Internet topics
Firefox 3.0 ready
Firefox 3.0 has been available since yesterday. I didn’t post about it earlier because there was a huge download effort all over the world and I was afraid that there would be server problems (there were). A download link is getfirefox.com but it is very busy as of this writing.
More about how the Web is changing our brains
The question of how much the Web (often exemplified by Google) is changing our thought processes is being discussed more and more. I previously posted about the article in the Atlantic by Nicholas Carr that asked the question, Is Google Making Us Stupid?. Now, Andrew Sullivan has written in the Sunday Times (of Britain), Google [...]
Online language and word tools
Gina Trapani has posted a selection of useful sites for anyone who writes or just wants to look up the meaning of a word. She begins her Lifehacker article:
When you need a word’s definition, translation, pronunciation, synonym, or antonym, you don’t have to haul an enormous tome from the bookshelf, dust it off, and ruffle [...]
Is the Web making us stupid?
Nicholas Carr has written an article in the Atlantic Monthly titled Is Google Making Us Stupid?. Actually, it is about the Web in general and not just Google. One of Carr’s points is that our attention span is getting shorter and shorter:
Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or [...]
How much of a Web page actually gets read?
When you view a Web page, how much of the content do you actually read? According to a recent study, not much. The study concludes:
On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.
You can read the details at this link [...]
The browser becomes news
Mozilla is close to releasing a new version of its Firefox browser. It is interesting that the upcoming version 3.0 is considered worthy of an article on the first page of the New York Times business section. Actually, the article is about more than just Firefox. Its theme is really about how the browser is [...]
Has eBay been ruined by scams?
Although I am not currently a user of eBay (I did sell a few items there some years ago) I have always thought that it was a great concept. A general marketplace where a person’s unwanted stuff could find a home and provide a little extra cash was an excellent idea. Originally, there [...]
Botnet map
Speaking of botnets, go to What a Botnet Looks Like to see a mapped representation. Here’s the description:
Researcher David Vorel mapped interconnected, bot-infected IP addresses and created this geometric representation; CSO contributor Scott Berinato annotated the map and added interactive controls so you can zoom in and explore botnets’ inner workings.
Another Google battle
While we we have all been focused on the Microsoft-Yahoo struggle, we have been forgetting another important fight involving the future of the Internet. This is the court case between Viacom and Google over what’s shown on YouTube. Viacom claims that the showing of clips from Viacom shows is an infringement of the copyright. At [...]
The real threat to Google
Right now, Google is king of search with Microsoft huffing and puffing in third place trying to make progress in the field. Number two Yahoo, of course, doesn’t seem to know exactly what it wants to do to catch up. BusinessWeek says neither of these Google rivals is the real threat to Google dominance:
No, one [...]