WebProWorld
As far as malware tricks go, this one is pretty diabolical. Over the weekend, Facebook users started receiving messages saying friends had tried to view their profile but were unable to do so. The message prompts the user to install a third party app, oddly titled “Error Check System.”
The actual text of the message reads: “[Name] has faced some errors when checking your profile View The Errors Message.”
There is a rumor going around that Last.fm has given the RIAA data about its users following the leak of a new U2 album. According to Richard Jones of Last.fm, this rumor is completely false.
Many metaphors have been offered up to describe or explain the Internet, but calling it "an ocean of words" is as accurate as any other. In 1998 the first Google index counted 26 million pages, by 2000 it had reached the billion mark and by 2002 it had more than tripled again to over 3 billion. In July 2008 the company’s Web Search Infrastructure Team announced that it had counted 1 trillion unique URLs on the web at once. At an average 1000 words per page, that means the web contains an astonishing 1 quadrillion words. That’s 15 zero’s.
It’s probably fair to say that the average person doesn’t know a lot about CO2 emissions; news stories don’t go much beyond "humans are responsible for them." If you want to learn, then, a certain green-minded search giant has made some information available through Google Earth.
If a country were ever to attempt to invade Britain again, they should consider saving their firepower and invest in cats and clowns with excellent vocabularies. According to Hitwise, after a fear of flying, folks in the UK search about these fears more often than any others.
Though Representative Barney Frank has gotten most of his attention due to his role in handling the economic crisis, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee is also known for his nearly lone opposition to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, almost unanimously passed in late 2006. Frank is holding steady on that opposition and, according to Reuters, will introduce legislation next month to repeal that law.
Watching video on television, online and mobile devices continues to increase and has reached new levels, according to Nielsen.
In its fourth quarter "A2/M2 Three Screen Report," Nielsen found that the average American watches 151 hours of TV per month, an all-time high. Americans who watch video over the Internet consume another 3 hours of online video per month and those who use mobile video watch nearly 4 hours per month on mobile phones and other devices.
It appears that television advertising is following a different trend than many have expected. Advertising Age is citing data from a recent study (due out soon) from Nielsen indicating that its doing better than ever. Some may find this a bit surprising with the increasing popularity of DVRs and online video.
Considering what’s going on in the world – financial collapses, mine disasters, North Korean missile announcements – celebrity-related matters may be of less importance than ever. But they’re certainly holding people’s interest – perhaps we can all use the distraction – and Hitwise and YouTube recently acknowledged the issue.
At the end of 2008, it was announced that Consumers Union, publishers of Consumer Reports was acquiring Consumerist.com from Nick Denton’s Gawker Media. Gawker has now dropped its Defamer.com site as its own entity and rolled it into Gawker.com as the site’s "column from Hollywood."
