blogging

After receiving nary a mention at Apple's annual developers conference in June, it turns out Mac OS X will be getting its own special event October 20.

Invitations to a special event titled "Back to the Mac" showed up in tech press e-mail in-boxes just moments ago, featuring the above image of a lion peeking out from behind the Apple logo. Besides what we can assume will be an introduction of new Mac hardware, the invitation promises a peek at the "next major version of Mac OS X." Since past versions of the operating system … Read more

Social networking is more popular in Latin America, the Middle East, and China than in the U.S., Japan, and other Internet-saturated markets.

That is just one of the findings of the "Digital Life" study released today by British research firm TNS. Polling nearly 50,000 people across 46 countries, the survey was designed to gauge changes in online behavior globally.

The study found that online users in certain rapid-growth regions are now spending more time on social-networking sites than on e-mail. Consumers in Latin America, the Middle East, and China put in 5.2 hours each week … Read more

Do not attempt to adjust your picture- today's guest on The 404 Podcast prefers to remain anonymous, even using the pseudonym "Eklund" to protect his sources. Still, there's no way to hide to the giant grin on Jeff's face because Eklund grants us the favor of his first ever video interview, and it's an insider's look at sports blogging and how technology is shaping the future of media.

There's no doubt that he's the expert, either-- Eklund is the founder and CEO of Hockeybuzz.com, a hockey fan's best friend for news, season predictions, game day updates, and more!

But none of us seem to mind that Eklund hides his face on camera, because he brought over his GTR Pedal board that he brings to every game- it's basically a portable broadcast center that allows him to maintain his Twitter page and blog posts, and there's no other way to describe it than straight up NERD PORN (<---click that).

The beautiful spread includes four Apple iPod Touches, an HTC Evo 4G for tethering and Qwik live broadcasts, a Toshiba dual-screen Libretta, an iPad with an AIDA case that has a built-in BT keyboard, a Pico mini projector, a Palm Pre, a Clear Wi-Max modem and router, a Windows tablet PC, and a Snowball mic for podcasting on the run! Our number one recommendation for his next purchase? A full-time bodyguard.

Eklund is truly on the bleeding edge of hockey blogging, and as he tells us stories from the Olympics we begin to understand how the future of media is tenderly shaped by his near-bionic hand. Apparently security at the Olympics weren't thrilled with Eklund broadcasting footage (firsties!) using just his Evo 4G and Qik, the provider for the Evo's video chat application, but Eklund imagines a world where every fan will have the technological ability and the NHL's sanction to record live events from alternate angles, providing a unique perspective on the game play.

There's plenty more we talk about with Eklund, but you'll have to listen to the entire episode to hear the rest of his insights...or, if you're in the New York area, drop by our Fall Meetup tonight to meet Eklund in person--he'll be the guy wearing a full-body radiation suit. We'll all be hanging out at 7:30 p.m. at the Frying Pan bar at the Chelsea Piers. See our 404 Meetup.com page for more details, and don't forget to RSVP!

Editor's note: We used Cover It Live for this event, so if you missed the live blog, you can still replay it in the embedded component below. Replaying the event will give you all the live updates along with commentary and questions from our readers. For those of you who just want the basic updates, we've included them in regular text here. To get the key points from today's announcement, you can check out our analysis in our story here.

PALO ALTO, Calif.--CNET is on the scene at Facebook's headquarters to bring you all the … Read more

Freeway Pro is a Web site design and maintenance tool that offers professional-level features without requiring any coding knowledge.

Freeway's Mac-style, multipane interface should feel familiar to users of other design programs, with its simple toolbar, a list of your site's pages in a pane on the left (including master pages), a main window showing the current selected page, and numerous floating palettes for formatting and settings. Less experienced Web designers will find a lot to like here, including Freeway's customizable templates, WYSIWYG and drag-and-drop editing, and the way the app handles everything code-related in the background, … Read more

A McAfee survey of more than 1,000 business executives across 17 countries has found that Web 2.0 technologies can increase employee productivity and generate revenue. But half of the business executives expressed fears over the security risks that come from social media, blogging, Web mail, and content-sharing tools.

Released Monday, the "Web 2.0: A Complex Balancing Act" (PDF) report was commissioned by security software maker McAfee and authored by faculty at Purdue University to study the benefits and risks of Web 2.0 technologies in the business world.

The study showed that three out of … Read more

Ad network VideoEgg announced today it will buy marketing and blogger network Six Apart to create a combined media company dubbed Say Media.

The goal of the new business will be to hook up advertisers with consumers at a time when online attention spans are limited and ads that interrupt people aren't proving effective, according to VideoEgg. Say Media will team up VideoEgg's technology with Six Apart's social publishing and blogging network in an attempt to create more interactive and conversational ads.

VideoEgg's press release makes some bold projections about the new company.

Say Media could … Read more

Savage Love is the companion app to the popular syndicated sex-advice column of the same name, providing easy access to Dan Savage's columns, podcasts (aka Lovecasts), video clips, and a regularly updated Question of the Day.

The app has a clean, easy-to-read interface, opening on the current Question of the Day ("QotD") above separate tabs for previous QotDs, a search tool (letting you search through hundreds of old Savage Love columns), a list of Lovecasts (with every Lovecast ever), and a big set of browsable tags--everything from Boobs and Bonobos to Sexual Compatibility and Snowballing. You can … Read more

A month ago, it appeared that Blogetery.com, a blog platform that claims more than 70,000 publications, would never be heard from again.

The service was shut down last month by its Web host after FBI agents alleged the terrorist group al-Qaeda was using the platform to distribute recruiting materials, bomb-making tips, and the names of people targeted by the organization for assassination.

This wasn't enough to spook Alexander Yusupov, Blogetery's operator into giving up on the service. Against all the odds, the Toronto resident brought Blogetery back.

Burst.net, the company that provided Web access for … Read more