internet

New Website Is Like
LinkedIn, but Nastier

THE INTERWEBS

Apr 6, 2010 11:46 AM CDT

New Website Is Like LinkedIn, but Nastier

Unvarnished welcomes negative reviews of professionals

(Newser) - A new website intended to cut through the universal positivity of networks like LinkedIn with some real information on the job performance of potential employees or former managers has bloggers talking apocalypse. Unvarnished , which is now in beta testing, allows users to claim their profiles and comment on other comments,...

Snopes Founders: People
Are Suckers

Apr 5, 2010 12:55 PM CDT

Snopes Founders: People Are Suckers

Please, stop falling for that Nigerian scam

(Newser) - The founders of Snopes.com started out investigating the origins of urban legends like the serial killer with a hook for a hand; 14 years later, their site is a major source of information for people seeking the real story behind political rumors. “When you’re looking at truth...

New Twilight
Novella Out in
June Online—
for Free

Mar 31, 2010 11:53 AM CDT

New Twilight Novella Out in June Online— for Free

Twihards can read 'Short Second Life of Bree Tanner' for a month

(Newser) - In a “special thank you to fans,” Twilight saga scribe Stephenie Meyer has OKed the free online release of her latest, an Eclipse-related novella called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Two days after the 192-page volume hits bookstores on June 5, it will available on the...

How to Rid
Chatroulette
of Penises

Mar 31, 2010 11:41 AM CDT

How to Rid Chatroulette of Penises

Entries pouring in from contestants

(Newser) - The Business Insider recently launched its "Solve Chatroulette's Penis Problem" contest with a deadline of Monday. Their favorite entries (submitted via Power Point presentation!) so far:

Facial recognition: No face? No connection, because he's probably showing penis.
Rogues Gallery: Take photos of offenders' faces and post them, with

...

Advice on How to Live Cheaply, Simply Is Thriving

Mar 30, 2010 4:05 PM CDT

Advice on How to Live Cheaply, Simply Is Thriving

Books, blogs popular in recession

(Newser) - What with the recession, worldwide poverty, and impending environmental doom, it’s no wonder that bookshelves and the blogosphere are crammed with tales of voluntary privation and experiments in skimp. Last month there was On a Dollar a Day, about a couple's attempt to live on that amount—in San ...

Kids Use Body Spray to Light Selves on Fire

Mar 30, 2010 1:09 PM CDT

Kids Use Body Spray to Light Selves on Fire

YouTube videos are fueling the craze, warn authorities

(Newser) - Authorities are warning of a risky trend fueled by YouTube videos: boys are spraying Axe Body Spray on their skin or clothes and igniting it. Five sixth-graders in Washington state have been caught in recent weeks, though none were injured, the Tacoma News Tribune reports. In a letter to parents,...

Top Countries, Pages,
and Other Surprising
Facebook Stats

No. 3 COUNTRY: INDONESIA

Mar 29, 2010 12:13 PM CDT

Top Countries, Pages, and Other Surprising Facebook Stats

Average users has 130 friends, spends 55 minutes a day

(Newser) - Facebook's runaway growth is well documented, but some details still wow, and some are quite odd. Website Monitoring takes a look at the salient facts.

Popularity: The US has the most active users, but 70% of Facebookers are international. Sure, the UK comes in at No. 2, but No. 3

...

Google Explains Internet
... in Old-School Pamphlet

Mar 29, 2010 12:01 PM CDT

Google Explains Internet ... in Old-School Pamphlet

Search giant's leaflet designed to encourage Britons to get online

(Newser) - The Simple Guide to the Internet is a Google product with a difference: It's three-dimensional. The old-fashioned flier espousing the benefits of getting connected is the search giant's contribution to Race Online 2012, a push to have the whole UK online within 2 years. An estimated 10 million British adults,...

How to Calm Stress 2.0

SOCIAL-MEDIA JUNKIES DEPT.

Mar 28, 2010 5:10 AM CDT

How to Calm Stress 2.0

From disconnecting to breathing, relieve social-media angst

(Newser) - Mobile devices might be great for social networking, but extreme devotion to Facebook, Twitter & Co. can lead to “Stress 2.0,” Soren Gordhamer cautions. Fortunately, he has tips for dealing with it:

Disconnect, even just briefly. When you stop absorbing information, go outside, eat lunch, chat up

...

Craigslist Sex Sting Snags Braves Minor Leaguer

Mar 26, 2010 12:13 PM CDT

Craigslist Sex Sting Snags Braves Minor Leaguer

Deunte Heath accused of offering money for sex

(Newser) - A Craigslist prostitution sting arranged by Florida police has netted, among several others, an Atlanta Braves minor league pitcher. Deunte R. Heath, 24, is accused of offering $75 for a “sex act,” the Orlando Sentinel reports. Cops posted fake ads on the Craigslist and Backpage websites and nabbed...

Ill-Advised Facebook
Post Leads to Burglary

Mar 26, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Ill-Advised Facebook Post Leads to Burglary

Indiana woman's 'friend' took advantage of her absence, she says

(Newser) - An Indiana woman is convinced an ill-advised Facebook status update got her house burgled by one of those online “friends” you probably shouldn’t friend in the first place. Last weekend, Keri McMullen innocently let her online circle know that she and her fiancée would be out all...

Annoyed by Beck's Take on Social Justice? Write a Haiku

Mar 25, 2010 10:38 AM CDT

Annoyed by Beck's Take on Social Justice? Write a Haiku

'Hurling expensive / coffee at the expensive / TV screen now, Ahhh'

(Newser) - Searching for a unusual way to respond to Glenn Beck’s comments on “social justice,” the Jewish Funds for Justice settled on…haiku. “We wanted to do something that showed some wit, some humor, is little bit cathartic, and is highly participatory,” Mik Moore tells the...

Group-Buying Sites Bundle Shoppers for Big Discounts

Mar 24, 2010 10:31 AM CDT

Group-Buying Sites Bundle Shoppers for Big Discounts

They promise stores business, and pass on the savings

(Newser) - Your mom may have told you not to follow the crowd, but to get some of the web's deepest discounts, you'll need to do exactly that: "Welcome to the world of group buying," writes Katherine Boehret, "where the power of the Web can be utilized to offer...

Polyvore Brings
Fashion to the People

web trend

Mar 23, 2010 11:33 AM CDT

Polyvore Brings Fashion to the People

Users mix and match on popular fashion site

(Newser) - Call it a sophisticated version of paper dolls or, as one fashion exec does, “the cyber equivalent of the inside of a school locker door”: Fashion site Polyvore is the Web’s latest craze. The interactive site allows users to put together sets—think Agyness Deyn in a Michael...

Teen Girls'
Latest Craze:
The 'Haul' Video

SHOPPING SPREES GO VIRAL

Mar 22, 2010 12:01 PM CDT

Teen Girls' Latest Craze: The 'Haul' Video

Biggest Threat to Endangered Species: the Internet

Online trading fuels demand for protected species

(Newser) - The Internet has become one of the biggest threats to at-risk species, allowing hunters to offload everything from polar bear pelts to extremely rare Iranian salamanders with ease, conservationists told the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Qatar. Thousands of endangered species are regularly traded online through message...

Why You Must Delete Your Ex

OPINION

Mar 20, 2010 4:38 PM CDT

Why You Must Delete Your Ex

Technology has made breakups very complicated

(Newser) - Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, and GChat—not to mention good old email—breaking up with someone today is even harder than it used to be. “How do you get over your ex when they keep popping up all over YouFace and you've got 32 mutual friends to keep...

Chatroulette
Penises in
Peril

WEIRD CONTEST DEPT.

Mar 19, 2010 1:13 PM CDT

Chatroulette Penises in Peril

Business Insider thinks savvy surfers can somehow de-creepify video site

(Newser) - Chatroulette is an intriguing, innovative social networking/chat/video site with a huge problem: penises. A study says 13% of users are “perverts”—use your imagination—and that makes potential advertisers understandably skittish. If you think you can help solve the "penis problem," Nicholas Carlson of Silicon Alley...

Why Facebook Isn't the
No. 1 Website—Yet

ANALYSIS

Mar 17, 2010 3:20 PM CDT

Why Facebook Isn't the No. 1 Website—Yet

Google still gets more visitors overall

(Newser) - The fact that Facebook received more traffic than Google last week has been taken as a sign that the mantle of the top website has been passed to Zuckerberg and Co. Facebook, however, "has yet to pull ahead in any real sense," writes Jessi Hempel. In fact, it...

Feds Swarm Facebook
for Leads, Under Cover

Mar 16, 2010 1:34 PM CDT

Feds Swarm Facebook for Leads, Under Cover

Documents show FBI friends suspects to mine information

(Newser) - Your next Facebook friend might well be a federal agent trying to bust you. That’s the gist of a Justice Department document obtained via the Freedom of Information Act by a privacy group. It reveals that FBI agents are mining social networks for info on suspects, ranging from alibi...