PayPal to Enter Russian e-Payments Market
American payment system PayPal will begin carrying out money transfers in Russia and the Ukraine starting from the end of September, the company said in a statement.
The PayPal web site has published new money transfer tariffs that will come into force on September 24.
The fee for sending money to Russia will range from 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent depending on the country you are sending it from. Sending money within Russia will cost 1 percent.
As Russian daily Vedomosti reported earlier this month, PayPal’s initial investment in the Russian market will amount to US$25 million. Read more...
Google Plus struggles to add women after mostly-male launch
Since the launch of Google Plus almost two months ago, Google’s social media network has grown faster than any other network, reaching over 20 million users in just a month. Google’s invite-only launch positioned Google Plus as a male-centric network, and early Google Plus adopters were quick to criticize the initial gender ratios.
Groups formed to urge women to join the social network, adding significance to the female early adopter voice and rapidly spreading the word (and invitations). Findpeopleonplus.com currently has almost 14.5 million users indexed and shows a gender ratio on it’s home page of approximately 32% female; about two men to every one woman. This is a small decrease since the previous Paul Allen report of 33% female over a month ago; however, Google has yet to release any official statistics. Read more...
Third Man Charged in Crackdown on ‘Anonymous’ Hackers
U.K. authorities charged a third man on Thursday as part of a global law-enforcement probe into online activist group Anonymous and its offshoots.
On Thursday, London's Metropolitan Police Service said it charged 22-year-old Peter David Gibson with a computer-related offense. Mr. Gibson, who is a student in Hartlepool, in the northeast of England, was arrested in early April. He been released from police custody on bail and is due to appear at a London magistrates' court on September.
Law enforcement agencies in the U.S., the U.K., the Netherlands and elsewhere are probing Anonymous and offshoot groups, ...
(Source: wsj.com)
10 Unusual Things You Didn’t Know About Steve Jobs
1) Nature versus Nurture. His sister is Mona Simpson but he didn't know it until he was an adult. Mona Simpson was one of my favorite novelists from the late 80s. Her first novel, Anywhere but Here, was about her relationship with her parents. Which, ironically, were Steve Jobs' parents. But since Steve Jobs was adopted (see below), they didn't know they were brother-sister until the 90s when he tracked her down. It's proof (to an extent) of the nature versus nurture argument. Two kids, without knowing they were brother and sister, both having a unique sensibility of life on this planet to become among the best artists in the world in completely different endeavors. And, to me it was great that I was a fan of both without realizing (even before they realized) that they were related. Read more...
Tweaking The Algorithm: Google Gives A Small Peek Behind The Curtains
One of the most common complaints critics (and competitors) have against Google is that the company — despite its numerous open products and initiatives — is very secretive about the countless algorithms that power its crown jewels, Google Search. In other words, search is a black box. Google’s argument has generally been that it needs to be this way — if it told everyone exactly how the algorithm worked, then it would be much easier to game, and search results would suffer.
In any case there’s plenty of mystery around Search, which is why the video posted today to the Google blog is so interesting: Read more...
Potential pitfalls in Apple CEO transition, say experts
Apple's new CEO faces a challenge putting his own imprint on the company as long as Steve Jobs sticks around, a management expert said today.
Jobs, who resigned from the CEO spot yesterday, was immediately given the title Chairman of the company's board.
On Thursday, Apple named Tim Cook, formerly the chief operating officer, as the new CEO.
"It's going to be extremely difficult for the new CEO to go his own way and succeed in a context like this," said Peter Cappelli, a professor at the Wharton School and the director of its Center for Human Resources. "It's going to be difficult [for Cook] to do anything different with Jobs as chairman." Read more...
Google+ launches an “ignore” option. Hide people but let them interact with your content.
Google has just introduced a new way of customizing Google+ so you only see content from people you’re interested in with having to completely block them.
The Block Option
From day 1, Google has provided a means of “blocking” people entirely from your Google+ experience. This would involve clicking “block” on their profile and it would result in:
- them being removed from your circles and your extended circles
- not seeing of their new posts in the Stream
- not seeing anything you share with your circles
- and them being unable to comment on your posts Read more...