Die Werbeindustrie hat einen Weg gefunden, sich im Nachrichtenstrom der Social-Media-Plattformen Gehör zu verschaffen, wie Techcrunch berichtet. E-Commerce-Seiten bezahlen User dafür, Produkte über ihre Accounts bei Facebook, Twitter und Co an Freunde weiterzuempfehlen.

Die Deutsche Post hat ihr Geschäft in der Suchmaschinen-Werbung durch einen Zukauf ausgebaut. Der Bonner Konzern übernehme den Münchener Online Marketing-Spezialisten Intelliad Media mit 50 Mitarbeitern, teilte die Post mit.

Nach vier Monaten Wartezeit können auch die Chinesen das neue iPad kaufen. Wie Apple heute mitteilte, wird die dritte Auflage des Tabletcomputers am Freitag nächster Woche (20. Juli) in die Geschäfte der Volksrepublik kommen. Die Ankündigung erfolgte, nachdem Apple einen Streit um die Namensrechte mit einer Millionenzahlung beigelegt hatte.

Bei Swisspro übernimmt Beat Fischer die Bereichsleitung ICT in Biel und der Region West, welche zuvor interimsmässig von Geschäftsführer Bernard Frossard geführt wurde.

Der US-amerikanische Internetriese Google wird im Rahmen eines Vergleichs 22,5 Millionen US-Dollar an die US-Aufsichtsbehörde Federal Trade Commission (FTC) zahlen müssen. Dem Suchmaschinenbetreiber wird vorgeworfen, Datenschutz-Einstellungen in Apples Safari-Browser umgangen zu haben.

Pünktlich zur Urlaubszeit bedienen sich Internetbetrüger einer neuen Betrugsmasche: In gefälschte E-Mails von Freunden aus dem Urlaub, die sich angeblich in Notlagen befinden, wird um Geld gebeten. Das Bundeskriminalamt hat am Dienstag in einer Aussendung davor gewarnt.

Bull und Antispameurope vertiefen ihre Partnerschaft: Ab sofort rücke Bull zum wichtigsten Vertriebspartner in der Schweiz auf und biete die Managed Security Services von Antispameurope künftig über ihre eigenen Rechenzentren in der Schweiz an, wird in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung der beiden Firmen verkündet.

Der schweizerisch-amerikanische Computerzubehörhersteller Logitech will seinen Aktionären eine Einmaldividende aus steuerfreien Kapitalreserven ausbezahlen. Wie der Konzern am Montagabend mitteilte, wird der Verwaltungsrat den Aktionären bei der Generalversammlung vom 5. September in Lausanne einen entsprechenden Antrag stellen.

Im Wettstreit mit Google und Apple rüstet Microsoft auf. Der US-Softwarekonzern will mit Perceptive Pixel einen Entwickler grösserer Touchscreen-Displays kaufen, wie Konzernchef Steve Ballmer mitteilte. Ein Preis wurde nicht genannt.

Die weltgrösste Computerchip-Produzentin Intel steigt beim niederländischen Branchenzulieferer ASML Holding ein und lässt sich die Beteiligung einiges kosten. Intel will Angaben zufolge mehr als drei Milliarden Dollar investieren und eine weitere Milliarde Dollar für Forschung und Entwicklung bereitstellen.

sighted writes "New images from the robotic spacecraft Cassini show the ongoing formation of a massive vortex in the atmosphere of Saturn's planet-sized moon Titan. (See also this animation.) The same moon has recently provided tantalizing hints of an underground ocean as well. Future missions, if any are ever funded, will have plenty to explore."

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In one of the myriad BitTorrent downloading cases against individuals, one plaintiff's law firm thought they'd be clever and insert a 'negligence' claim, saying that the defendant was negligent in failing to supervise his roommate's use of his WiFi access. Defendant moved to dismiss the negligence claim on the ground that it was preempted by the Copyright Act, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed an amicus curiae brief (PDF) agreeing with him. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan agreed, and dismissed the complaint, holding that the 'negligence' claim was preempted by the Copyright Act."

jfruh writes "The venerable Linux.org site quietly relaunched some weeks ago, offering much of the original useful content on Linux as well as some new articles. The site is still associated with Michael McLagen, a somewhat controversial figure due to the fights around the Linux Standards Association back in the late '90s. McLagen has not responded to requests for comments on the relaunched site."

Valve has announced a new system called Greenlight, which will allow the gaming community to select which games get chosen for distribution via Steam. Developers will post information about their games — this can be screenshots and videos, or even concepts and potential game mechanics for titles still in development. Once posted, the Steam community will be able to vote on which ones are the best. This will prioritize which games become available on Steam first. Greenlight is Valve's attempt to solve what they call an "intractable problem" — figuring out ahead of time what games players will like. They also hope to facilitate the development of interesting games. "We think it's going to encourage this virtuous development cycle. The problem we had of, how do we encourage somebody when they're not done developing yet? This we think will work. We think a bunch of people will be looking at it going, 'oh my gosh, I want that.'"

rodrigoandrade writes "Ouya is a new Android-based home console that aims to bring to the living room the $0.99 games business model that has worked so well for Apple. The device 'will allow developers to easily create and sell their games and be fully “hackable” — anyone will be able to pull the machine apart and tinker with it to their heart’s content.' They're planning on shipping by March 2013. Admittedly, it's vaporware so far, but it could turn the industry on its head, effectively putting an end to the things we all hate about modern console gaming ($60 games, DLC, DRM, endless sequels, movie tie-ins, etc.)"

An anonymous reader writes with this bit from ZDNet: "It's cool to have a keyless BMW, until you no longer have a keyless BMW. Hackers have figured out how to break into such cars with ease. BMW has acknowledged there is a problem, but is not doing enough to protect its customers (video)."

coondoggie writes "While there are legal measures in place to stop most robocalls, the use of the annoying automated calling process seems to be on the rise. The Federal Trade Commission, which defined the rules that outlawed most robocalls in 2009 has taken notice and this October 18th will convene a robocall summit to examine the issues surrounding what even it called the growing robocall problem." A true robocall summit would be a great way to field candidates for the Loebner Prize! But since these will be humans (regulators, etc), I hope, but doubt, they can somehow do something to stop the constant fraudulent robocalls I get from credit-card scammers. In the meantime, it's good to keep a whistle handy.

An anonymous reader writes "President Obama has issued a new executive order: 'Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions.' EPIC reports: 'The Executive Order grants new powers to the Department of Homeland Security, including the ability to collect certain public communications information. Under the Executive Order the White House has also granted the Department the authority to seize private facilities when necessary, effectively shutting down or limiting civilian communications.' A few key excerpts from the exec order: 'The views of all levels of government, the private and nonprofit sectors, and the public must inform the development of national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) [National Security/Emergency Preparedness] communications policies, programs, and capabilities. ... Sec. 5.2. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall: (a) oversee the development, testing, implementation, and sustainment of NS/EP communications, including: communications that support Continuity of Government; Federal, State, local, territorial, and tribal emergency preparedness and response communications; non-military executive branch communications systems; critical infrastructure protection networks; and non-military communications networks, particularly with respect to prioritization and restoration; .... (e) satisfy priority communications requirements through the use of commercial, Government, and privately owned communications resources, when appropriate."

bricko writes with an analysis at New Scientist of recent violence by self-described anarchists against scientists or scientific establishments, including the non-fatal shooting in Genoa in May of the head of a nuclear energy company. That attack "was the latest in a series of alleged anarchist attacks on scientists and engineers, including the attempted bombing of nanotechnology labs in Switzerland and Mexico. This wave of politically motivated violence has raised the question: why do anarchists hate science? Beyond the unsubtle threat of brute force, there are deeper issues that merit attention." The "hate science" line is just a line; the author is under no illusion that there is a single conspiracy, or that all who claim the "anarchist" mantle have identical (or even similar) views of science. "Despite the recent attacks and propaganda, anarchists actually have a complex relationship with science and technology. Some leading figures from anarchist history were scientists, notably Russian biologist Peter Kropotkin. Many hacktivists are anarchists who embrace technology; fiction authors sometimes look toward a future 'technotopia' based on anarchist ideals."

The presumed discovery of the Higgs boson may be one of the most important scientific discoveries ever, but it did bring out quite a bit of "strange" science reporting. In addition to blogs, many mainstream news sites jumped on the crazy headline bandwagon. The ability to soon travel at the speed of light, the building of a Star Trek style transporter, and many stories of the particle proving God doesn't exist have made the rounds in the past week. Is the particle's discovery just on the fringe of common scientific knowledge and therefore prone to wild speculation, or does this all come down to having the most sensational headline?

DerekduPreez writes "Sellers on Amazon's retail site are increasingly using high-speed algorithmic trading tools to automatically set prices, which could lead to a malfunction similar to the 2010 flash crash. According to the Financial Times, prices on Amazon's website change as often as every 15 minutes, where sellers are using tools traditionally developed by data miners at banks to ensure that their prices are always below their rivals'. Third-party software is allowing sellers to detect a competitor's price and automatically undercut that price by, for example, £1. However, this could lead to a situation similar to the U.S. flash crash, where algorithmic trading was blamed for stock prices falling to near zero and then bouncing back within 20 minutes." At Slashdot's sister site for Business Intelligence, Nick Kolakowski has some more information on this possibility.