online

Staying safe is simple with Online Armor

Windows Firewall and other free firewalls do a pretty good job of keeping threats away from your computer, but many users prefer the extra security and support of a premium firewall. Emsisoft's Online Armor is a shareware firewall suite that offers strong protection against malicious programs, hacker attacks, and other privacy and security threats, but it's also designed to be as unobtrusive as possible while doing it. Its real-time protection means no lengthy scans; instead, Online Armor evaluates each program as it runs. The program has plenty of configuration options, especially in its Advanced Mode. For instance, you … Read more

Apple's online store down, raising product anticipation

Apple's online store is down at this hour, which is typically indicative of a new product release on the horizon.

However, what that might portend is a bit of mystery. With the iPhone 5's launch and new iPods already in Apple's rear-view mirror and the unannounced but much-rumored iPad Mini still apparently further down the road, it leaves one to wonder what Apple is adding to the store.

Might Apple have some last-minute changes in store for the Mac line before the holiday shopping season kicks in to full gear next month? It's anyone's guess … Read more

Economy's bad, people are mad, so shop online this Xmas

For those who were amused by tonight's presidential debate, there will have been either the audacity of hope or the fright of despair.

But I cannot sit and wait to hear what the pundits think. For I have real data about what real people are really thinking.

It comes from a survey conducted on behalf of SOASTA, a cloud and mobile testing company that helped NASA prepare for its curious Mars landing.

SOASTA wanted to look ahead to see how real people see the holiday shopping season, given the economic uncertainty that is lashing at our fleshy parts.

And … Read more

Money and musicians: Rdio's new artist-payment model

One of the creators of Skype has announced a new addition to his digital music service Rdio.

Janus Friis says the Rdio Artist Program is designed to give musicians a better alternative to iTunes Match or Spotify, where some complain that commission rates based on the number of times a song is streamed leaves an artist with almost nothing.

With Rdio, uploaders earn $10 for every new subscriber they lure to the service. The platform pays artists to share both music and recommendations on social-networking sites including Facebook and Twitter -- promoting the company as well as themselves.

San Francisco-based … Read more

Blame bots for $1.5B in wasted ad spend this year

Ten percent of all online traffic is generated by bots, according to a study, and that means potentially $1.5 billion in ad spending will be wasted on the fake clickers.

Solve Media, which makes an online advertising platform, noted in a new report that eMarketer predicts online display ad spend will reach $15.3 billion this year. But with a surge in bots, more and more of the clicks on ads are generated by software, not people.

Solve Media says that since 2011, it has witnessed a 400 percent rise in "aberrant traffic" across online registration, voting, … Read more

Amazon to start selling wine?

It's a well-known hidden secret that online shopping is made more fluid by a glass of evening pinot noir.

Somehow, inhibitions subside and emotional -- that would be material -- needs are given full rein.

How clever, then, of Amazon to assist you in your online shopping comfort by offering you wine shipments to go with the books, movies, and 55-gallon tubs of personal lubricant it currently offers.

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Amazon will be launching a wine marketplace in the next few weeks, one that will surely lift the spirits.

It seems that company executives … Read more

Twitter CEO: Soon, you can download all your tweets

Twitter users should be able to download their entire archive of tweets by year's end, the company's CEO, Dick Costolo said today.

During a keynote conversation at the Online News Association conference in San Francisco, Costolo told interviewer Emily Bell of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism that Twitter expects to provide its users by the end of the year with one of the most-desired capabilities of all -- being able to download their entire tweet history.

"The caveat is that this is the CEO saying this," Costolo joked, "not the engineer who's … Read more

Sell your e-books for free with Payhip

So you're a writer, huh? Well, now it's time to turn those writings into sweet cash. Unfortunately, most places online that let you sell your e-books also want to take a nice cut of your profits. That's understandable, though, right? They need to make money, too. However, if you're just getting started, a little off the top here and there can add up to the chunk of the profits you need to move your writing career forward.

Instead of fussing with other sites, why not check out Payhip? This site offers a free and easy way … Read more

California joins other states in allowing online voter registration

The number of states that now allow online voter registration is growing. And it only makes sense that Silicon Valley's home would be on that list. As of today, California is the newest state that lets its residents register to vote on the Web.

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced the news today.

"Today, the Internet replaces the mailbox for thousands of Californians wishing to register to vote," she said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Today we are taking the next step in the never-ending evolution of democracy and reaching every Californian."

Within … Read more