Author: Rocco Penn

Brick and mortar stores are closing on nearly a daily basis. We have all seen companies like Blockbuster and Circuit City lose their wars to the online variations of their products. It isn’t just eBay and Amazon. Social sites like Groupon and Facebook are pushing online transactions, while other giants like Google and Apple are moving more products online than off. This graphic by our friends at BuySellAds takes a long look at the Ascent of E-Commerce, exploring the history of buying and selling online. Knowing where we’ve been can help give clues about where we’re going. Click to enlarge. …

Security is always a concern online, but on social networks it’s doubly so as we put more and more personal information on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Some have been accused of lackadaisical measures to keep our data away from prying eyes. With the increase in mobile social networking, the challenges are compounded upon. This graphic by ZoneAlarm ranks 8 of the top social networks according to their current security standards and describes four of the most famous instances of social networking security breaches. Click to enlarge. …

We can dream, right? This video of unknown origin (comment if you know, please) presents a not-so-unrealistic view of what the toilet of the future may look like and how it may operate. Granted, it’s unlikely that you’ll be brewing a cappuccino or grilling a panini from the throne, but having everything relatively automated is simply not too much to ask. As ICanHasInternets puts it, “It’s fake, but nothing about it is impossible. Funny, maybe, but not impossible.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. …

In this cartoon by the geniuses at Joy of Tech, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg invokes the 1981 ad that Apple ran in the Wall Street Journal “welcoming” IBM to the world of personal computers. The ad, of course, didn’t work out very well at the time but has become an icon of bold messaging in competitive advertising. JoT shows Zuckerberg how to correct his stance in the battle his company is currently having with Google as they prepare to launch Google+ against Facebook. …

Have you ever been tempted to pull out the old Nintendo Entertainment System from the attic just to finish that one game you never got around to? Do you wonder what happened at the end of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game that you were going to get but ended up getting a Super Nintendo instead? Are you too young to look at the NES as an actual gaming platform, but rather a mere predecessor to the real platforms of today? If you meet any of these criteria, you may want to check out what happened at the end of 50 popular NES games. Thanks to TheFineBros, you can hear the final moments of these games in just over…

There were many who tagged this year’s E# convention as a disappointment, but there were some games that got more buzz than others. Saints Row, while not getting the attention, did wow some people with their release, particularly on YouTube. From the official E3 channel, users were able to vote on their favorite trailer and Saints Row emerged as the winner. YouTube has it currently featured on their home page. The trailer is fun but definitely for a mature audience. …

As the roads fill with the quiet, environmentally-friendly hybrids, most people are now aware of the premise. The electric half of the hybrid starts the vehicle going, then the gas half kicks in once it gets to a certain speed. While the basic concept is easy to understand, there’s a lot more to it than that. This graphic by AutoMD breaks down the ins and outs of hybrids, giving us a glimpse of what really makes the engine go. Gas prices rising makes purchasing a hybrid a potentially valid option. “We thought that the interest in the Prius had hit its peak last year, but it’s gone beyond anything we could…

If the insinuation of this leaked video can be believed, Skype will soon be launching its very own iPad app. According to HotHardware, “If this proves true, avid users of Skype will no longer have to ‘double’ the iPhone version on their iPad to actually use it.” The iPhone app works well on the iPad 2, but it’s not as sharp, nor are the features up to snuff for a tablet. With Facebook rumored to be working on their own iPad app, there may be somewhat of a race going on from the two high-profile omissions from the Apple App Store. …

The location-based social network Foursquare announced today that they had broken the 8-digit user mark. To commemorate, they created the infographic below that visualizes the growth over the months. They wrote on their blog, “One of the most amazing things about building Foursquare has been seeing a tool we designed for our friends turn into something now used by over 10,000,000 people.” …

From rampaging hackers declaring war on governments to an eco-friendly new Batmobile, today’s top 10 TECHi trends are sure to give you a good half-hour of fun reading. Japan lays down the law against cybercriminals as they work on tougher penalties for making a virus. The new Batmobile is not just a criminal-busting piece of high-tech art, it’s good for the environment, too! The world of .com and .org just got crowded as ICANN introduces .whatevertheheckyouwant. They may be a social media blog that ends in the letters “shable” but they’re not Mashable, thank you very much. Being great at developing…