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Internet Today

DuckDuckGo and Its Crusade Against the Filter Bubble

Image representing Duck Duck Go as depicted in...

Image via CrunchBase

Pretty much every website you go to tries to provide you with a customizable experience. Amazon suggests other items you may be interested in – based somewhat on what others buy but also on what you’ve bought, what sites you’ve visited, any cookies your browser may have, etc.

Facebook takes into consideration which links you click on and which posts you like, and then displays more updates from those friends and fewer updates from other friends. This may be good or bad, depending on whether you want to stay in touch with everyone or you want to just see what you care about most. (Compare this to Twitter, which may suggest users, but leaves it up to you to manage your actual feed.)

Business FirstCrime and Justice

Who Hacked Sony & the U.S. Senate?

Image representing Sony as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

With the recent hacking of high profile sites like those belonging to the U.S. Senate and Sony, many are confused as to who, exactly, is behind the recent rash of attacks. While the notorious hacking group Anonymous was first implicated, it appears a new group of miscreants has arisen to steal headlines.

Going by the name “LulzSec,” this new group seems to take their mission quite seriously, even though they claim to do it only for the “lulz,” or laughs. The name LulzSec is short for Lulz Security and the group features a logo of a caricature wearing a monocle and top hat, while holding a glass of wine. While the group has been targeting high-profile victims, they seem to take a caviar and lighthearted attitude regarding their exploits. They often poke fun at the vulnerabilities they employ to gain access to sites and tend to leave humorous messages for their victims. Frequently, these messages are accompanied by a crude ASCII portrait of a boat, and their website plays the theme from the television series “The Love Boat.” While the identity of group members is not known, the magnitude of the high-profile attacks seems to confirm that the group is comprised of skilled and knowledgeable individuals.

Hardware Innovations

Gadgets & Gizmos That Failed to Launch

IMG_7544

Image by gsz via Flickr

Every day hundreds of gadgets and gizmos are invented, but many fail to get past the testing phase or never quite make it to the market. For one reason or another they end up in the 'tech fails' bin never to be heard of or seen again...

Even the 'best' have tech fails! Let’s take a look at a handful of gadgets that never made it past the drawing board:

Business FirstInternet Today

Digital Degrees Gaining Acceptance for Some Graduates

Campus entrance2

Image via Wikipedia

Recent employment trends have begun to show that many employers are no longer put off by online degrees or certifications. There was a time when an online degree carried a sub-par reputation, but today's online courses are more in-depth and provide real training that can compare favorably with the education you would receive through a traditional college program. Now that several universities have begun to offer online degrees, it is possible to attend classes online and receive a diploma that isn't any different from the diplomas received by students who attended classes on campus.

Business FirstInternet Today

As Some iCloud Product Details Are Revealed, Questions Remain

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 06:  Attendees walk b...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

In a break from typical Apple style, the California-based company has pre-announced some details of its new cloud service, iCloud. Apple plans to reveal product details at its Worldwide Developer Conference. In addition, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, taking a break from his medical leave, will provide details on two existing operating systems, iOS5 and MAC OS x 10.7 or Lion. Cloud-based services are quickly becoming a big part of the world of technology, but Apple has not been strong in this particular area. Industry insiders generally agree that Apple needs to compete effectively with cloud technology in the same way the company does with software and hardware.

Business FirstInternet Today

To Determine The Detroit Employment Rate, Did Tim Geithner Make Use Of Turbo Tax?

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 14:  U.S. Treasury Secret...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

In recent times, the Obama Administration has remained on a complete-court onward spiral to sell Americans on the ideas concerning bailouts for auto dealers, begun by its forerunner however augmented into politically schemed insolvencies by the present White House Administration. In the previous week, President Obama welcomed Chrysler’s declaration about the fact that the bailouts had been paid back – devoid of mentioning that the payment derived from additional Government loans to Fiat, and that the Presidential Administration has before now pardoned four billion dollars’ worth of loans to the auto dealers. In the recent days, Tim Geithner, the Treasury Secretary for the Government, did some additional spiraling in a thesis paper for the Washington Post, asserting that each bailout had resulted in a rebirth of Detroit jobs:

Business First

The World of a Virtual CEO

Image representing Skype as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

We all have a classic image of a CEO. The Chief Executive Officer will usually be very well dressed in business attire and will conduct business in a very large and elegant office. The office will frequently be located in a business district with a view overlooking the scores of other office buildings in the area.

Of course, there are other “looks” that a CEO can embody depending upon the industry sector the business is involved in. It is not uncommon for CEOs to maintain an elegant office in a business district but the daily business attire might very well be jeans and a t-shirt. Such are the perks of working in an entertainment or software related business sector.

Internet Today

Google Correlate: Helping You Connect The Dots

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 14:  Artwork of th...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

On May 25, Google released Google Correlate – and statistic nerds everywhere spent the weekend playing with it.

            Google Correlate is the math-nerd cousin of Google Trends. With Google Trends, you can input and compare any given websites or keywords and phrases. You can see spikes in search and web traffic, see where the most traffic is coming from geographically, and other details. But you’re not really working with any raw data and you certainly don’t need to know what r is.

            Google Correlate, however, is a more statistical analysis of keywords and trends – telling you the correlation between your keyword and other keywords based on either time or geography. You still don’t have to be a stats junkie, but it might help.

Business FirstInternet Today

Twitter Purchases TweetDeck

Image representing TweetDeck as depicted in Cr...

Image via CrunchBase

A third party client for access Twitter is now becoming part of Twitter. Rumors have been surfacing for weeks that Tweetdeck was going to be purchased and now the rumors appear to be true. Unnamed sources at several technology/money websites including CNNMoney and The Next Web have reported the price will be near $40 million when the sale is finally announced. This price will include a combination of private stock and money.

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