Technology posts

We all know that MySpace is going down quickly. Apparently, as Techcrunch is reporting, it’s going down faster than anyone expected. What’s the future? News Corp is trying to sell them, but who will really take a dying site seriously? Will their social media efforts such as implementation with Facebook and Digg campaigns help to slow the bleeding long enough to for News Corp to get a decent price? Will they continue to go towards entertainment or are they going to switch gears again? Will they still be around at all in 2012? We’ll know soon enough….

Capitalism, though a big, incredibly complex concept, can be boiled down to a few basic ideas: there should be private property; you should have a free market; and people should exchange currency for goods and services at the price the market will bear. In many ways, the web seems like it is the best place for capitalism and a free market to flourish. The internet is full of success stories of massive growth and humble beginnings, and the lack of many barriers that plague the physical world has seen online business grow at an exponential rate. Yet, at the same time, the web seems to have a knack to kill…

Jona Hoier has visualized USGS earthquake activity data in Japan from March 9 to March 16. What is shocking is the unbelievable amount of earthquake activity that has taken place in Japan during this time period. While none of this depict the horror that took place on March 11 (around 0:38 in this video), it is a grim reminder that Earth has its violent moments. Our hearts go out to the people of Japan for the terrible tragedy, where a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake caused a destructive tsunami that has had and will continue to have devastating impacts on Japan’s people. No words can truly sum up how…

The aftermath of the recent earthquake and tsunami that crippled much of Japan is being felt by two of the country’s largest manufacturers, Sony and Toyota. While Toyota is hoping to open some plants next week, the supply chain and power grid are still question marks. “This will be played out not in days, but in weeks,” said John Hoffecker, head of the automotive practice at consulting firm AlixPartners LLP. Stocks for both companies are down 12% since the day before the earthquake. Sony is looking at approximately 2 weeks worth of available inventory before the work-stoppage truly hits their…

There, I said it. The tech industry needs more women to get in and make things right again. It’s way too male dominated and it doesn’t have to be. Over half of the professionals in the United States are women. They account for nearly 50% more college degrees than men. With this kind of knowledge, how is it right that less than 20% of the working computer hardware engineers are men? Answer: it isn’t. This graphic by our friends at SocialCast lays the foundation for why the tech world needs more women. Pay attention – we should expect to see this male-dominated industry fall to the females soon enough. …

You know things are getting pretty ridiculous in the tech world when you can test drive a car directly from a print magazine advertisement. But that is exactly what is happening. There’s a catch: you have to use an iOS app to interact with the ad, but once you install it, you can reach a new level of interactivity with a print ad that has rarely been seen before. The technology isn’t new, but it is amazing to see. Take a peek, and let us know what you think!…

This year, the popular South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas, returns to celebrate its monumental 25th anniversary. What started as a music festival has now transformed into a comprehensive meet-up for music-lovers, cinephiles and web entrepreneurs alike. Here’s a look at SXSW by the numbers, courtesy of our friends at GetSatisfaction and Infographic Design. Click to enlarge. …

Whenever a state’s tax man steps foot on Amazon’s porch, they make a hasty escape out the back door. That’s been the modus operandi for a while now and Illinois is the latest victim. Governor Pat Quinn just signed a bill that requires Amazon and other affiliate retailers to pay the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax. In response, Amazon is closing up shop in the state. Roger Ebert is not pleased. Amazon continues to fight every state that brings taxes to the table. They’re currently mixing it up with New York and are demonstrating that they are firm with their stance that they shouldn’t be taxing affiliates…

I have been blogging professionally for nearly five years — it has been my sole source of income. It isn’t by any means an easy career decision, but I make it work for me. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and I fear that the day of the professional blogger is no different. For now, I’m in good company: 34 percent of bloggers who participated in Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere in 2010 revealed that they partake in this blogging endeavor on a full-time or part-time basis, meaning there is money to be made. Blogging is also incredibly popular in the States, where 33 percent of respondents…

We’ve all heard of bytes, kilobytes, and megabytes for decades. The last couple of decades has put “gigabytes” into our vocabulary, while “terabytes” are become more commonly used lately. What about a petabyte? Zettabyte? It seems that as our understanding of data and our ability to quantify it grows, so too do the weird names that refer to them. If you ever need to remember a Yottabyte, just think “lots of bytes.” This Infographic by our friends at Focus puts all of the (currently) useless knowledge of super-data-measurements into perspective. We say “currently” because while we may not be able…