Italian police are investigating the burglary of the home of 44-year-old Paola Letizia. Normally, I would pay a story like this no mind. And frankly, as soon as I’m done writing this, I won’t. But this is no ordinary burglary. Because the home in question doesn’t exist. Paola called in the fuzz after noticing virtual items she had purchased for her home account in the Facebook game Pet Society had mysteriously vanished, leaving only her virtual cat. Sometimes, being a crazy cat lady isn’t enough. Sometimes, you need to be an online crazy cat lady. But I digress. Letizia had spent the equivalent of…

While most have only heard of “social buying” in the last couple of years, it has actually been around since 2004 (an eternity in Internet time) with WOOT!. Larger sites like GroupOn and LivingSocial have dominated the segment since, but there are many others that revolve around the consumers who want the power of group buying that leverages the power of social media. Our friends at Flowtown have put together the visual depiction of the time line and sizes of the various options for social buyers. As the segment grows and the popularity increases, what innovations will we see? …

Halloween is approaching, and boy do we have a treat for you. It appears that not only are pirates the most used costume during Halloween, but they are also the most heavy users of Internet traffic with BitTorrent. Coincidence? I think not! Halloween is a time of mischief and scary things. In the eyes of Hollywood, pirates are the same: they steal their product and, allegedly, threaten their industry. See the connection? Sandvine, a Canadian management company, recently revealed information that points to expanding P2P traffic; leading the P2P race is BitTorrent. The company reported that…

Everyone on this planet, especially those who frequent our sister blog Webdesigner Depot, could appreciate the awesomeness and creativity that Photoshop empowers people with on the Web. However, some people have an obsession with Photoshop — the Hyperakt group, which came up with the idea for the “I Have PSD” video short, is a perfect example….

Is it a bird? A plane? Big Foot? It’s none of those. However, it might just be the first photo of humans in existence. It all started after photos of Cincinnati along the Ohio River were discovered and analyzed. The photos themselves were intriguing, but now question has arisen over whether or not this one photo is a first of its kind: the first photo of humans in existence. Is it? Robert Krulwich, an NPR correspondant, was on to something: This is Cincinnati on Sunday, September 24th, 1848—162 years ago. The picture, a daguerreotype taken by Charles Fontayne and William Porter (who were standing…

I don’t know whether this is awkward, crazy, or both, but someone has started the incredible rumor that Apple might very well be interested in purchasing Sony — yes, the company that makes TVs and PS3s. The funny thing is that Apple could afford it. The interesting thing, however, is that Apple doesn’t need them. It all started on Saturday, when an article from Barron’s noted that Apple could be eyeing Sony, Adobe, or Disney as a potential purchase. It is very likely, especially when considering that Apple has money to blow. But speculation has continued to grow as trading of Sony’s stock has increased…

Stranger things have happened in the social media world. Well, maybe not. Digg, stuck in on the losing side of an all-or-nothing bet with their site when they changed to V4 in the beginning of September allegedly attempted to “stack the deck” on October 15th with an algorithm change designed to highlight top sites such as DailyMail and Time. According to the allegations based upon research performed by Digg user LtGenPanda, Digg (or someone wanting to help Digg) created dozens of accounts to get major mainstream publications back on the front page of their site. The post by LtGenPanda is interesting…

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Sony has announced that the cassette Walkman will be discontinued in Japan, having ended manufacturing in April. As we speak, the final stock is being sold out (and probably will continue to be for years). But don’t fret just yet! North America is in no danger of going Walkman-less, and the 31-year-old portable music player will continue to be manufactured in China for the overseas market. Rest easy, buttercup, knowing that your ability to rock out shall continue unaffected. But seriously, though, is this a thing? Did anyone here even know that the Walkman (in its cassette incarnation) was even…

I’m gonna come right out and admit I’ve never owned an Xbox 360 – but most of my friends have one, so I’ve still experienced second-hand the Red Ring of Death more than a handful times. Technically, one cannot hold experiences in their hand, though, so that’s not quite right, but whatever. Look on in amazement as these Marines show you one way of coping with your loss – the same way I’m sure most Xbox gamers would be used to: firing a gun. Y’know guys, I heard that a damp towel or something can fix the RRoD in ways bullets never can. In fact, come to think of it, I’ve never heard of bullets fixing the RRoD in any…