Linux News: Internet

Finding Out What They're Saying About You Is Worth Every Penny
November 12, 2009

Social media monitoring is a new business endeavor, with relatively few companies able to boast a significant track record of achievement. In fact, according to the new Aberdeen benchmark report, "The ROI on Social Media Monitoring," only 27 percent of Best-in-Class companies have engaged in social media monitoring activities for more than two years.

Google Latitude Lets Users Follow Their Own Footprints
November 11, 2009

Users of Google's location-aware mobile software can now track their whereabouts over time and receive alerts when contacts are nearby, thanks to two features added to the software on Tuesday. The free application, Google Latitude, was introduced earlier this year for a variety of cellphones.

A Tale of Two Sages
November 11, 2009

Sage convened its fall user group meeting in Atlanta this week. The event was set in the cavernous Georgia World Congress Center, a complex of three starship hangars left over from the Intergalactic Olympics. The facility is beautiful and very big. Sage estimated attendance at between 2,500 and 3,000 people, but despite that number of people, the place looked underused.

Cisco Adds New Technologies to Collaboration Tool Chest
November 09, 2009

Cisco has introduced new technologies to its collaboration platform -- a product portfolio that encompasses its telepresence, unified communications and WebEx solutions. Among the additions are new hosted email offerings and integration with enterprise social software.

Murdoch Threatens Google Blockade
November 09, 2009

It's not so much a war of words, but a war over words, between News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and search giant Google. Murdoch fired another broadside over the weekend by announcing his intention to eventually close off News Corp. content to Google's search technologies.

Betrayals: Obama's Hollywood Sellout, Tech Companies' Layoffs
November 09, 2009

Last week, two troubling trends were in evidence. The scarier one is that it appears the Obama administration is in the process of putting in place a secret antipiracy provision that has little to do with antipiracy and everything to do with killing properties like YouTube. It is truly frightening, and people are already planning civil unrest to stop it.

Is There Room for Microsoft at the Linux Table?
November 09, 2009

Well, the Karmic Koala may have ruffled a few feathers last week, but already the scales seem to be tipping back toward the positive side. TuxRadar recently put Vista, Windows 7, Ubuntu 9.04 and 9.10 through their paces -- focusing in particular on boot speeds -- and the newborn marsupial proved itself to be a sprightly little thing.

Pumping Up Performance in Densely Packed Data Centers
November 08, 2009

Data center consolidation and modernization of IT systems help enterprises reduce cost, cut labor, slash energy use, and become more agile. Infrastructure advancements, standardization, performance density, and network services efficiencies are all allowing for bigger and fewer data centers and strategically architected and located facilities that can efficiently carry more of the total IT requirements load.

Droid Lurches to Life
November 06, 2009

Today is the day of the Droid. The Motorola smartphone touches down today in what's shaping up to be one of the biggest handset launches in recent memory. Of course Verizon is going all-in as far as advertising is concerned, but there's more to the Droid's story than a marketing campaign.

Google Dashboard Lights Up User Access to Privacy Controls
November 05, 2009

Google on Thursday announced the launch of Google Dashboard, an online utility that offers one view into all Google products a customer uses. This is intended to give users more transparency and control over their data, the Internet search giant claimed. Dashboard is really an information aggregator.

Study: Internet Doesn't Cause Introversion
November 05, 2009

A new study confirms what your 130 Facebook friends and scores of Twitter followers may have already told you: The Internet and mobile phones are not linked to social isolation. Online activities such as e-mail, blogging and frequenting Internet hangouts can even lead to larger, more diverse social networks, according to the study released Wednesday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

EU Drafts New Bill of Rights for Internet Users
November 05, 2009

EU lawmakers and governments agreed on new rights for Internet users Thursday, aiming to protect them from arbitrary crackdowns on those who illegally download music and movies on the Internet. EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said a deal was reached after EU governments agreed to EU parliament demands to balance measures against illegal downloaders with a broader set of rights for telecom users.

Chorus Should Sound Great Once More Singers Join In
November 05, 2009

The iTunes App Store became 100,000 applications strong this week, and it took less than a year and a half to get there. Would it surprise you to know that not every last one of those apps is a perfect work of art? Yes, believe it or not, many of the apps that compete for your attention in the App Store are pretty worthless.

Does Wine Make Linux Too Loose?
November 05, 2009

Following the Karmic Koala's joyful reception last week, sentiments toward the FOSSy marsupial have become distinctly less enthusiastic in recent days -- at least for some. "Early adopters bloodied by Ubuntu's Karmic Koala" was the headline on a piece that ran in The Register on Tuesday, which chronicled multiple cases of frustration among some users upgrading to the new version.

Microsoft Scrapes Years of Mold Off MSN Portal
November 04, 2009

White space replaces the sky-blue color scheme in MSN.com's new redesign, which Microsoft began previewing Wednesday before it becomes an official re-launch sometime in early 2010. Content sections are streamlined down to five top-of-page links: news, entertainment, sports, money, lifestyle and "more."

Ancestry.com to Take IPO Plunge
November 04, 2009

Genealogy Web site Ancestry.com hopes to raise about $100 million when it goes public this week. With more than a million paying subscribers, little competition, a small debt load and a record of increasing revenues, it may fare better than other IPOs that have recently priced below their filing ranges.