Layoffs at Internet companies continue to be announced, with the latest coming from Internet radio site Pandora. Pandora’s fate itself was in question not too long ago, but has recently found new hope and expects to survive after all.
Google Offers First Click Free
There are few things more frustrating, from a user’s perspective, than searching and finding what looks like the desired result only to click and meet a log-in page. Give us your money or all your information or go away! Personally, I usually go away, fairly confident I can find the same information elsewhere.
China Tells Internet Caf
How would you feel if every time you used a public telephone (do those still exist?) or checked into a hotel, your photo was taken and sent to the government? To better crack down on undesirable Internet users, that’s exactly what’s happening in China.
Google Seeking Arabic-Speaking Engineers
Yesterday afternoon, Patrick Pichette, Google’s chief financial officer, said something elegant about investing in the company’s core business both in and out of the U.S. It seems the man’s far from a liar, as a manager has now followed up with a call for Arabic-speaking engineers.
Man in UK Sentenced for Facebook Slaughter
Back in February a man named Wayne Forrester murdered his wife Emma in cold blood (and a cocaine and alcohol-fueled daze) by stabbing her in the head and neck with a kitchen knife and meat cleaver. The reason he did this he said, was because she changed her Facebook profile to "single" shortly after he moved out of their home. Today, Forrester was sentenced to life in jail, and ordered to serve a minimum of 14 years. BBC News reports:
Circuit City Promotes What Should Have Been Already
Circuit City stock was perhaps rather attractive to some at around a dollar per share; in a weird twist it’s somehow less attractive at 39 cents—maybe it’s the stink of death all around it, maybe that’s what Blockbuster smelled when they pulled out of an acquisition deal.
Yahoo’s Openness To Search
Yahoo announced that they have integrated a couple of applications from their SearchMonkey project into everyday search results for users of the Yahoo search engine. The two integrated apps are from Citysearch and Zagat, which Yahoo intends to use for improved local search results along with Yelp and its own Yahoo Local results.
Google Gives You “First Click Free”
One of the most annoying things for a web user is to search the whole web, find what looks like a desired result and then end up being on a log-in-page. These pages have just one motto in mind… Give us money, else go away! Personally, I find it more convenient to move away from that page because I always feel that I can find that information on other pages as well.
New Words for New Times
I’m not a fan of so-called “leet” (1337) speak; it seems to have spawned in a different universe than the one in which I was formed—a world where direct vs. indirect object drills were as commonplace as batting practice. That “w00t,” a “word” I couldn’t wrap my mind around three years ago, is now recognized by Webster is maddening.
Can Jupitermedia Rise Again?
Jupitermedia has great assets, a long history and is still run by the founder, Alan Meckler, who built the company from the ground up. As of this writing JUPM is at 45 cents a share, which values the company at only $16.25 million. It appears that there is no rational reason to explain this low valuation except that there are apparently very few investors interested in the stock.