EBay users get rewarded for shopping
Yahoo!Tech reveals that “[s]hopping on eBay just got a bit more rewarding, at least for some users of the online auctioneer's site. On Wednesday, eBay Inc. launched a ‘beta’ test version of eBay Bucks, a program that lets participants earn a 2 percent reward on certain items they buy through the site and pay for using eBay's online payment service, PayPal. Rewards come quarterly as gift certificates, which can be used to buy other items through eBay within 30 days. [...]
European Commission to scrutinize use of online consumer data
Yahoo!Tech reveals that “[t]he European Commission is about to launch an investigation into how consumers' online data is being used by search companies, social networking Web sites and Internet service providers. […] Officials are particularly concerned about the growing use of deep packet inspection techniques that allow broadband providers to track online activity even if consumers have tried to delete tracking cookies set by the Web sites they visit.” The Seattle Times has an interesting article discussing whether the emergence [...]
No Business Model IS a Business Model
Rafe Needleman has a story today about how Twitter has gone three years without a business model, or a plan to make money. In fact, they only recently hired someone who’s specifically tasked with making a business out of Twitter. But as Needleman points out, that doesn’t mean Twitter isn’t valuable or that it won’t make money someday. They could just be following the model of several other Internet-based companies, a model we’ve identified as “Skim, Skimp, and Scrap.” Needleman [...]
Meaning of cloud computing still a bit clouded
The Wall Street Journal has a worthwhile piece discussing the origins of the word “cloud computing” and what the term actually means. Yahoo!Tech reports that, according to a new report by industry consulting firm Ovum, “[b]roadband-service providers will see their revenue from mobile services jump to 137 billion dollars worldwide by 2014, up 450 percent from 2008. […] But the number of mobile broadband users will likely outpace revenue growth as competition drives prices lower and because most of the [...]
Republican Senator requests information on alleged DHS failings
CNetNews.com reports that “[t]he top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee is requesting detailed information, including financial figures, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to explain why the department has been seemingly unable to fulfill its cybersecurity responsibilities. In a letter sent to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano on Tuesday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said that in light of the recent resignation of National Cybersecurity Center Director Rod Beckström, she would like DHS to send the Homeland Security Committee [...]
Less than half of British population uses e-government services
The Register reveals that “[t]he [British] communications regulator has found that fewer than half the UK population has used online government services. In a report published on 20 March 2009, Ofcom says that 42 per cent of those interviewed had used the internet to search for information about government or local council services, or used online services such as paying for road tax or registering for Child Tax Credits. Among people who have the internet at home, this figure rises [...]