September 18 deemed 'No Device Day'

September 18 deemed 'No Device Day' | Crave - CNET

"Click, send, call, text, Like, tweet, undo, reset, delete... it just doesn't end. Which is why a couple of marketing guys are dubbing September 18 'No Device Day' for consumers who might be too involved with their gadgets.

Though the idea of dedicating an entire day to shutting devices off may seem silly (or virtually impossible) to some, Mark DiMassimo, CEO of ad firm Digo, and Eric Yaverbaum say they believe Americans need to be reminded to turn off their electronics from time to time. Thus, their 'lifestyle intervention.'

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iTunes song samples may double in length

iTunes song samples may double in length | Apple - CNET News

"Apple's iTunes, the largest music retailer, will boost the amount of time users are allowed to sample a song, sources told CNET on Monday.

On Wednesday, when Apple CEO Steve Jobs takes the stage at the company's annual September media event, he is expected to announce that iTunes users will be allowed at least twice the amount of time to sample a song, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the move.

An Apple spokesman said the company doesn't comment on speculation and rumor.

Currently, iTunes offers 30-second snippets of songs, a feature designed to give users a taste of the music to help them decide whether they like it enough to buy. Some users have long complained that half a minute isn't enough time to really hear a song.

Numerous other digital-music services offer much more time, including Pandora and Google's YouTube. Pandora has become a leader in digital radio, and while a user can't pick and choose which songs they want to listen to, they do get to hear full-length songs free of charge. By contrast, YouTube users do choose which full-length songs they want to hear by picking whatever music video they want, but these songs can't be legally captured or transferred to digital-music players.

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MySpace users can now sync posts to Facebook

MySpace users can now sync posts to Facebook - Yahoo! News

"MySpace, which recently revamped itself to look more like Facebook, is now allowing users to sync their posts to Facebook, too.

That means people on Facebook can see their friends' MySpace items without leaving Facebook.

MySpace users will also be able to share music, videos, game applications, links and photos across both social networking sites.

The changes announced Monday are part of an overhaul at MySpace, which has faced falling advertising revenue and stagnant user growth.

The News Corp. unit is also in the midst of renegotiating a search partnership as its deal with Google Inc. is nearing a close.

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Internet may phase out printed Oxford Dictionary

Internet may phase out printed Oxford Dictionary - Books - booknews - TODAYshow.com

"It weighs in at more than 130 pounds, but the authoritative guide to the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary, may eventually slim down to nothing.

Oxford University Press, the publisher, said Sunday so many people prefer to look up words using its online product that it's uncertain whether the 126-year-old dictionary's next edition will be printed on paper at all.

The digital version of the Oxford English Dictionary now gets 2 million hits a month from subscribers, who pay $295 a year for the service in the U.S. In contrast, the current printed edition — a 20-volume, 750-pound ($1,165) set published in 1989 — has sold about 30,000 sets in total.

It's just one more sign that the speed and ease of using Internet reference sites — and their ability to be quickly updated — are phasing out printed reference books. Google and Wikipedia are much more popular research tools than the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and dozens of free online dictionaries offer word meanings at the click of a mouse. Dictionary.com even offers a free iPhone application.

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iPads Now Shipping Within 24 Hours

iPads Now Shipping Within 24 Hours - Yahoo! News

"Apple has reduced the estimated shipping time for all six of its iPad models (Wi-Fi 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, and Wi-Fi + 3G 16GB, 32GB and 64GB) to 'within 24hrs' on its online store.

Up until this weekend, Apple promised that iPads would ship within three to five business days, and a few weeks before that the Apple Store cautioned would-be buyers that shipments would take up to seven to ten business days.

It appears that production has finally caught up to order levels for the device. Demand was so 'surprisingly strong' when the iPad first launched in the U.S. -- hitting the 1 million sales mark in 28 days, 2 million within two months and 3 million by the end of the third month -- that Apple '[had to make] the difficult decision to postpone the international launch of the iPad by one month, until the end of May,' the company said in an earlier statement.

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Should parents "friend" their kids on Facebook?

Should parents "friend" their kids on Facebook? - Yahoo! News

"To friend or not to friend is the big question facing many parents dealing with teenagers on Facebook.

Three quarters of parents questioned in a Nielsen survey said they are friends with their children on the popular social networking website which boasts 500 million active users. But a third admitted they are worried they are not seeing everything their children are doing on the web.

Perhaps with good reason, as nearly 30 percent of teens said if given the choice they would unfriend their parents.

'The No. 1 parenting issue, as least with my discussion with parents, is living on Facebook,' said Regina Lewis, a consumer adviser with online services company AOL, which jointly developed the survey.

'It is part of the modern-day parenting reality.'

The average number of friends on Facebook is 130 but for teenagers it can be much higher, according to Lewis.

'I thought the percentage of parents who were friends with their kids was strikingly high. It is more than 70 percent,' she said, adding that children were twice as likely to want to unfriend their mother than their father.

For some children friending a parent is not always an option. In 41 percent of households there was a rule that children who use Facebook have to be friends with their parents.

'For some parents that became a non-starter,' said Lewis.

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Mark Zuckerberg is unblockable … at least on Facebook

Technolog - Mark Zuckerberg is unblockable … at least on Facebook

"Facebook users love to get indignant, as near as I can tell. If it's not another unsettling redesign on the social network of choice, then they're launching Facebook groups to protest another privacy infringement one or several civil liberties advocacies are mad about. And now, you can't block Facebook founder, CEO and everybody's most hated self-made ka-jillionaire, Mark Zuckerberg from seeing stuff on your profile.

Facebook's 'block' feature allows you to prevent a specific Facebook user from seeing your profile, or even finding your profile in a user search conducted through Facebook. Attempt to block Zuckerberg and as of this morning, you'll get a prompt that reads, 'General Block failed error: Block failed.'

'This kind of thing is funny, and adds a little personality to the site,' TechCrunch observed, along with other tech blogs that suspected the block to be a humorous Easter egg planted by Facebook developers. According to Facebook however, the 'error' isn't a joke, nor is it specific to Zuckerberg's account.

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How to Claim Your Facebook Places

How to Claim Your Facebook Places - Yahoo! News

'"If your business is a brick and mortar location that customers visit in person, odds are good that it will end up in Facebook Places whether you put it there or not. Even if you don't choose to take advantage of Facebook Places to promote business, you should still claim ownership of your place to ensure the information is accurate.

With half a billion Facebook members, odds are good that at least a few of them are your customers. That means there is a likelihood that someone will 'check-in' to Facebook Places at your place of business and your establishment will have a Facebook Places page whether you intend to use it or not.

You don't have to bother claiming your Place. But, if it's going to be there anyway, you may as well at least manage and maintain the basic details. By claiming the Facebook Place you are able to edit the address, business hours, profile picture, contact information, and other settings such as designating admins authorized to alter the Places page.

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A flop with consumers, sold-out Nexus One scores with developers

A flop with consumers, sold-out Nexus One scores with developers - Yahoo! News

"Google tried — and ultimately failed — to turn the U.S. wireless market upside-down by selling its supercharged Nexus One Android phone online, with minimal help from the big carriers. But now, months after shuttering its online storefront for the phone, the Nexus One is a sudden, improbable hit.

Who’s buying the Nexus One, you ask? Android developers, that’s who — and apparently, they’re so eager to get their mitts on the eight-month-old handset that Google supply of Nexus One phones for developers is completely sold out.

So says a post on Google’s Android developers blog (via TechCrunch), with Google’s Tim Bray writing that Google 'blew through the (substantial) initial inventory in almost no time,' adding that Nexus One manufacturer HTC is busy trying to crank out more of the suddenly gotta-have handsets.

Google launched the Nexus One — described in hushed tones as the 'Google Phone' in the days and weeks before its official unveiling — way back in January, and the search behemoth caused quite a stir by offering the Android 2.1-powered handset only on the Web, through Google’s own Nexus One online storefront.

Why all the fuss? Because usually it’s the big carriers (think AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless) who do the heavy lifting in terms of marketing and selling cell phones, both online and (mainly) in brick-and-mortar stores. While it got a little help from T-Mobile, which subsidized the Nexus One for use on its network, Google’s decision to go it virtually alone with the Nexus One — with practically no marketing help from a carrier—was seen as a potentially game-changing move.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be anything but. Sales of the Nexus One never took off, and an unprepared Google — which, before the Nexus One launch, had little need for a bank of customer-service reps — found itself quickly overwhelmed by customers complaining about iffy 3G reception (which ultimately led to a patch) and other assorted glitches.

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Want to deter hackers? Make password longer

Want to deter hackers? Make password longer - Technology & science - Security - msnbc.com

"Thanks to rapid increases in computing power, your confidential information is probably not safe unless you use a 12-digit randomized password, experts say.

Recent research from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) indicates that to defeat a new generation of encryption cracking software, passwords need a length of at least 12 randomized characters consisting of letters, numbers and symbols. Anything else a keyword, a birthday or a pattern of symbols makes you an easy mark.

'Eight-character passwords are inadequate now ... If eight characters is all you use, and if you restrict your characters to only alphabetic letters, it can be cracked in minutes,' said Richard Boyd, a senior researcher at GTRI.

The need for increasingly complex security measures comes from two weapons in the hacker arsenal: commercial quality code breaking software and the supercomputer power of graphics cards and botnets, said Joshua Davis, a research scientists at GTRI.

Code breaking software uses two techniques to break through password protections. The first is a vast dictionary of common password phrases, which can crack simplistic passwords like 12345 and similar patterns. The other, brute force, simply tries every possible eight-character combination until it hits the right one. Brute force invasion used to require an unreasonable amount of time, but increasing computing power has allowed off the shelf computers to accomplish that task, Davis said.

Nevertheless, a password of 12 random characters that includes symbols is still an effective barrier to the brute force method.

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Clearance Sale: Barnes & Noble Didn't Evolve Enough

Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

"How did Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS - News) fall so far so fast?

The giant bookstore chain, whose superstores once struck fear into the hearts of independent booksellers everywhere, put itself up for sale this month, rendering it the corporate equivalent of the remaindered books it sells at a discount.

The company said it made the move because its shares are undervalued, but to me there was an air of desperation about it.

The simple explanation for Barnes & Noble's decline is the Internet, which spawned Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN - News), e-readers and digital books. But that didn't have to be the end for B&N, which had a dominant market position and should have out-Amazoned Amazon, leveraging its brand and innovating when it began marketing and selling books online.

I know exactly when B&N lost me as a customer. Some years ago, to compete with Amazon, B&N began offering free same-day delivery in Manhattan if you placed your order over the Internet by 11 a.m. I did so several times -- and not once did the books arrive when promised. Everything I have ordered from Amazon has arrived on time or earlier. Then came Amazon's game-changing Kindle, and instant delivery. Nothing I've read about B&N's belated rival Nook has tempted me to try it.

My hunch is that B&N never really embraced the Internet or e-books, tied as it was to the old-fashioned world of physical books and stores. As B&N focused on managing decline, a much more nimble Amazon could concentrate exclusively on the new world it was forming. B&N needed to destroy its business model to prevail. Now it is probably too late. There is a lesson for all businesses here.

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Christopher Null leaves Yahoo!

Farewell, Yahoo! - Yahoo! News

NerdBoyTV NOTE: This is definitely the end of an era. I've been reading Christopher Null's column (and of course linking to it here on NerdBoyTV) for YEARS!!!! He even thanked me for a link or two in the past...nice guy. Yahoo! Technology just won't be the same. Read his farewell column below. Best of luck to you, Christopher. And yes, I WILL continue to follow you, buddy.

"They say that all good things must come to an end, but it was honestly starting to feel like my work here at Yahoo! would never be one of them.

And yet, after four and a half years, it is. Today is my last day as a tech blogger with Yahoo!, and looking back at the numbers, it almost brings me to tears. Some 3,000 posts. Roughly a million words written (that’s the equivalent of the entire 'Harry Potter' book series). Four CES trade shows. And more editors than I can count across two sites within Yahoo! — Yahoo! Tech, then Yahoo! News.

To put the time frame in perspective, when I started blogging here, Windows Vista hadn’t even been released, much less Windows 7. The iPhone wasn’t even part of the rumor mill. Twitter did not exist. And Facebook was still closed to everyone but students.

I couldn’t say goodbye without thanking everyone who was a key part of my experience at Yahoo! And yet there are too many to mention by name, from Pat Houston and Annette Cardwell, who initially recruited me in late 2005, to Jennifer Harmon and David Kaplan, who have read and corrected my recent posts to make sure I’m not spreading inaccuracies and misspellings to the world. (Editors' note: And thank you, Chris! Jennifer *Karmon* and David *Caplan* have been happy to oblige!) Thanks as well to fellow bloggers, past and present — Ben Patterson, Gina Hughes, Becky Worley, Robin Raskin, and Dory Devlin — as well as those behind the scenes over the years: Leah Hitchings, Sam Silverstein, Richard Vega, Jamie Mottram, Roger Hibbert, Alex Yoon, and that vast and cryptic sea of Yahoo! engineers who somehow made it all work.

My plans from this point are still being sorted out — a few days off isn’t going to kill me — but you’ll still find me blogging and covering the tech space at other Web destinations and in print. If you’d like to keep an eye on my work going forward, check out my personal blog at www.chrisnull.com, or become a Fan on my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter. Links for both are below.

You’ll also find additional contact links at chrisnull.com if you’d like to keep in touch or ask a question. It’s been a real pleasure serving all of you readers for all these years; I’ve heard from thousands of you directly and greatly appreciate all the feedback you’ve offered, ideas for posts, and even the gifts you’ve sent me in the mail. (You know who you are!)

Happy trails, y’all, and if you hang on to anything I’ve written over the years, remember this: Whatever you do, don’t forget to back up your PC!

— Christopher Null was a technology writer for Yahoo! News.

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6 Endangered Tech Species

6-endangered-tech-species: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

"Picking up an Apple iPad or clamoring for Amazon's(NasdaqGS: AMZN - News) Kindle? You may as well get a DVD player, too, as their combined usefulness is on the clock.

The future of technology is integration, something Apple's iPhone and Google's Android products have a better grasp of than, say, Garmin's personal navigation devices or Acer's netbooks. Though there seems to be enough room for everyone -- with the Commerce Department finding last week that American spending on tech items increased 1.8% from 2007 through the first six months of this year while spending on appliances, furniture and clothing declined -- analysts agree that the only thing separating some gadgets from the grave is the size of their displays.

'Handsets aren't going to cannibalize televisions anytime soon, because users want a big-screen media-playback experience that can be accommodated in the home,' says Ross Rubin, an analyst for NPD Group. 'However, handsets may cannibalize Blu-ray players at some point because, as bandwidth improves and we see more media on demand and HDMI outputs or wireless features built into the phone, it could take on the functionality of a Roku device or Blu-ray player.'

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Are these the droids you're looking for?

Are these the droids you're looking for? - CNN.com: "Google's Android operating system for mobile phones is quickly spreading in popularity, with the DROID 2 hitting stores Thursday. But how do you know which model is right for you? Here's a quick comparison between features and specs on the top four Android phones.

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Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 (a YouTube review)

I found this "real-people" review on YouTube and you can really get a good sense of the webcam's capabilities. But, the funny part (unplanned) is when her two dogs run behind her on the bed and start to fight and carry-on (hilarious). I thought this video review was FANTASTIC—helpful, natural, on-the-fly, and very humorous.

For Android newbies: 10 questions, answered

For Android newbies: 10 questions, answered - Yahoo! News (CLICK to read all 10 Q&A)

"Sure, you’ve heard of Android — as in Android phones, which are multiplying like rabbits and taking the smartphone world by storm, giving even the mighty iPhone a run for its money. But are you still a little shaky on the Android basics? Do you turn into a wallflower when the subject comes up during cocktail parties? Read on.

1. What is Android, anyway?

At the most basic level, Android is an operating system for touchscreen smartphones — it’s the software engine that drives all the menus, windows, home screens and internal operations of any Android-powered smartphone, the same way that iOS powers the iPhone and the BlackBerry OS runs BlackBerry handsets.

Android was developed by Google and first announced in 2007, with the very first Android-based phone — the T-Mobile G1 — arriving in fall 2008. (Nope, not that long ago.)

2. What’s so special about Android?

Unlike the proprietary iPhone operating system (now known as 'iOS,'), which is under the complete control of Apple — and the same goes for Research in Motion’s BlackBerry OS or Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform — Google released Android as an open-source OS under the auspices of the Open Handset Alliance, leaving phone manufacturers (relatively) free to tweak Android as they see fit for a given handset.

That’s one thing that’s special about Android. Another thing is that it just happens to be a really good OS, the first one in the post-iPhone wireless era to really give Apple a run for its money. Android may not be as sleek or polished as iOS (that’s my humble opinion, at least), but it’s fast and powerful, with an intuitive user interface that’s packed with options and flexibility. It’s also being constantly improved courtesy of the big brains at Google, making the Android experience sleeker by the day.


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Android 2.2 Carries Out Phone Users' Spoken Orders

Android 2.2 Carries Out Phone Users' Spoken Orders - Yahoo! News

"If your Android phone already seems more like a personal assistant, wait until you have the ability to give it orders. Google's Android 2.2 now features Voice Search with Voice Actions, an app that enables smartphones to set reminders and alarms, take dictation for and send e-mails or texts, browse the Internet, get directions, or search for music.

The actions are carried out by tapping the microphone button or holding the search button and using commands such as 'note to self,' 'listen to' 'go to,' 'navigate to,' or 'map of.'

Android phones have had the ability to search through Google via voice commands for about two years. And while voice dialing for programmed contacts is nothing new, Voice Actions will actually look up a number for you, then dial it after you check that it's what you were looking for.

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Save as Draft

Company behind magicJack to banish calling costs

Company behind magicJack to banish calling costs - Yahoo! News: "The company behind the magicJack, the Internet phone gadget heavily advertised on television, has another trick up its sleeve: free phone calls from computers, smart phones and iPads.

The cost of phone calls routed over the Internet has been on a long slide. There are already a multitude of programs that allow free calling between computers, and some that allow free, but short, calls to regular phone numbers. Another alternative, Google Voice, provides 'free' calls to the U.S. and Canada, but you need a phone to use it, and if you're using a cell phone, it uses up minutes.

MagicTalk would go one better by eliminating fees for calling landline and cell phones in the U.S. and Canada, with no time limits on the calls.

The software will be available next week for Windows and Mac computers. Versions for the iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and Android phones will follow in September or October, said Dan Borislow, the CEO of VocalTec Communications Ltd.

Each magicTalk user gets a phone number that's associated with the software. Users will also be able to move their existing phone numbers to the service, for a fee, a feature that will be extended to magicJack users soon as well.

The reason the calls can be free is that VocalTec operates as a phone company, so it can charge other phone companies for calls placed to magicTalk and magicJack numbers. It also charges its users who dial phone numbers abroad.

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Report suggests iPhone will launch on Verizon

Report suggests iPhone will launch on Verizon - CNN.com: "Evidence continues to mount to support expectations that Apple's iPhone 4 will finally launch on Verizon this coming January.

The latest: Sources close to Apple's hardware suppliers say that Apple has ordered millions of CDMA chipsets from Qualcomm. CDMA is the wireless technology used by Verizon.

The report comes from TechCrunch contributor Steve Cheney, who says that the chipsets are due in December, implying a January launch for the Verizon device. This follows a rumor from seven months ago that Qualcomm hadlanded a deal to provide Apple with chips.

You might also recall that AT&T dedicated a significant portion of its recent SEC filing to assurances that it would be a-okay without U.S. iPhone exclusivity, a probable sign that the carrier is expecting to lose said exclusivity before the original5-year deal runs its course.

TechCrunch doesn't disclose any details about its sources for this rumor; it describes them only as 'sources with knowledge of this entire situation,' a reference to the long chain of manufacturers from Apple on down through Qualcomm and other component-makers.

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Motorola back on top

Motorola back on top - Yahoo! News: "Remember when the Motorola RAZR was all the rage? With its simple, ultra-slim flip phone, Motorola was the “It” company in the cell phone business, imitated by everyone but unstoppable in the marketplace.

Motorola ultimately sold more than 110 million of the phones in the four years after it was released, making it one of the best-selling phones of all time.

But by the time the RAZR went off the market in 2007, the mobile industry had left Motorola far behind, with the iPhone arriving just in time to quash the company’s aspirations. No one has thought much of Motorola since, and the company fell on such hard times that the company announced earlier this year it would have to split itself into two pieces in order to stay competitive.

But now, things are turning around for Motorola, all thanks to another cell phone: The Droid.

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Lonely Planet launches interactive e-book travel guides

Lonely Planet launches interactive e-book travel guides - Yahoo! News: "Lonely Planet, publisher of the popular travel guides, launched interactive e-books for the iPad on Monday for popular European destinations.

E-books for Italy, Spain, France, Great Britain and Ireland, each containing more than 3,000 hyperlinks and imbedded points of interest, will be sold at Apple's iBook stores.

'The e-book in the iBook store was a new frontier for us which really creates a level of inner activity for a guide that has not previously existed,' said John Boris, Lonely Planet's executive vice president, 'We believe it is the most enhanced e-book out there for travel.'

The initial five electronic books will be followed by interactive guides for Japan, Thailand and Australia.

'We focused on the countries that Americas travel to most during the summertime. Europe is the top travel destination for Americans during this time of year,' Boris explained.

Electronic reading devices are changing the face of the publishing industry and gaining popularity with consumers. Forrester Research, an independent technology and market research company, estimated last year that 10 million e-readers will be sold in the United States by the end of 2010.

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VIDEO: First Look at the Dell Streak Tablet PC

Internet Explorer Gains Market Share at the Expense of Firefox

Internet Explorer Gains Market Share at the Expense of Firefox - Yahoo! News: "Microsoft Internet Explorer continues to make a comeback, gaining market share for the third month in a row, mostly to the detriment of Mozilla Firefox.

According to new statistics from Net Applications, Internet Explorer increased its share of the browser market in July by 0.42%, for a total share of 60.74%. Firefox, on the other hand, took the biggest hit: a loss of 0.9%. Google's Chrome browser lost 0.08%, while Safari gained 0.24%.

IE's gain continues a trend of reversal for the struggling web browser. While Microsoft's browser is still the world's most popular browser by large margins, it has steadily lost market share over the last few years.

However, Net Applications has spotted a trend of recovery for the browser since May. In addition to IE regaining some momentum, Chrome usage has also been soaring. At the short end of the stick though is Firefox, whose market share peaked in April at 24.59% and has steadily dropped since.

These stats fly in the face of the conventional wisdom that Internet Explorer is doomed to decline against the superior speed, extension capabilities and HTML5 support of Firefox and Chrome. And there's an even bigger wrench that will soon be thrown into the mix: Internet Explorer 9, which boasts superior hardware-accelerated speed and strong support for open standards.

Do you think these trends will continue? Which browser is destined to dominate?

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Self-Publishing: Who Needs a Publisher Anymore?

Self-Publishing: Who Needs a Publisher Anymore? - Newsweek: "Boyd Morrison was finishing a Ph.D. in industrial engineering when he wrote his first novel. Five agents rejected it. Nine years later he tried again, and this time he did get an agent—after nearly three years and three novels. But that turned out to be some kind of cosmic tease, because 25 publishers turned down The Ark. With nothing left to lose, Morrison uploaded The Ark and his two other unpublished novels to Amazon’s Kindle store in March 2009. Within three months, he was selling books at a rate of 4,000 a month—a number that attracted the attention of the same publishers who had rejected him. This May, when The Ark was released in hardcover from Simon & Schuster, it became the first self-published Kindle book to be picked up by a Big Six publisher. Morrison says that the phone call from his agent telling him he’d finally see his book in print was “one of the most amazing moments of my life.”

Until recently, reviewers and booksellers looked down on self-published authors the way Anna Wintour scorns Dress Barn. Now new writers and established authors alike are increasingly taking publishing into their own hands, and the publishing establishment is paying attention. According to a recent Bowker report, the market for “nontraditional books” in the United States grew by more than 750,000 new titles in 2009—a 181 percent increase over 2008. Five of the top 100 bestsellers in the Kindle store—which now produces more sales than Amazon’s hardcover list—are currently self-published.

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