Marissa Reaume

AOL wants to enhance its online advertising business by partnering with Tacoda, a company that offers ads based on a person's online behaviour. Tacoda was founded in New York in 2001. It caters to well-known publishing clients such as The New York ... Times, and has more than 4,000 websites in its ad network. Tacoda's job is carried out in a series of steps. First, the online behaviour of Internet users is evaluated across a wide number of sites. This task is done in order to determine the active and passive interests of visitors. Next, the online audience is divided according to these interests ... (view more)

Google search rival Ask.com is providing its clients with a new tool called AskEraser, which prevents the company from storing a user's search results. AskEraser gives searchers the ability to control their search history and data retention at the ... same time. While the program is extremely user-friendly, it is surprisingly only the first of its kind amongst the world's top search engines. The sceptical may wonder how this concept can possibly be successful if leading search engines, such as Google, did not discover it first. In terms of mechanics, "with AskEraser, users can instantly request ... (view more)

Lately, the same technology that MySpace employs to allow users to share information (blogs, photos, music, and videos) has become popular in the business world. In fact, employees in large companies have been turning to MySpace to connect with ... clients and co-workers. However, a better option for professionals is LinkedIn, the first model for business-oriented networking sites. "Teen" and "young adult" are terms that define the MySpace generation. These youthful users often visit sites like MySpace to find romantic partners, make friends, or waste time. Though older adults and professionals ... (view more)

On September 17, the European Court of First Instance will present its verdict in Microsoft Corporation's antitrus appeal. The appeal, which has taken more than three years to render an outcome, relates to Microsoft's mistreatment of its ... competitors. "By bundling Windows Media Player, its audio and video playing software, into Windows, Microsoft competed unfairly against rivals such as Real Networks Inc. and Apple Inc., the Commission ruled. And by failing to share technical information about how to interoperate with Windows PCs, Microsoft managed to steal a march in the market for low-end ... (view more)

Recently, we reported on Australia's disinterest in Microsoft Vista. Now, the former crook colony is lashing out at another tech heavyweight, launching a lawsuit against web giant Google. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is ... suing Google for deception. The world's most popular online search engine is being accused of misleading users with links paid for by its advertisers. The ACCC feels that Google has allowed advertisers who falsely claim to be associated with other companies to place their links next to those of the companies that deny any relation to them. ... (view more)

Sony has officially apologized for using a sacred and historically beloved Anglican cathedral in its violent shooter, Resistance: Fall of Man. In the eighth level of the game, developed for the PlayStation 3, there is a bloody shootout in Manchester ... Cathedral. "The sequence in question has the player defending the church...against an all out alien assault." (Source: blogcritics.org ) Once the Church of England discovered its presence in the video game, it began a public war against Sony. As a result, Sony appears to be sorry for the uproar. "It was never our intention to offend anyone in the ... (view more)

After Sony Corporation reduced the price of its PlayStation 3 system, rumors swirled that Microsoft was to make a similar move with its Xbox 360 price tags. Lower prices were the talk of the town at the recent Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) ... videogame trade show. Nintendo's Wii console, which now outsells its competitors, is allegedly what provoked Sony's price cut. As the PlayStation 3 quickly fell far behind its rivals, Sony dropped the system's price from $599 to $499. Many were led to believe that a price cut would happen for Microsoft because the company's profits experienced a ... (view more)

Recently, a 22-year-old Chinese man died after his Motorola cell phone exploded. In the wake of such a tragedy, government regulators in south China are now discovering unsafe Nokia and Motorola phone batteries that can combust under certain ... conditions. As a result, phones by these companies have recently failed numerous safety tests in the country. Despite the very serious circumstances facing Nokia and Motorola, both are pointing fingers elsewhere. According to company representatives, the batteries found by authorities were unauthorized copycats. (Source: pcworld.com ) The timing and ... (view more)

Google has lost the Gmail name battle in Germany. The winning party, German entrepreneur Daniel Giersch, has had his own Gmail trademark in the country since 2000. Google, on the other hand, launched its Gmail service more recently in 2004. This ... specific trademark case is not the first of its kind. In 2005, Google quarrelled with a U.K financial firm that had been offering a Gmail service to currency investors since 2002. It is not surprising that Google lost this overseas case as well; after all, Google's Gmail "does not appear to be an active domain in a number of countries including ... (view more)

Is Google Earth a threat to world security? According to the head of U.S. Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, Lt. Gen. David Deptula, it is. How exactly does Google Earth jeopardize universal security? It gives Internet clients ... an astronaut's view of the earth. Users even have the ability to zoom down to street level and see very intricate details. Basically, anyone with a credit card is capable of getting a picture of absolutely any place on earth. (Source: zdnet.com ) Although this security threat is a large problem, it is only a recent issue. In fact, Deptula believes ... (view more)