Posted 11/20/09 at 08:21:54 AM by Paul Lilly

YouTube's reign as the No. 1 online video site doesn't appear to be in jeopardy, but among the also-rans, Facebook now ranks as the third most popular portal for viewing video on the Internet, according to Nielsen's VideoCensus report.

YouTube leads the way with 6.6 billion streams and just shy of 106 million unique visitors in October, leaving the real battle to be fought for second place. As it stands, the No. 2 spot belongs to Hulu, which served up 632.6 million streams and recorded 13.4 million unique visitors. Facebook trailed not far behind with 217.7 million streams, but had more unique visitors than Hulu with 31.6 million hits.

Not to underestimate the significance, Nielsen noted that the amount of time Web users spend hanging out at social networking sites watching videos increased 98 percent year over year. And viewing of video streams in general jumped by 26 percent, Nielseon said.

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Posted 11/19/09 at 06:10:45 PM by David Murphy

Ever have one of those moments?  You know the one: When it's so difficult to teach someone how to accomplish an everyday task in a particular application that you up and grab the keyboard and mouse yourself and just get 'er done, as it were. Isn't that frustrating?  Doesn't your passionate rage for simplifying the art of attaching files to email terrify your coworkers, friends, and loved ones?  Wouldn't you like a better way to show someone how to accomplish desktop tasks, one that doesn't actually require you to get up from your chair or, better yet, even pick up a phone?

In a move that's sure to sooth the savage beast that's been identified as a computer expert by his or her flock of advice-seeking peers, the Web app ScreenToaster is a perfectly packaged solution for showing people how to get stuff done on a PC. It does this by taking a live video (complete with audio, if you so choose) of whatever it is you're doing on your desktop, straight out of your Web browser--no additional software installation is necessary, save for a requisite click on the "accept" button for a piece of Java.

But surely the app can't be just that easy?  There has to be another catch!

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Posted 11/16/09 at 07:41:26 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Online scammers tend to cash in on people's sense of alarm. By that token, the ongoing H1N1 flu pandemic is like a blank check for online criminals. And they seem to be in no mood to let this opportunity slip past them. According to a report published by web security firm Sophos, the sale of counterfeit antiviral drugs meant to combat H1N1 flu symptoms is going on unabated on the internet. Hundreds of millions of spam adverts and websites are being used by these fraudulent online pharmacies to lure unsuspecting, flu-fearing people.

According to the report, a vast number of such fraudulent online pharmacies are based out of Russia, while the bulk of their victims are from the United States, Germany, Britain, Canada and France. A lot appears to be at stake as online charlatans are earning thousands of dollars each day by selling drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza online. "The criminals can be members of more than one affiliate network, and some have boasted of earning more than $100,000 per day," Sophos said in a statement.

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Posted 11/12/09 at 03:15:00 PM by David Murphy

If war movies, zombies hordes, or stormtroopers have taught us anything, it's that there's power to be had in numbers--well, maybe not the stormtroopers. Regardless, a number of Web apps take advantage of this philosophy to offer increased functionality, awesome services, or cheap deals for those who are part of a herd. Kickstarter, for example, allows groups of people to team up and pledge funding for a number of independent projects. If a project meets its funding goal, then everyone who pledge an amount has to pay. If not, nobody pays a dime.

But you don't want to pay money. No, you want to save money. Have no fear--there's a Web app that takes this altruistic function and spins it on its head. Instead of pledging to donate, you're pledging to buy at group-discount prices!

 Read on to find out how it works!

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Posted 11/11/09 at 07:04:35 AM by Paul Lilly

Microsoft has revamped its Bing Video interface, and over the next few days will be rolling out a new unified online video destination, the software maker announced. The overhauled service, which meshes MSN Video with Bing, promises to be more organized and contain plenty of high-quality content.

"With the New Bing Video you can now access videos from across the web, MSN's array of high-quality videos, and videos from sites such as Hulu, ABC, and YouTube," Microsoft said on its Bing blog. "Bing videos viewing options are nearly endless."

Microsoft said its video portal grants users access to over 900 television shows, all of which it says are organized and easy to sort through, even if the episode you're looking for is from last season. Users will also be able to share videos, and the portal now includes a 'dim the lights' feature. 

Give Bing Videos a peek here, then hit the jump and tell us what you think.

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Posted 10/30/09 at 12:30:31 PM by Paul Lilly

Ever imagined a world where 6-foot Care Bears roam the streets going door-to-door begging for sweet treats while you're trying to watch the Phillies take a 2-to-1 lead over the Yankees in the World Series? That may be the scene tomorrow, based on the most popular online Halloween costume searches, according to frightening data put together by Hitwise.

You're also likely to see Michael Jackson and Balloon Boy getups, which held the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. But of the searches beginning with the word 'adult, 'adult Care Bear costume' came in third, right behind 'adult cat costume' (No. 1) and 'adult Snow White costume' (No. 2).

You're also likely to run into more themed pets than ever before. Compared to 2008, Hitwise noted a 97 percent increase in searches for "pet costumes." Better toss some Milk Bones in with those fun-sized Snicker bars.

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Posted 10/23/09 at 09:02:59 PM by Ryan Whitwam

Google announced today that they were making the first major changes to their maps interface since the initial launch. The changes are mostly based around making it easier to pick out details at all zoom levels. The changes affect the regular ‘maps’ view, as well as ‘hybrid’ view.

Many of the changes are subtle at first glance. For instance, in the maps view, the width of roads has been reduced allowing for better legibility. Arterial roads have, in the past, looked inflated to the point that they covered map details. The crisper lines are certainly a welcome change. The color scheme has also been toned down a bit.

In hybrid mode, the roads have a new outline to make them easier to follow against the background. These changes have allowed more information to be displayed at various zoom levels. While zooming from a national view, to a local one, you’ll see smaller roads become visible sooner. Fonts have also been changed to increase contrast. Hit the read link to see all the samples. How do you like the changes? Do you think you would have noticed?

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Posted 10/19/09 at 11:15:55 AM by Paul Lilly

Here's some potentially bad news for Xbox 360 console gamers - according to market analyst Michael Pachter, the price of an Xbox Live Gold subscription will shoot up to $100 per year, perhaps as early as 2011. What the hell?

"You can't hook into Xbox LIve Gold if he's playing on a PC," Pachter said on how Microsoft seemingly abandoned the PC as a gaming platform. "That's the other problem - you really want to hook every gamer who has a 360, you want them to buy all their games on 360, play everything multiplayer, pay you 50 bucks a year so that, in a couple of years, it's a 100 bucks a year."

While the numbers might be up for debate, Pachter seems convinced that Gold subscription prices are definitely on the rise. But is he off his rocker?

Current Gold level subs run $50 per year, or half of where Pacther predicts pricing is headed towards. In return, gamers get access to online multiplayer gaming, the ability to stream Netflix movies to your console (provided you're also a Netflix subscriber), and a few other odds and ends. Minus a few proprietary features, it's all stuff you can do on the PC for free, so it would be a tough sell to up and double the price of a sub in a 24-month time span.

Would you pay $100 for an Xbox Live Gold subscription? Hit the jump and sound off!

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