The do's and don'ts of borrowing a computer

Supremely obvious observation: We love the Web. We love scrolling through tweets and blog posts and constantly updated news sites like rats in Skinner boxes. We love accessing the cloud, floating up into that sweet mass of data like Icarus and his wings of wax and feather.
The mere sound of our iPhone's chirp activates the brain regions involved in love and compassion, research shows. The bond we share with our computers or smartphones is, for many of us, the most lasting and fulfilling relationship we've managed to hold on to.
But when it comes to our gadgets, absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder. If you find yourself unhooked from your digital life support (say, because your phone is dead, your laptop is in the shop or you're wrapping up last week's challenge to put the phone down and look around this lovely world), you may need to ask those five little words: "Can I use your computer?"


Read on to be a polite MacBook mooch. (Oh, and if you're the auntie letting your nieces and nephews use your MacBook when the littl'uns complain of boredom, this just may help you set some ground rules before you hand over the machinery.)


Click here to continue reading: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/29/tech/gaming-gadgets/borrowing-computer-netiquette/index.html

Mega-powerful camera phone, super-fast gadgets dazzle at mobile show

Mobile phone giant Nokia on Monday unveiled a phone with a powerful 41 Megapixel camera as it attempts to reposition itself back at the forefront of the mobile market.

The phone is among a dazzling array of new gadgets unveiled so far at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, an annual event that showcases the industry's latest innovations.

Read more: 'Must-have gadgets' at world's biggest mobile show

Among them is a Chinese phone that claims to be the world's fastest and another that carries an in-built projector.

The unrivaled camera capabilities of Nokia's 808 PureView, which runs the company's Symbian operating system, caused ripples of surprise among Congress delegates who predicted few surprises thanks to pre-event leaks and rumors.

The 41 Megapixels put the phone in the same league -- in terms of photo resolution -- as professional cameras costing thousands of dollars.

 Reportedly priced at €450 ($600), the device is due to be released in May, with the camera technology likely to be carried over to other Nokia phones.

Nokia, which in recent years has seen its dominance of the global mobile market eroded by manufacturers such as Apple and BlackBerry, also launched a lower-cost version of its flagship Lumia phone range. The Nokia 610, priced at €189, runs on the mobile version of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system.

On Sunday, Chinese mobile maker Huawei made headlines with what it claims is the world's fastest smartphone.

Click here to continue reading: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/27/tech/mobile/mobile-gadgets/index.html

Ford puts phone apps in the driving seat

Not content with revolutionizing smart phones, mobile apps now appear to be in the driving seat of the auto industry as manufacturers increasingly surrender control of their vehicles to technology.

Signs of the increasing dominance of the app came on Monday with Ford's decision to launch its newest B-Max compact at Mobile World Congress -- a phone industry gathering in Barcelona -- rather than a motor show.

Read more: Powerful camera phone unveiled

Bill Ford, the U.S. auto giant's executive chairman, told CNN his company chose the event to debut its tech-filled car as a statement of its intention to work with app developers in shaping the vehicles of the future.

The B-Max is the first car in Europe to feature SYNC, a voice-recognition system developed by Ford and already available in some U.S. cars. The system links audio, phone and GPS systems and will also call emergency services in the event of a crash.

The increasing dependence of vehicles on computers has raised concerns that manufacturers are trading technology for safety, exposing drivers to hazardous distractions and malicious hackers.

But Ford insisted SYNC would "allow drivers to keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the steering wheel," and said his company was working with app makers to further improve security.

"Like any leading technology, SYNC continues to evolve, showcasing new applications."

Click here to continue reading: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/27/tech/mobile/ford-mobile-technology/index.html

A $100 solar-powered tablet is coming soon

You may not have heard of Yves Behar, but chances are you've seen his designs. He's the visionary behind the popular Jawbone Jambox sound system, Herman Miller's Sayl chairs, Swarovski chandeliers, and even New York City's free condoms.

The Swiss designer, now based in San Francisco, has plenty of commercial hits. That gives him thefinancial freedom to pursue his belief that design can change the world. It's a passion he put to work on his most famous project, One Laptop Per Child, better known as "the $100 laptop."

Now he's nearing completion of the sequel: A $100 tablet. It's rugged, solar-powered, and designed for children in the world's poorest countries.

"The tablet is a refinement of the laptop," Behar told CNN's Sanjay Gupta in interviews for The Next List. "It's much smaller, it's much lighter, it uses less energy, less materials -- it can be even more cost effective."

The project began six years ago when Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of MIT's Media Lab, approached Behar with an idea many deemed impossible: create an inexpensive and impeccably designed laptop for children across the world.

"He described to me his vision of education, his vision for technology being available to all," Behar says."I got very inspired for the first time in the field of technology."

Click here to continue reading: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/24/technology/yves_behar_next_list/index.htm

White House pushes online privacy bill of rights

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The Obama administration on Thursday plans to unveil a new online bill of rights intended to protect consumers' privacy when they surf the Web.

The policy lays out a set of guidelines for Internet companies about how they should treat consumers' data and manage their customer interactions. It stresses transparency, security, and user control of their data. 

The bill is a splashy gesture, but it's also pretty toothless.

The White House admitted that its framework is fairly lightweight. It would like Congress to step up and lay down stricter mandates about what companies can do with their customers' data, but that's not going to happen any time soon.

In the meantime, the White House cast its bill of rights as a "comprehensive blueprint" for future legislation.

"It's not the end, it may not be the beginning of the end, but it's a very important step forward," Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, said on a conference call with the media held Wednesday evening.

Click here to continue reading: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/23/technology/privacy_bill_of_rights/index.htm?iid=SF_T_Lead

How to kill time without your phone

During one's bustling life there are a collection of moments -- fragments out of time -- that afford one a sense of slow-down reflection. A kind of reprieve from the mania that is living.

The 15 seconds it takes for the light to turn green. The 30 seconds waiting in line for one's morning coffee. The minute-and-a-half it takes for some hapless co-worker on that interminable conference call to finally get to the point.

And how do many of us pass those few free seconds when time slows down, the breeze buffets our staid faces and we're reminded that we are all pinpricks on some great, spinning orb lost in infinite space? Contemplating one's very storied existence? Or fiddling withInstagram in an effort to look busy?

Likely, it's the latter.

Which brings us to this week's challenge: Make like our forefathers (or, you know, us, five years ago) when they were faced with a spare moment and take a look at the whole damn world around you, instead of where your ex just checked in on Foursquare (the strip club down by the river?! WTF?!).

Lest you waiver in your attempts to stay vigilant, remember, we'll be taking this challenge right along with you -- and we're some twitchy people.

Now, without further adieu, here are five instances in which we task you with holstering your cell and, like the big brave boy/girl that you are, staring into the rheumy eyes of the world around you and saying: "My birds are mad as hell, and I'm not going to play them anymore."

Click here to continue reading: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/22/tech/mobile/phone-down-time-netiquette/index.html

Parents need more privacy info about kids' apps, feds say

Is that app you just downloaded surreptitiously gathering data to push targeted ads to your 6-year-old? Quite possibly.

According to a new Federal Trade Commission report, the vast majority of the thousands of mobile apps intended for children offer no privacy information, which makes it hard for parents to make informed decisions about which apps are safe to let their kids use.

In July, FTC staff searched Apple's and Google's app marketplaces for the term "kids" and found nearly 12,000 apps. They then randomly selected 200 kids' apps from each store and examined the information provided in the store about each app. They also visited developers' web pages for the apps.

According to the FTC, in most cases "staff was unable to determine from the promotion pages whether the apps collected any data at all -- let alone the type of data collected, the purpose of the collection, and who collected or obtained access to the data."

Specifically, the promotion pages for Apple apps contained almost no relevant language regarding app data collection or sharing. In the Android market, only three of the app pages examined offered even minimal information beyond the general "permission" statements Google requires. And even those only mentioned that the app provided information to an ad network -- without identifying which information was being collected, by whom, how it was to be used and whether it's shared with other parties.

Click here to continue reading: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/21/tech/mobile/privacy-info-kids-apps/index.html

Facebook rolls out 'verified accounts,' celeb nicknames

Taking a cue from Twitter, Facebook will be rolling out "verified accounts" for its most popular users -- presumably hoping to encourage the Lady Gagas of the world to get active on the site.

Starting Thursday, the site began testing a system that lets people with a large number of subscribers submit a government ID to prove they really are who they say they are.

"This update makes it even easier for subscribers to find and keep up with journalists, celebrities and other public figures they want to connect to," a Facebook spokesman said in an e-mail.

Once verified, a user will be able to "more prominently display an alternate name (nickname, maiden name, byline, etc.) on their timelines in addition to their real name."

Click here to continue reading: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/16/tech/social-media/facebook-verified-accounts/index.html

Is a 'nudge' in the right direction all we need to be greener? Is a 'nudge' in the right direction all we need to be greener?

What's the best way of encouraging men to pee more accurately in public urinals? Answer: Give them a target.

That's what a maintenance man working at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport suggested: Etch an image of a house fly on the urinals to give men something to aim at. Overnight, the quantity of misdirected urine fell by about 80%, according to the airport.

The painted fly is an example of a "nudge" -- a subtle way of influencing behavior without offering material incentives or imposing punishments.

"Normally, if a government, employer or even parent wants to promote a certain type of conduct, they introduce rules, offer a financial reward or both," says economist Richard Thaler who, alongside fellow academic Cass Sunstein, popularized the concept of "nudging."

Subliminal sway

Whether we're conscious of them or not, nudges -- of a sort -- are all around us. From the rumble strip along motorways -- gently encouraging motorists to remain in the correct lane -- to rows of brightly colored candy wrappers, less subtly inviting us to pick them up and place them in our shopping cart.

Click here to continue reading: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/08/tech/innovation/green-nudge-environment-persuasion/index.html

Apple's stock hits $500

Shares of Apple reached $500 for the first time on Monday, setting yet another high-water mark for the tech giant.

Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) stock has been soaring lately, boosted byrecord sales of the iPhone and iPad. Even the 28-year old Macintosh line continues to set new sales records.

Shares closed at a record $502.60, up 2% from Friday's close.

But this rise isn't a recent development. Apple shares have been rising at a consistent trajectory for the past three years.

It was just six months ago that Apple cracked the $400 level for the first time, and it's been 16 months since it passed $300. Shares traded above $200 for the first time in October 2009. At this time three years ago, shares traded at just $78.20.

Despite Apple's stunning rise in share price, the company's stock gains haven't even kept pace with its earnings.

The stock has grown 40% over the past year, but Apple's profit has grown 117% since the fiscal first quarter of 2011. Over the past two years, Apple's stock has grown 150% and profits have soared 286%.

The stock has risen 539% in the past three years, but profits have grown 711% over the same time period.

That means Apple's shares are relatively cheap.

Click here to continue reading: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/13/technology/apple_stock/index.htm

Pinterest quietly profits off its users' links

The social networking field's buzziest startup is under fire this week for not being completely transparent with its users.

Pinterest, which allows users to create a virtual pinboard showcasing items they find around the Web, has quietly been appending affiliate links to some pins -- the ones featuring goods for sale online through Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500), eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500), Target and thousands of other merchants. Those links generate payments for Pinterest from the retailers if someone clicks through and buys a product featured in the pin.

The practice has been going on for months, but drew little notice until a blog post this week on LLsocial.com highlighted and explained the modified links.

"It's big news in the tech community because Pinterest is the social network that everyone wants to take to the prom this year," says Amy Webb, CEO of strategy firmWebmedia Group. "As a result, everyone's paying close attention."

Pinterest was founded in early 2010, but its traffic soared over the past six months as its popularity snowballed. CNN.com commentator Pete Cashmore recently called it "the breakout social network of 2012."

Pinterest's pins let users create online catalogues spotlighting their passions, such as travel, fashion and design. But many users weren't aware that that the company had been monetizing their content.

Pinterest works with a marketing company called Skimlinks to add the affiliate links. In a blog post on Wednesday, Skimlinks CEO Alicia Navarro said that Pinterest's use of Skimlinks' service "is nothing new, nor is it secretive."

Click here to continue reading: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/10/technology/pinterest_affiliate_links/index.htm

Groupon stock plunges on net loss

Welcome to the big leagues, Groupon. Shareholders punished the stock after the daily deals site posted a surprise loss for its first quarter as a public company.
Groupon reported a net fourth-quarter loss of $42.7 million, or 8 cents a share, on sales of $506.5 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting earnings of 3 cents a share on sales of $475 million. For the full 2011 fiscal year, Groupon lost $350.8 million on sales of $1.6 billion.

Investors ignored the strong revenue and focused on the earnings loss, sending Groupon (GRPN) shares down almost 11% in morning trading on Thursday.

The famously oddball Groupon CEO, Andrew Mason, spoke on a post-earnings conference call with analysts. But Mason stayed within the lines for his first earnings call, maintaining a serious tone throughout the discussion.
1,600% tax rate: Analysts jumped on an eye-popping figure in Groupon's report: a tax expense of $34.8 million in the fourth quarter, which the company said is an effective tax rate of approximately 1,600%.
That massive tax rate was the result of profits in "certain international countries," as well as income tax laws related to Groupon's new international headquarters in Switzerland.

Click here to continue reading: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/08/technology/groupon_earnings/index.htm

Path CEO: 'We thought we were doing this the right way'

"We thought we were doing this the right way. It turns out, we made a mistake."
Dave Morin, the CEO and creator of social media app Path, tells me this as we sit in his 22nd-floor headquarters in downtown San Francisco. It's a mere 24 hours after an independent app developer exploded Morin's world with a simple blog post that led to a torrent of bad publicity.
Arun Thampi of Singapore discovered that Path uploads users' address book information to Path's servers. This action isn't in Path's Terms of Use, and it's enraged a user community concerned about privacy rights.
Some social media companies, including Path, subscribe to a philosophy that says access to your personal data — if used safely and in the right way — can only improve your experience. To this extent, address book data is the bread and butter of Path, an app that distinguishes itself as "the first truly personal network."
"We don't want to connect you with just anyone on Path," Morin says. "Without the contact list information, some of these features just don't work."
The address book data, Morin says, is used in only three ways. "We give you a list of suggested friends to connect with who are already on Path. We notify you when other friends of yours join Path." And the third reason speaks to the very uniqueness of Path itself — its "Friend Rank" algorithm.
FriendRank uses data on your phone to determine the most helpful friending suggestions. The feature looks at the interaction you have with friends across platforms, so, in theory, you'll get the most relevant friend suggestions possible without the chaff that Facebook, for one, may serve up.
"We used the data for the sake of simplicity," Morin tells me. "Any time you build a network, you have to help users find their friends. And that entire experience is designed to suggest people who you're close to." In other words, it's the whole point of the app itself.
But that's not an easy sentiment to convey to users who feel their privacy has been violated. Morin told me he wants to take all measures possible — all explained in a blog post — to prove to users that Path is serious about privacy. "We've deleted the entire collection of user contact information from our servers," Morin says. "Unlike some other companies, we believe that users should have complete control over their data. This is just the right thing to do."

click here to continue reading: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/09/tech/social-media/dave-morin-path-social-media-app/index.html

Three weird apps for Valentine's Day

Hear that?
Over the whirring drone of the cogs of industry, the grinding of the tectonic plates, the gentle flap-flap-flapping of a legion of butterfly wings -- all indications of a world still turning -- comes the gentle weeping of the heart-wrenched masses, mourning the fact that they are utterly and completely alone.
A fact that will be rubbed in -- like so much paprika in a cannibal victim's wound -- during that one day per year next week when love and being loved matters the most (SarcMark ®).
Since we write for a media outlet, it's basically etched into our blood-lettered contract that we address that day of days in some kind of thematic way. However, instead of helping you all stave off the crushing wave of loneliness that's threatening to crest on the 14th, we're just going to highlight some of the weirdest love life-enhancing apps we've encountered on our dusty travels.
C'mon, you didn't want a relationship anyway -- drunken crying is so much more acceptable when enjoyed alone.
How to lose friends and influence people
You know those two friends -- the pair that is SO obviously in love with each other but just can't quite get it together enough to date? Don't you wish those crazy kids would stop (playfully) punching each other and (playfully) criticizing each other's lifestyles and just get it on already?
Well, thanks to Facebook (and Walgreens) you can finally push your pals into the loving relationship that they so obviously long for. The drugstore chain is out with a super-subtle app called "Play Cupid" that allows you to choose from a series of virtual photo frames emblazoned with phrases like "Caution! Hot Couple!" and "Why Aren't You Dating Yet?" and plug in those unsuspecting future lovebirds.

Click here to continue reading: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/08/tech/mobile/weird-apps-valentines-day/index.html

Over 3 years later, "deleted" Facebook photos are still online

Facebook is still working on deleting photos from its servers in a timely manner nearly three years after Ars first brought attention to the topic.
The company admitted on Friday that its older systems for storing uploaded content "did not always delete images from content delivery networks in a reasonable period of time even though they were immediately removed from the site," but said it's currently finishing up a newer system that makes the process much quicker. In the meantime, photos that users thought they "deleted" from the social network months or even years ago remain accessible via direct link.
The problem: "deleted" photos never go away
When we first investigated this phenomenon in 2009, we discovered that photos "deleted" from Facebook seemingly never go away if you have a direct link to the image file on Facebook's servers. Users who might have had second thoughts about posting a photo -- whether it was because they didn't want retaliation from an employer, wanted to avoid family drama, or uploaded a photo of a friend without their permission—could certainly remove the image from Facebook's main user interface, but as long as someone had a direct link to the .jpg file in question, the photo would remain accessible for an indefinite amount of time. When we asked Facebook about it, we were told that the company was "working with our content delivery network (CDN) partner to significantly reduce the amount of time that backup copies persist."
But when we followed up on the story more than a year later, our "deleted" photos were still accessible via direct link. That's when the reader stories started pouring in: we were told horror stories about online harassment using photos that were allegedly deleted years ago, and users who were asked to take down photos of friends that they had put online.

Click here to continue reading: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/06/tech/social-media/deleted-facebook-photos-online/index.html

5 tech tools for the Super Bowl

When the Giants and Patriots take the field on Sunday in Indianapolis, they won't be doing battle in soft leather helmets with no face masks. And there definitely won't be some kid on the sideline ladling out water from a tin bucket to quench their thirst after a big play.
So, if the Super Bowl teams have embraced emerging technology, why shouldn't you?
Sure, you could just sit there staring blankly at the screen, scooping salsa out of the jar with your fingers and saying, "Hey ... wasn't that ... what's-her-name?" after every surprise celebrity commercial appearance. But the tech and Web worlds want better for you.
Here are five techie tools that can help make you an all-pro couch potato on Sunday.
1. Official mobile app
The NFL has rolled out an app for the big game for both Apple and Android mobile devices.
Included are some features that would be most useful for people actually attending the game, such as real-time traffic and parking information and, perhaps most importantly, directions to the nearest restroom in Lucas Oil Stadium.
But any football fan can get some value from other features, like "NFL Huddle," which pulls together social buzz about the game.And here's good news, particularly for those who shelled out for tickets, travel and hotel accommodations in Indy -- both versions of the app are free.
2. Apps for the all-important commercials
If you're one of those folks who wouldn't know BenJarvus Green-Ellis from Osi Umenyiora, you're probably more excited about what happens during breaks in the action. The mobile world has not forsaken you.
Both "Super Ads: Super Bowl Commercials" and "A+ Super Bowl Commercials" bring all the best blockbusters ads from the Super Bowl together in one place (for iOS users, anyway).
And as the new ones roll out, you can be among the first to decide what worked and what didn't. USA Today's popular Ad Meter will be whirring in real time and can be accessed either on the paper's website or its mobile app.

Click here to continue readind: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/03/tech/gaming-gadgets/super-bowl-tech/index.html