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Facebook Hoaxer Part of Plot to Smear Bilawal: Dad

Heir loves vampire slayer Buffy on fake site

(Newser) - Several news editors and internet surfers fell hook, line and sinker for a Facebook hoaxer pretending to be Benazir Bhutto's son and political heir—and an aide for his dad charged that it was part of a smear campaign by the Pakistani government. The fake Facebook site has 19-year-old Bilawal...

Widget Mania on the Rise
Widget Mania
on the Rise

Widget Mania on the Rise

Tiny software apps boost site traffic and ad revenue

(Newser) - Since Facebook created an open platform for software developers last May, widgets have won the love of consumers, social networking sites, and even more traditional corporate websites, Forbes reports. Facebook users alone have installed the miniscule applications—allowing them to share music or have zombie fights—more than 765 million...

Cell Phone Ads Slowed by Privacy Worries

Carriers love targeted marketing, but are afraid to tick you off

(Newser) - With the mobile Internet and GPS location-based services expanding, marketers and mobile phone companies are anxious to tap into a new level of targeted advertising. But, the AP reports, carriers are proceeding with caution in implementing the ads because they don’t want the perception of a privacy invasion to...

New Web Trend Sparks David vs. Goliath 2.0

Web giants mobilize to stop developers from 'scraping' their content

(Newser) - Some call it “scraping,” others call it “importing.” Either way, it’s a controversial process pitting independent software developers against the titans of the cyber world: Techies compile, or scrape, loads of data from search engines and social networking sites and pool the data on their...

Facebook Sneaks Up on BlackBerry Users

Privacy advocates wary of site's new icons

(Newser) - BlackBerry owners may have noticed a new icon appearing on their devices in the past week: a link to Facebook. Some T-Mobile smartphones are getting the icons whether or not customers want them. Facebook spokespeople say users can still decide whether to download the software, but to privacy groups the...

MySpace Battles Facebook Buzz to Stay on Top

Site rolls out new services, expands abroad

(Newser) - Facing competition for buzz and advertising from much smaller but much-hyped Facebook, MySpace has big plans for expansion. The free-form social networking site's founders want to transform it into a one-stop portal where users can check email and get news. The site is also unveiling new services, expanding overseas, and...

Gay Plays Well for Maverick VC
Gay Plays
Well for Maverick VC

Gay Plays Well for Maverick VC

So says Valleywag about contrarian PayPal founder Thiel

(Newser) - In Silicon Valley, where "like funds like," Valleywag thinks it's important to note that Peter Thiel, "the smartest VC in the world, is gay." Why mention it? Thiel's Founders Fund, which just raised a $220 million financing round, could reinvent the way entrepreneurs get paid, and...

Scrabble Players Flock to Facebook
Scrabble Players
Flock to Facebook

Scrabble Players Flock to Facebook

Scrabulous application attracts 500K daily users

(Newser) - The hottest application on Facebook these days is Scrabulous, based on the Hasbro boardgame. Jayant and Rajat Agarwalla, a young brother duo from Calcutta, developed an online version of Scrabble in 2005. They put it on Facebook in June in the hopes of targeting 0.01% of the website's citizenry,...

To Thine Own Self Be Googled
To Thine Own Self Be Googled

To Thine Own Self Be Googled

Number of adults searching themselves online doubles in three years

(Newser) - More Americans are Googling themselves, friends and dates. A Pew study found that 47% of US adult Internet users have looked up themselves using the search engine, compared with 22% in 2002. The study found 53% Googled neighbors, colleagues, or dates—often checking bankruptcy and divorce proceedings, and other public...

Striking Writers Turn to Web Biz
Striking Writers Turn to Web Biz

Striking Writers Turn to Web Biz

Top writers plan to bypass studios with original online programing

(Newser) - Dozens of striking film and TV writers are creating new companies that would bypass Hollywood studios and present original video entertainment directly on the Internet. Three groups of writers are working on ventures similar to United Artists, the production company created by Charlie Chaplin and other stars who wanted to...

Let Facebook Ring from the Ivory Tower

Academics unleash study of social networking craze

(Newser) - Move over, preening teenagers: byte-thirsty academics are now frequenting social networking hangouts like Facebook and MySpace. Hoping to snatch a dissertation out of the latest digital craze, plus a side of fame, they’ll all have to line up behind danah boyd (small caps intended), a Berkeley PhD candidate who’...

Being a Tech CEO Means Having to Say You're Sorry

Apologizing seen as key skill in Silicon Valley

(Newser) - Saying "sorry" has become a necessary skill for tech execs, Forbes reports—from AMD's CEO, who apologized yesterday for delaying its latest chip launch, to Facebook's founder, who begged forgiveness after an advertising program violated users' privacy. The frequency of technology leaders' public contrition testifies to the power of...

Sweet &lt;3, It's Not U, It's Me
Sweet <3,
It's Not U,
It's Me

Sweet <3, It's Not U, It's Me

Users comfortable with emails, texts, Facebook find breaking up EZ 2 do

(Newser) - Emails and text messages are becoming the dumping grounds for a new generation of lovers, with one in seven people saying they've been broken up with digitally. Moreover, survey results out today reveal that while face-to-face showdowns still beat Facebook as the preferred method for breakups, 1% of respondents would...

Bebo Adopts Facebook-Style Ad Platform

UK's top social networker vies for industry compatibility

(Newser) - Bebo, the most popular social networking site in Britain, announced today that it will launch an application platform modeled on that of Facebook, GigaOm reports. The launch is the result of a collaboration with its US counterpart, so that developers of Facebook apps will be able to port their work...

LinkedIn Goes 2.0
LinkedIn Goes 2.0

LinkedIn Goes 2.0

Networking site revamps image to keep up with rivals

(Newser) - LinkedIn will start allowing user-created applications as part of an effort to keep up with social networking competitors like Facebook and MySpace, PC World reports. The professional networking site said today it has redesigned its home page and plans to display relevant BusinessWeek stories on users' profiles, as well as...

Tracking Shoppers On &amp; Offline
Tracking Shoppers On & Offline

Tracking Shoppers On & Offline

Concern over new surveillance software

(Newser) - A marketing data company is blending information about consumer habits online - and offline - to create more accurate and detailed information for advertisers. AP reports Acxiom Corp is bringing to the Internet the consumer profiles and 'life-stage' categories for which it is already well known among direct-mail companies and...

Facebook CEO Apologizes for Ad System

Users can disable service after wave of privacy complaints

(Newser) - Facebook CEO's apologized today for the company's new advertising system and told users they can disable it, the Wall Street Journal reports. The system, which tracks users' web activities, raised a firestorm of complaints over privacy concerns. "We've made a lot of mistakes building this feature, but we've made...

iPhone Tops Google Search List
iPhone Tops Google Search List

iPhone Tops Google Search List

Fastest-growing US search term in 2007

(Newser) - The iPhone topped Google’s list of fastest-growing search terms this year, reports Reuters. "iPhone, of course, is a word very few people typed in a search box in 2006,” said a Google rep. “It didn’t exist.” The list was dominated by social networking and...

Tech IPOs Back, But With a Difference

Lessons of dot-com bust learned, startups wait until near-profitable

(Newser) - Tech IPOs are back--but this time around, things are more subdued than in the heady days of the dot-com boom. These days, tech startups wait until they are profitable, or at least cash-flow positive, before making a public debut, MarketWatch reports. The strong performance of VMWare's August IPO has boosted...

Beacon Does Track Users Who Log Off: Facebook

Admission contradicts earlier denials

(Newser) - Facebook has admitted that its Beacon ad system is tracking users even when they've logged off the site, PC World reports. Even those who opt out of the system that broadcasts activities to friends are being monitored. The company's email announcement reverses earlier denials and will likely stoke criticisms of...

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