in Syria likely took very little to accomplish considering the country's limited Internet infrastructure and international connectivity, network analysts said Friday. Such a move would be much harder, if not impossible, to achieve at least from a technology standpoint, in the U.S. or other democracies with mature Internet infrastructures, they said. , as the result of what many believe was the government's decision to pull the plug on Internet connectivity. on Thursday reported seeing the drop off around 6 a.m. ET when all 84 of Syria's IP address blocks suddenly became unavailable. All Internet traffic between Syria and the rest of the world stop flowing within a period of five minutes.
In the fast moving world of technology, there are perhaps few things that have proved as resistant to change as the simple SMS text message. While a dizzying number of options exist today to interconnect people, the text message remains a 160 character deliverer of news, gossip, laughs, alerts, and all manner of other information. It connects more people than Facebook and Twitter, has brought down governments, and in so much of the world still holds the ability to change lives. Dec. 3 is the 20th anniversary of the sending of the first SMS text message. Today, upwards of 7 trillion text messages are sent every year -- that's more than 200,000 per second -- but the technology had humble beginnings.
The hactivist group Anonymous reacted angrily to the , an act attributed to the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the civil war there. Anonymous basically declared war on the Syrian regime, saying it intends to obliterate "all Web assets belonging to the Assad regime that are NOT hosted in Syria," starting today. In a statement, Anonymous said its analysis of the Internet shutdown is that the Syrian regime "physically severed the fiber-optic and coaxial cables coming into Syria. Essentially, they have physically 'pulled the plug out of the wall.'" Anonymous, comparing it to a similar act orchestrated by Egypt's then-President Hosni Mubarak during the civil uprising there, said "this is not damage that can be easily or quickly repaired." The hactivist group expressed outrage, calling the Internet shutdown in Syria a "massive violation of the human rights of the free Syrian people," and said the group will commence a wholesale destruction of website assets of the Assad regime that are not hosted in Syria, starting with sites for embassies. "Our first target will be the website of the Syrian Embassy of China: Syria.org.cn," the group stated. Attacks are expected to include everything from "take-downs, defacements, data dumps, E-Mail bombs and black fax attacks."
Your iPhone contact manager is great for simply tapping a name to initiate a call or message. But when you want to actually manage those contacts beyond just adding a name or phone number, the iPhone's or iPad's relatively small screen and lack of a keyboard can be very limiting. That's where CopyTrans Contacts comes in: This $2 PC application lets you edit and manage your iOS contacts using the comfy keyboard and spacious screen of your Windows computer. Simply install CopyTrans Contacts on your PC and connect your iOS device via USB; the application automatically recognizes the device and loads the contact list for you. You can select individual contacts for editing, adding plenty of details along the way, such as their birthday and anniversary, their relatives, and various addresses. Sure, you can add a lot of these details on your iOS device, too, but doing so on a big screen is just easier. Luckily, though CopyTrans Contacts lets you do more than edit your contact list—and it has to in order to justify its $10 price tag. Two dollars may not sound like a lot of money, but in a world where so many applications are free, paid software has to prove its worth. CopyTrans Contacts does that by allowing you to back up your contacts directly to your PC, away from Apple's iCloud. Nothing against Apple's cloud services—I use and like them myself—but I like the ease and security of having my contacts backed up in a location I control.
Another hacktivist group struck this week for yet another "good cause." Parastoo, which and leaked the email addresses of 167 experts working with the agency, declared that its goal was to expose "beyond-harmful operations" at Israel's Negev Nuclear Research Center. In a statement , the group demanded that those experts petition the IAEA to investigate the Negev site, and threatened to expose the locations and other personal and professional information of those experts if they don't. The group sought to show that its motives were noble. "We are reassuring IAEA that their critical information is safe with us, as we are brothers." But it said its brotherly connection did not extend to any "Western-flavored elements."
to help with any situation. Hence, HipMunk for booking flights, Hotel Tonight for booking hotels, TripIt for keeping tabs on all your travel reservations, and so on. ). True to its name, the app provides information for over 700 airports worldwide—ideal for anyone who spends a lot of time schlepping through terminals. Airport Guide's primary function is, well, an airport guide. Choose any airport from the list to see options like status (ground, departure, and/or closure delays), a terminal map, a list of airlines that service that airport, parking info, ground transportation options, airport amenities and food/bars/shops, and even layover ideas. that includes those options and dispenses with ads.)
Despite speculation that Google will aggressively go after the cheap tablet market with a $99 Nexus tablet, the company announced no such device in its latest wave of . But that won't stop the rumors from humming along. As shows a new Asus tablet, model ME172V, with a weaker processor and lower screen resolution than the Nexus 7. The device was running Android 4.1.1, codenamed Jelly Bean, when benchmarked. Could this be the budget Google Nexus tablet in question? It's hard to say. The benchmark shows a 1 GHz processor (number of cores unknown) and generation-old Mali 400 graphics, which would both be a step below the Tegra 3 quad-core chip inside the Nexus 7. Also, GLbench lists a screen resolution of 1024 by 552 ppi. While the actual screen resolution is likely 1024 by 600, some space may be subtracted for Android's software navigation bar. In any case, the resolution is lower than the 1280 by 800 screen on the Nexus 7.
does the best job of preventing them. That's according to a recent study by security research firm NSS Labs, the results of which were published on Wednesday. . The chart below depicts the firm's results.
There is a diverse array of tablet options to daze and amaze shoppers this holiday season. Microsoft has a solid contender with its , but how what about tablets that run the more powerful Windows 8 Pro OS? Well, Microsoft itself will offer a Surface Pro in the near future that runs the full Windows 8tablet will be $1000. You don’t have to wait, though. There are already tablets running Windows 8 Pro. Sitting on my desk, I have the Microsoft Surface RT tablet and a Samsung Series 7 Slate PC running Windows 8 Pro.To be fair, the Samsung Series 7 Slate PCs currently available on retail shelves come with Windows 7 Home Premium by default—I installed Windows 8 Pro on mine myself. The , however, sports a "Get to know Windows 8" marketing logo, and states, "Samsung recommends Windows 8", so perhaps the tablet will soon come with the new OS pre-installed. Based on my own use, each , so be aware of the benefits and disadvantages of each before you set out to spend your hard-earned money.
next-generation operating system have already begun swirling around the Net. And if those whispered rumors prove accurate, Windows Blue—as the rumored OS has been dubbed—will continue the seismic sea changes started in Windows 8. Blue would introduce a standardized software base shared between Windows proper and Windows Phone, and also move toward cheaper, yearly software updates. in the short run. report that it will be the kick-off of a new yearly release schedule for Microsoft's operating system—similar to the cheap, annual releases favored by Apple. After Blue, the "big bang" Windows launches of the past will go the way of the dodo.
New data show that IOS has once again pushed past Android in the U.S. The statistics show that IOS now has a 48.1 percent share of U.S. smartphone sales, compared to Android's 46.7 percent share. Android still has the lead in Europe
Google has acquired retail coupon marketing platform Incentive Targeting for an undisclosed sum. The newly acquired company was awarded a patent this July for a highly targeted search system that allows users to preview results and edit their query.
Google's Bradley Horowitz took the opportunity in an onstage interview to slam Facebook Ads, claiming they are intrusive and “pissing off users.” Google doesn’t need to jam ads in users’ faces to make next week’s payroll, he said. Hilarity ensue
Too frequently, PPC managers associate bid strength with quality score or create loose and even mythological relationships. The truth: quality score is derived from a fairly simple set of metrics. Learn seven ways to optimize your quality score.
It is that time of year again, the holidays are here. Need to find the perfect gift for your geek, nerd, or tech addict? Then you know technology and overall nerdgeekery are critical to gift happiness. Here are some very interesting gifts ideas.
An internship is a great way to open the door to a rewarding career, but the competition is often fierce - especially in the current economic climate. Here are six tips on landing the internship that might be the first step to a career.
Microsoft this week, during the holiday season, increased the public pressure on Google with its “Scroogled” campaign. The campaign publicly points out, correctly, that Google Shopping results are entirely paid inclusion products here in the U.S.
Google has launched a website called "Verteidige dein netz" or Defend your network, to warn people in Germany about proposed changes to German law, specifically the Copyright Act of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Google spent more on U.S. lobbying efforts than any other technology firm in America, according to statistics from the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). Google reportedly outpaced Microsoft's lobbying spending by more than $7 million.
Google CEO Larry Page met with U.S. Federal Trade Commission officials, while Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was seen with head of the firm's Washington, DC office and former Republican Congresswoman Susan Molinari.
A baby girl has been born and given the name Hashtag. Hashtag may prove to be a nice trendy name for a young lady as we slide deeper into the 21st century. Or it may not. Regardless, we can't wait for #Jameson to compose her first tweet.
If you aren't paying attention, your site can quickly start taking on SEO water due to poor website quality indicators. These indicators can be in areas such as content and backlinks, but most usually come from these unattended technical components.
In a constantly changing world where Google updates its algorithm on a daily basis and your competitors continue to optimize their web presence, the importance of SEO in the digital marketing mix remains unchanged and unchallenged. Here's why.
When you focus on direct marketing rather than brand advertising, permission rather than interruption marketing, and exact rather than broad keywords, you get to expend less than 1 percent of the effort and reap over 50 percent of the rewards.
A press release posted to PRWeb announced Google's acquisition of a wireless Internet provider for $400 million. One giant problem: it was a hoax. The story was reported on by the Associated Press and numerous technology publications.
Overall, Cyber Monday has proven the greatest online retail day in history, with paid search spend, site traffic, mobile traffic and total revenue all showing healthy growth. Learn more from comScore, Marin Software, IBM, Kenshoo and others.
After the cheating saga of “Twilight” co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart came to light, Ask.com users this year overwhelmingly asked one question: "Will Rob and Kristen get back together?" That was the top trending question of 2012.
SEO industry veteran Bruce Clay stopped by to share his experience in building a successful SEO agency, with tips to help others market themselves more effectively. Learn about the current market, in-demand skills, and more.
In a message geared toward holiday shoppers, Bing is calling out Google for it's new paid ad shopping results model. Microsoft has launched a national campaign trying to spotlight Bing as what honest search results should look like.
With the holiday shopping season roaring ahead, you'll be looking to get the most bang out of your marketing buck. From spending more efficiently to finding new advertising outlets to explore, here are 10 great ways to make your money work harder.