Perhaps it’s time to start paying more attention to whom you’re friending on Facebook. A recent study designed to evaluate how safe social networks are from being invaded by programs pretending to be real people resulted in more than 250GB of personal information being collected from thousands of Facebook users by the researchers’ …
‘Anonymous’ Abandons Attack Against Mexican Drug Cartel?
Just days after announcing its intent to reveal information about civilians who have assisted the Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas, the group has seemingly backed down for fear of possible violent reprisals.
Two apparently self-identified Anonymous members, Skill3r and Glynnis Paroubek, were quoted in Mexican newspaper Milenio as saying, …
The Internet Weighs About as Much as a Strawberry
Last week, the world was shocked—shocked!—to discover that downloading an electronic book to a device such as a Kindle actually increases the weight of the Kindle. Not by any truly measurable amount, said the New York Times, but still: adding data to a device apparently results in trapped electrons which “have a higher energy than …
RIM Launches BBM Music, and It’s Doomed Already
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is forging ahead with its BBM Music offering, an attempt at creating a viral music service that will probably fall flat.
BBM Music launches today with a free 60-day trial, and costs $5 per month thereafter. Here’s how it works:
You pick 50 songs for your music library. If you know anyone who’s …
Angry Birds, Now Serving over Half a Billion
Move over McDonald’s, Angry Birds has you beat by a factor of eight: Developer Rovio says the popular bird-flinging, pig-pummeling mobile game for iPhone and Android mobiles has been downloaded over 500 million times across all platforms since it launched not quite two years ago.
Popping up my iPhone 4’s App Store, there it is, …
How to Get Your Underage Kid on Facebook: Just Lie!
Hey parents, did you know Facebook has an age limit, or don’t you care? Turns out it’s the latter for most of you: Facebook sets the minimum age threshold at 13, a point I, too, was ignorant of until this study popped up, indicating that virtually all parents of underage kids that sign into Facebook on the sly are aware of and in fact …
Report: Samsung Galaxy Nexus May Launch by Black Friday
If you can’t wait to get your grubby little paws on what may turn out to be the best Android phone this year, strap in. According to an apparently leaked roadmap, it’s coming this month—but perhaps not until after Thanksgiving.
Droid Life may have managed to grab a quick peek at Verizon’s product roadmap for the upcoming …
No E-Mail? Maybe Microsoft’s Courier Is Better Off Dead
Two years ago, Microsoft shocked the tech world with a visionary concept called the Courier, a dual-screen tablet intended for content creators. Details were scarce, revealed only in leaked documents. But in April 2010, Microsoft at once confirmed and killed the project.
(MORE: Microsoft Admits Courier Exists, Scraps Project)
Now, …
Microsoft Creates Autonomous Party Photographer Robot
Sorry, party photographers, you’ve been replaced—by a robot. Microsoft’s new EDDIE (short for Expandable Development Discs for Innovation and Experimentation) can now roam a crowded room, focus on people’s faces and snap photos with a fancy DSLR camera.
Okay, so right now it’s more of an advanced, camera-equipped Roomba than …
Google Officially Starts Rolling Out New Gmail Design
We got an official early peek at it this summer, an accidentally leaked (or was it?) demo video less than two weeks ago, and today, official word from Google that the newly redesigned Gmail will begin rolling out shortly.
Among the highlights, there will be a simpler conversation view—it looks sort of like a text messaging …
Pete Townshend Calls iTunes a ‘Digital Vampire’ that Hurts Musicians
Apple’s iTunes may have ushered in a digital revolution to the music industry, making music more affordable and—in tandem with the iPod and other MP3 players—more of a feature in people’s day-to-day lives, but according to Pete Townshend, iTunes is a “digital vampire” that’s bleeding musicians by taking a commission for each download …
New Google Reader: Improvement or Total Disaster?
Google just released the new version of its popular RSS reader, Google Reader, and the Internet is, well, not too happy about it. The online petition to bring back the old Reader currently has more than 9,000 signatures. The Twitterverse is a cacophony of Google Reader hate. At this rate, it won’t be long before angry techies are burning …