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Whether you spell the Web "P2P and DNS" or "Facebook and Google", we have you covered. Breaking news about the Internet’s largest and most popular companies, the cloud movement, social networking, video streaming and more.
Researcher finds flaw that grants access to any Facebook account
- A security expert recently outlined steps on his blog that allowed him to gain unprecedented access to anyone’s Facebook account. Nir Goldshlager said a flaw in Facebook’s OAuth service, which is used to by developers to solicit permission from users…
Controversial 'six-strikes' copyright alert system launches in US
- The "six-strike" warning system that aims to curb illegal downloads in the U.S. is set to go live today after missing its scheduled launch in November. AT&T, Cablevision, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and Comcast are all on board with the…
Ziff-Davis shuts down 1UP, GameSpy as part of restructuring effort
- Ziff-Davis, owner of IGN Entertainment, recently announced they will be closing three very popular video game websites in their network: 1UP, GameSpy and UGO. The decision is also leaving a number of people looking elsewhere for employment as the company…
Nevada is first state to legalize online gambling
- Nevada's governor has signed into law a bill which legalizes Internet gambling. Consequently, Nevada has become the first U.S. state to legalize online gambling. The AB114 bill (pdf) also authorizes Nevada to make deals with other states, allowing them to…
Nielsen "TV household" ratings to include cord-cutters without TVs
- Nielsen will soon expand its TV ratings system to include online viewers, it told clients yesterday. Armed with its broadened definition of what constitutes a "TV household", Nielsen hopes to more accurately reflect modern day media consumption and advancements in technology…
Chrome 25 released with voice recognition support
- Google has delivered the latest stable release of Chrome -- version 25 for those still counting -- which includes a number of bug fixes, improved security agains rogue extensions, and voice recognition support via the Web Speech API. The latter…
RIAA report bashes Google's anti-piracy efforts as ineffective
- A new report issued by the RIAA lambasts Google's piracy-curbing efforts, claiming the search giant's promise to demote unsavory file sharing sites several months ago has shown "no demonstrable impact" on the demotion or removal of links to well-known copyright…
Google unveils Chromebook Pixel, expects you to pay $1,299
- Google has just announced the latest addition to its lineup of web-centric Chromebook laptops. Unlike prior variants that drew their main value from their low price tag, the new Chromebook Pixel hopes to entice another set of users who live…
Petition to legalize unlocking reaches 100K signatures, warrants White House response
- With over 100,000 signatures (and counting), an open petition asking the White House to legalize unlocking cell phones could elicit an official response from the Obama administration. Currently, 100,000 signatures within the first month of a petition's life is the…
Apple, Facebook not only companies targeted by recent hack. More details surface.
- Security experts believe a sophisticated attack responsible for infiltrating computers at Twitter, Facebook and Apple wasn't isolated to just those companies. According to a report by ComputerWorld, the attack -- which targeted a previously unknown Java exploit -- gave hackers…
Mozilla releases Firefox 19 stable with built-in PDF viewer
- Mozilla has published the latest stable release of Firefox 19 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. The update is rather short on new features, but it does include a built-in PDF viewer that will eliminate the need for third-party plugins…
Yahoo's Marissa Mayer unveils redesigned homepage
- Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer took to the company’s official blog earlier today to announce a new homepage design. The executive describes the redesign as a more modern experience that’s more intuitive and personal that’ll help bring you the very best…
Spotify wants to offer free mobile streaming, asks industry to lower fees
- According to several "music industry sources", Spotify is negotiating with major music labels to both renew their contracts and, most interestingly, lower their license fees by a "substantial" amount. The report claims that Spotify hopes to offer streaming to mobiles…
Majority of webpages can be connected in just 19 clicks
- A new report published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society says that most websites are connected in 19 clicks or less. Hungarian physicist Albert-László Barabási says the “close” connections are possible thanks to search engines, large aggregators and…
Report links Chinese military to majority of cyberattacks against US
- According to the New York Times, U.S-based security research firm Mandiant claims it has traced the "overwhelming majority" of cyberattacks targeting American businesses to an innocuous 12-story office building located in Shanghai, China. The tower, American intelligence officials claim, is…
Google retail stores may open this year in U.S.
- Citing an "extremely reliable source", 9to5Google reports that the iconic search company intends to launch its own network of brick-and-mortar retail stores across the United States. According to the report, the company hopes to introduce a select number of these…
Dropbox prepping for 2013 IPO, readies business offerings
- Well-recognized cloud storage outfit Dropbox is aiming to go public during the second half of 2013, or so unnamed sources "briefed on the talks" believe. Dropbox hopes to launch a new range of business-focused products alongside introducing itself as a…
Major ransomware operation dismantled by authorities
- Authorities have detained 11 individuals thought to be responsible for the proliferation of a nasty "police ransomware" virus which demanded users pay €100 ($135 USD) to re-gain access to their infected PCs. Amongst the 11 caught -- a crew of…
The Pirate Bay sues anti-piracy group for copying its design
- In an attempt to further propel its anti-piracy message, a Finnish organization known as the Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Center has launched a new website (piraattilahti.fi) which shamelessly duplicates the look and feel of the The Pirate Bay. Piraattilahti, by the…
CISPA cybersecurity bill returns, still ignores privacy rights
- It's back. The U.S. House Intelligence Committee has reintroduced its controversial "Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act" in a second attempt to pass the bill. Originally unleashed last year, CISPA slipped passed Congress but was aborted by the Senate following a…
Research shows computers make better medical decisions than doctors
- By making computers "think like a doctor", researchers at Indiana University claim their contextual "artificial intelligence" framework can one-up living medical professionals in terms of both cost and accuracy. Researchers indicate their approach could cut costs by more than half…
Opera switching to Webkit engine in 2013, browser will be based on Chromium
- After years struggling to capture a bigger share of the browser market Opera has announced it is dropping its own Presto rendering engine in favor of WebKit -- the same engine used by Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome. The move…
Twitter raises the price of Promoted Trends to $200K per day
- Twitter has increased the price of their Promoted Trends feature to $200,000 per day. The new pricing went into effect earlier this year and represents a 33 percent increase over the previous price of $150,000 and a 150 percent increase…
AOL dial-up users account for 70% of profit, posts first gains in 8 years
- It's no secret that AOL's dial-up business remains a major cash-cow for the once prolific ISP-turned-media company. However, it may surprise you to know that AOL's profit from those dial-up subscribers utterly dwarfs all other facets of its business --…
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