Discussion: As more and more businesses see the value in social media applications like Twitter and Facebook, they face a big dilemma: allow these applications to go through their current network without the proper security infrastructure or block them altogether. Nir Zuk, co-founder and CTO of Palo Alto Networks, says the next big thing in… Read more »
Monthly Archives: May 2011
10 years later, Apple’s ‘crazy’ retail gamble is a hit
Discussion: Ten years ago, analysts thought Apple was crazy to get into the retailing business. But over 300 stores later, Apple has definitely proven their risky model a success. In fiscal year 2010, 13% of Apple’s total sales, roughly $3.2 billion, came from the stylized and shiny stores, including their flagship 32-foot glass cube New… Read more »
Eli Pariser: Beware online “filter bubbles”
Discussion: Eli Pariser, author of “The Filter Bubble,” argues there is an invisible shift in how information is flowing on the web. He cautions, “The Internet is showing us what it thinks we want to see, but not necessarily what we need to see.” Calling them “filter bubbles,” Pariser describes this personalized Web search as… Read more »
Social Networks Offer a Way to Narrow the Field of Friends
Discussion: Sometimes the day-to-day random events in life should not necessarily be shared with the large audience of colleagues and acquaintances on Facebook, so a host of more private, intimate social networks are emerging on the Web. Path, a service that allows users to share pictures, videos, and messages with friend groups up to 50,… Read more »
Near field communication transforms travel in Japan
Discussion: Outside of Japan, adjusting to life viewed through a mobile device is still in the early stages, but in Japan, it is second nature. Near field communication is transforming travel in the populous island nation with mobile apps to pay for a Tokyo bus, streamline a domestic traveler’s airport experience to 15 minutes, and… Read more »
Are You Following a Bot?
Discussion: Can one person controlling an identity, or group of identities, really shape social architecture? Apparently, yes. Web Ecology Project recently organized a two-week social-engineering experiment to determine if it is possible to not only infiltrate social networks, but also to influence them on a large scale. Three teams created “social bots,” or fake identities,… Read more »
10 Key Twitter Apps
With more than 200 million users and an average of 140 million tweets daily, Twitter’s numbers are impressive for a company five years young. But equally notable are the hundreds of thousands of applications multiplying in the wake of Twitter’s success. Source: Newsweek.com Date: April 4, 2011 Link: http://www.newsweek.com/2011/04/04/apps-born-from-twitter.all.html
Amazon explains its cloud disaster
Discussion: Amazon’s cloud services recently suffered a massive crash that left many of its East Coast customers without access to their data, including dozens of websites. The company cited a mistake made by engineers that triggered a cascade of other bugs and glitches, overwhelming the master system and causing a “brown out.” Amazon spun the… Read more »
Greenpeace Argues That Apple Is the Dirtiest Tech Company
Discussion: Greenpeace recently issued its report, “How Dirty Is Your Data? A Look at the Energy Choices That Power Cloud Computing” (PDF). Relying on public information, the report ranks Apple as the least ethical among several tech giants for transparency, mitigation strategy, and infrastructure siting. Apple’s low rating is mostly due to investing in a… Read more »
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