned? Or is it just the price of online...
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Thursday, November 18, 2010
The Residential Phone Book's Number Is Up
The Residential Phone Book's Number Is Up: " 
Long relegated to a makeshift foot stool or door stop, the residential phone book (a.k.a the White Pages) is finally getting the official disconnect notice.
Major telecommunications companies have received permission from regulators to stop printing and delivering the bulky things, the Associated Press reported. New York, Florida and Pennsylvania gave Verizon the OK to halt distribution this month, and Virginia is likely to follow. Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin already have petitioned or received the go-ahead to close the book on what was once an American fixture.
Filed under: Extracurriculars, In the News
Long relegated to a makeshift foot stool or door stop, the residential phone book (a.k.a the White Pages) is finally getting the official disconnect notice.Major telecommunications companies have received permission from regulators to stop printing and delivering the bulky things, the Associated Press reported. New York, Florida and Pennsylvania gave Verizon the OK to halt distribution this month, and Virginia is likely to follow. Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin already have petitioned or received the go-ahead to close the book on what was once an American fixture.
Continue reading The Residential Phone Book's Number Is Up
The Residential Phone Book's Number Is Up originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
"Top 10 Cyber Monday Tips for Safe Online Shopping
Top 10 Cyber Monday Tips for Safe Online Shopping: " 
With each passing year, more people are heading online rather than to the mall to get their holiday shopping done. But online shoppers need to beware the dangers that come with the comfort of shopping from home, the Better Business Bureau warns.
Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) has officially replaced Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) as the most popular holiday shopping day of the year. Last year, 96.5 million Americans shopped online during Cyber Monday while 79 million Americans shopped at brick-and-mortar retailers on Black Friday, according to the National Retail Federation.
Filed under: Family Money, Shopping, Identity Theft, Consumer Ally
With each passing year, more people are heading online rather than to the mall to get their holiday shopping done. But online shoppers need to beware the dangers that come with the comfort of shopping from home, the Better Business Bureau warns.Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) has officially replaced Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) as the most popular holiday shopping day of the year. Last year, 96.5 million Americans shopped online during Cyber Monday while 79 million Americans shopped at brick-and-mortar retailers on Black Friday, according to the National Retail Federation.
Continue reading Top 10 Cyber Monday Tips for Safe Online Shopping
Top 10 Cyber Monday Tips for Safe Online Shopping originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
"Ex-Banker Tells How Not to get Ripped Off at a Bank
Ex-Banker Tells How Not to get Ripped Off at a Bank: " 
Americans have special relationships with their money and their banks. Putting money into a bank account is an act of trust, and it's difficult to think of a checking or savings account as a business transaction because the money is still yours -- the bank is just holding it for you and keeping it safe.
People may think of banks as a sort of altruistic non-profit, but everyone knows that they're a business and that those big vaults and tellers cost money. You might even expect a little bit of an upsell when opening a checking account, although you don't expect it to be like walking onto a used car lot or buying shoes at the mall. A business transaction is taking place, but often very slowly through loans or small but steady fees.
Filed under: Banks, Banking - Checking Account, Banking - Savings Account, Economizer
Americans have special relationships with their money and their banks. Putting money into a bank account is an act of trust, and it's difficult to think of a checking or savings account as a business transaction because the money is still yours -- the bank is just holding it for you and keeping it safe.People may think of banks as a sort of altruistic non-profit, but everyone knows that they're a business and that those big vaults and tellers cost money. You might even expect a little bit of an upsell when opening a checking account, although you don't expect it to be like walking onto a used car lot or buying shoes at the mall. A business transaction is taking place, but often very slowly through loans or small but steady fees.
Continue reading Ex-Banker Tells How Not to get Ripped Off at a Bank
Ex-Banker Tells How Not to get Ripped Off at a Bank originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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