Social networks eat up Americans’ online time
A new survey shows that Americans are increasingly transfixed with social networking sites, with Facebook grabbing more of our time than any other blog or social media.
Social networks and blogs are taking up more and more of Americans time online, now accounting for nearly a quarter of our time spent on the Internet, according Nielsen's social media report. Internet users in the U.S. spend more than twice as much time on social networks than they do in the second-most popular category: playing online games.
Facebook is the top destination of all social networks and blogs. Nielsen reported that 140 million people visited Facebook in May. That's 70% of all active U.S. Internet users. Google's Blogger came in second with a distant 50 million visitors that month, while Twitter was in the third spot with 23 million. Read more...
Forget banking reform, only IT can save Britain’s banks in the post-branch world
A new business model for retail banking is emerging, and IT has a crucial role in enabling it.
The credit crunch and the bank bailouts have made banking a headline topic, and so much of the nation's economic wellbeing is entailed that no government can sit back and watch the bank go bust. Should these big banks be statutorily broken up? Should they be restrained, kept small enough to let them die?
One essential element of free market economics should be that failed competitors go to the wall. The survival risks to banks largely inhabit their investment divisions. Backing the wrong horse in this market segment - such as dodgy debts and mortgages, derivatives whose value is immeasurable - can bring banks to their knees. Read more...
Apple’s new Lion beta bakes in iCloud
Apple's iCloud has floated a bit closer with the release of a new beta of Mac OS X Lion version 10.7.2 that integrates the cloudy services package into the OS itself.
It's been a busy few days for Apple's beta-shippers. Last Friday, they released the latest betas of iTunes 10.5 (beta 
and iWork for iOS (beta 3), and on Sunday they reased the new 10.7.2 beta.
This beta, build 11C55, includes iCloud integration that previously needed to be installed separately by devs who wanted to work with the service. Now all devs have access once the OS is installed. Read more...
Intel to show tablets, ultrabooks with Windows 8
Intel plans to show Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 on tablets based on new Atom processors, and on ultrabooks, at both the Intel Developer Forum and Microsoft's Build conference this week, according to a source familiar with Intel's plans.
Intel will show off Windows 8 ultrabooks and other devices as it drums up developer support for the OS on the x86 platform. Windows 8 will work on tablets and PCs, and Microsoft has extended support for the OS beyond x86 to include the ARM architecture, which is used in most smartphones and tablets. Read more...
Objective-C, C#, D language: Winners in programming popularity
Objective-C, used for developing Apple iOS applications, climbs to No. 6 in the monthly Tiobe Programming Community index for most popular programming languages, after being ranked at number 8 a year ago. Also posting gains, C# rose to No. 4, a jump of two spots a year ago, while PHP dropped from No. 4 at this time last year to No. 5.
D, meanwhile, had been in the top 20 from 2007 until the middle of 2009 and was ranked 20 in the September report. Tiobe points to a Wikipedia reference about the release of a book entitled "The D Programming Language," by Andrei Alexandrescu, in June 2010, as a possible reason for the language's comeback. The D language is from Digital Mars and can be viewed as somewhat of a successor to C++, although C++ is still popular, said Paul Jansen, founder and chief community officer of Tiobe, which assesses software quality: "D is in fact a clean design of C++." Read more...
Want a job? These 10 tech firms are hiring
This month's U.S. Labor Department report showing zero U.S. employment growth in August makes it appear that hiring has fallen flat.
However, a lot of technology companies say they are in the midst of hiring sprees -- in some cases looking for hundreds of new workers.
Computerworld contacted 10 tech firms that are hiring, and officials at each explained what skills they are seeking and what they are doing to find candidates that can meet their needs. The officials also explained what it takes to get a job at their companies.
The openings at the firms contacted ranged from a couple of dozen to as many as 2,000.
The job openings come as President Barack Obama tries to draw new attention to the need to create jobs, and to convince Congress to spend money to hasten the process.
Many of the IT companies that are hiring are being creative about it. Read more...
Year-old 9/11 memorial photo takes Twitter by storm, leaves its creator miffed
'Opening up Skies' by John de Guzman
This past weekend was an emotional time for many Americans, and photographic tributes to the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks were a common sight around the web. One such image was shot by photographer John de Guzman at the site of the Ground Zero memorial, and showcases the stunning rays of light that shine yearly where the towers once stood. The work is titled Opening up Skies, and is now one of the most popular pictorial nods to that fateful day.
The iconic snapshot took social networks by storm, and since a Twitter user posted it to photo sharing service TwitPic, it has received nearly 600,000 views. It was quickly picked up by the New York Post, and from there it became an instant viral hit. Unfortunately, the user who posted it to Twitter wasn't John de Guzman, and what's more, the picture wasn't taken over the weekend — it was snapped a year ago on September 11, 2010. Read more...
iPad apps to make your fall TV viewing less cable-centric
Every year, one or two of my friends “cuts the cord” and ditches their cable TV packages in lieu of a mix of Netflix and web-based alternatives. Admirable though it may be, I can never follow suit. Mostly because I’d miss the sports and premium TV that I wouldn’t want to wait to come out on DVD. But if you’re a better man than I, you might try these iPad apps to ease the transition as the fall TV season begins.
NBC (Free)
The NBC app wasn’t much to look at until recently, when it stepped up its viewing game considerably. Whereas previously you could only see clips of shows, now you can view full episodes of all of your favorites. The app also includes NBC-related trivia games and an in-app schedule so you’ll be able to keep up with whatever new show strikes your fancy this fall. Read more...
Microsoft Prepares Windows 8 for Battle Against the iPad
Microsoft is set to unveil the next-generation of Windows tomorrow. The new operating system, currently known as Windows 8, is the tech giant's attempt to regain ground that it has lost to Apple, which surpassed Microsoft last year as the world's most valuable company. It isn't the MacBook or Mac OS X Lion that has Microsoft executives worried, though. It's the sheer dominance of the iPad.
The iPad hasn't skipped a beat since its debut last year. Thanks to Apple's ingenuity, a shockingly low starting price and a strong marketing campaign, the device has sold more than 25 million units in less than a year-and-a-half. More importantly, it has defined a whole new category of consumer devices. And it dominates that category with an iron fist.
iPad competitors have come and gone, but none have been able to make a dent in the iPad's rapid growth. HP has given up on the TouchPad, the RIM Playbook has underperformed and countless Android tablets have fallen by the wayside. Nothing has emerged as the alternative to the iPad. Read more...
Anti-Piracy Lobby Misleads Aussie Press for Three-Strikes Campaign
Undeterred by a stream of negative PR from recent Wikileaks revelations, the anti-piracy lobby machine once again scored favorable headlines in Australia today. In its push to get ISPs onboard for a three-strikes system to warn copyright infringers, lobby group IPAF released a study that reveals how immensely effective this would be. However, the entire press release is a cheap marketing trick with mispresented research results that actually prove the opposite.
The MPA(A) is trying to get a tight grip on piracy in Australia, mainly through affiliate groups such as AFACT. Recently published cables by Wikileaks revealed how Hollywood is secretly pushing their agenda down under.
After the failed attempt at making ISP iiNet responsible for the copyright infringements of its file-sharing customers, the anti-piracy lobby groups are now once again calling for a three-strikes system. Today a new study surfaced which, on the surface, suggests that these warnings would be very effective as a deterrent. Read more...