Archive for February, 2010

Has Facebook patented the news, or at least the news feed, in social-networking environments? On Tuesday, the United States Patent Office granted Facebook a patent for “Dynamically providing a news feed about a user of a social network.” The patent is published and numbered 7,669,123.

Facebook’s patent, which was filed in 2006, describes a “method for displaying a news feed in a social-network environment,” including “generating news items regarding activities associated with a user of a social-network environment,” attaching an “informational link” to at least one of the news items, limiting access to the item to a “predetermined set of viewers,” ordering the news items, dynamically limiting the number of items, and displaying the news items.

So what would we call a “news feed” in something social other than Facebook? An ‘info feed’?

Apple’s iTunes has sold its 10 billionth tune.

Apple said Thursday that its online music store crossed the threshold Wednesday when 71-year-old Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Ga., bought “Guess Things Happen That Way” by Johnny Cash.

Congratulations, Louie!

Big bold moves. Is’t that what Steve Jobs is all about?

Apple is sitting on $40 billion in cash, which it will use not for revenues but to make “big, bold moves,” CEO Steve Jobs announced at the company’s annual shareholder meeting. He said the company will be aggressive in coming years and its big barrel of cash will provide an important buffer.

“When you take risks, it’s like jumping in the air. When they don’t work out, it’s nice to know the ground is always there,” Jobs said.

Finally there appears to be an explanation for all the bitterly cold weather we’ve been having lately: Hell has frozen over.

The cause: AT&T appears to have followed through on promises to upgrade its cellular network making it, according to tests published by PC World, by far the fastest 3G wireless network in America.

If the numbers are to be believed (and they include over 50,000 speed tests in 13 cities in the U.S. using both phones and 3G-connected laptops), AT&T’s reversal of fortune is nothing short of astonishing. The data are actually hard to fathom. The average AT&T download speed is now 1410kbps. Verizon is next at 877kbps, followed by T-Mobile at 868kbps and Sprint at 795kbps. That puts AT&T at nearly twice the throughput of its competition, across the board.

I’ve never had any issues with my AT&T service, I must be an exception to the rule if I am to believe everyone else on the Internet.

When they start offering the purchase of groceries from my TV, then I’ll be convinced that Wal-Mart will be around (online) for a while.

Wal-Mart Stores is taking another swing at the online movie business with the acquisition of Vudu.

The retail giant announced the deal on Monday following widespread speculation that an acquisition would be coming soon. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Vudu has developed software that is built into TVs and Blu-ray players and lets users rent or buy high-definition movies and TV programs over the Internet for instant viewing. It aims to make the process easy because users don’t have to connect their TV to a computer to browse for and buy movies.

Have you ever wondered about your internet banking? Is It safe?

Ask your bank how safe it is to do business online and it may tell you it’s more secure than traditional banking. But cyber security experts would disagree.

“That’s a lie,” says Joseph Menn, who reports on cyber security for the Financial Times.

“The banks are stuck because they’ve been telling people it’s safe, and the fraud they’re on the hook for has gone up four-fold in six months,” Menn says.

“The banks have been kidding people about all this because they save money when people bank online.”

The banks aren’t the only ones saving money. Don’t you save money when you don’t drive your car? Internet banking is better for the environment too, isn’t it?

Intuit Inc. on Thursday said strong sales of its tax-preparation software helped lift its fiscal second-quarter profit 34 percent and beat Wall Street’s forecast. The company also raised its forecasts for full-year revenue and profit.

Intuit reported net income of $114 million, or 35 cents per share, for the three months that ended Jan. 31, up from a profit of $85 million, or 26 cents per share, in the period a year earlier.

Seeing that Turbo Tax is selling everywhere you go, it’s no wonder their profits are up.

Attention Blackberry owners, you can now read books on your teeny tiny little screens.

Amazon.com said on Thursday it is launching a new free Kindle application that will give customers access to over 420,000 books on a range of BlackBerry devices.

Called “Kindle for Blackberry”, the free application allows customers using BlackBerry devices on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and other U.S. carriers easy wireless access to Kindle books, most for $9.99 or less.

I’ll stick with my iPhone, thanks.

U.S. and European regulators have cleared the long-discussed Internet search partnership between Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc., enabling the rivals to form a tag team as they try to mount a more serious challenge to Google Inc.

The government approvals announced Thursday anointed an alliance that Microsoft and Yahoo proposed nearly seven months ago after years of flirtation and often contentious negotiations.

Do they honestly think they will make more than a dent in Google’s market share? Seriously?

A common Web programming error could give hackers a way to take over Google Buzz accounts, a security expert said Tuesday.

The flaw is a “medium-sized problem” with the Buzz for Mobile Web site, said Robert Hansen, CEO of SecTheory, who first reported the issue.

This type of Web programming error, called a cross-site scripting flaw, lets the attacker put his own scripting code into Web pages that belong to trusted Web sites such as Google.com. It is a fairly common flaw but one that can have major consequences when exploited on widely used Web sites.

Wow. Thank goodness Google is already working on a patch, right?