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Monthly Archives: April 2009

04.30.09 / Microsoft Getting into Social Networking, Only in Case of Emergency

In a recent article posted by Tech News World, it was reported that Microsoft is in the beta stages with Vine, a social networking tool, but not in the Facebook department of social networking.  Microsoft’s Vine will only be used … Read more »

04.30.09 / Is Verizon Double-Dating Apple and Microsoft?

On one hand, you have the Boston Globe reporting that Apple’s iPhone “may be poised to shake up the cell phone industry a second time” by introducing a model that could work on Verizon Wireless’ network.  On the other, you … Read more »

04.29.09 / Feds and Staties Push an Online Sales Tax

BusinessWeek reported that state and federal officials are pushing forward in the effort to tax online sales.  New York State passed a law requiring a sales tax last year on any product sold through the Internet by a retailer based … Read more »

04.29.09 / A Great Leap Forward for the Semantics Web?

The scientists at IBM are poised to announce that they are in the final stages of a computer program that can compete with human contestants on “Jeopardy!”  That’s right Alex Trebek and Ken Jennings:  the computer big boys at Big … Read more »

04.28.09 / An All New Call to Action

The CW and Unilever’s Dove are teaming up to produce a marketing campaign that is the first of its kind, reported AdAge.  There will be 90 second video clips of four women’s stories during the last commercial break of Gossip … Read more »

04.28.09 / More Tales from the Dark Side of Web 2.0: Sexting

Mix together fuel, oxygen, and a spark, and it’s bound to happen—you’re going to get a fire.  Mix together the ubiquity of cell phone digital cameras, the seemingly-private but all-too-public realm of digital friends and networks of friends, the need … Read more »

04.27.09 / Visual Measures to Track MySpace Video Usage

Visible Measures, a start-up company that tracks video, has landed MySpace as a client, reports Erick Schonfeld of TechCrunch. Visible Measures will help MySpace, the internet’s second-highest rated video site, track customer engagement at a more granular level, and provide … Read more »

04.27.09 / Could Data Mashing Help Control Swine Flu Outbreak?

Could a data mashing app like the one we reported on back in September 2008 for tracking New Orleans’ progress after Hurricane Katrina help control a possible swine flu pandemic emerging from Mexico?  Chances are, it probably could. For the … Read more »

04.27.09 / Texas to Subsidize Small-Scale Solar Power Users?

Everything is bigger in Texas, including its commitment to solar power.  The Wall Street Journal reports that the Texas state legislature is poised to approve a $500 million, five-year rebate program to subsidize solar power installations throughout the state, including … Read more »

04.24.09 / Feds Feed Federally-Controlled Water to California Water Bank

Last month, we speculated that water’s increasing scarcity might lead to a scenario where someday, water might be traded as a commodity on a futures market, akin to oil.  In California, such a scenario seems to be playing itself out … Read more »