The software giant's blockbuster pact with Yahoo would give it almost a third of the market. But the proposed alliance faces antitrust hurdles.
After a decade of skirmishes among dozens of Internet search services, only two major players may be left standing on the battlefield: the world's largest search engine, Google Inc., and its newly powerful rival, Microsoft Corp.
Instead of using its own search engine, Yahoo's massive network of Web pages would feature Microsoft's Bing, more than tripling Microsoft's reach. That would instantly give the Redmond, Wash., company almost a third of the search engine market, an expansion that could send shock waves through the industry. Two-thirds of Internet search queries in the U.S. are made through Google's dominant engine, according to Web ratings firm ComScore.
"Tectonic would be a good word," said Tim Cadogan, chief executive of OpenX, an online advertising company in Pasadena and former senior Yahoo executive who oversaw the company's search efforts. "It creates a viable competitive force in the search landscape to be able to compete with Google."
Read More >
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
69% Of Adults Don't Know What Twitter Is
69% of adults surveyed have little knowledge of what Twitter is, the LA Times reports, citing a LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll.
Of 2,025 adults surveyed, 69% said they didn't know enough about Twitter to comment on it.
More stats:
Of 1,015 advertisers surveyed, 17% didn't know much about the microblogging service.
50% of advertisers surveyed said they expected Twitter to experience a huge growth in the next few years.
20% felt Twitter was only for young people.
Only 12% of consumers surveyed said Twitter use would grow in the coming years, and an equal percent felt only young people used Twitter.
The conversation about this story »
Of 2,025 adults surveyed, 69% said they didn't know enough about Twitter to comment on it.
More stats:
Of 1,015 advertisers surveyed, 17% didn't know much about the microblogging service.
50% of advertisers surveyed said they expected Twitter to experience a huge growth in the next few years.
20% felt Twitter was only for young people.
Only 12% of consumers surveyed said Twitter use would grow in the coming years, and an equal percent felt only young people used Twitter.
The conversation about this story »
Sunday, July 26, 2009
US hopes China talks spur economic recovery, jobs
With the global economy mired in recession, the United States and China begin talks Monday to seek a solution together despite tensions over currencies, the U.S. budget deficit and the huge U.S. trade gap with China.
Ultimately, how well the U.S. efforts succeed could help determine how fast the economy recovers and how many U.S. jobs might be created once it does.
Other issues, such as climate control and North Korean nuclear ambitions, also will command attention. Few expect the talks to bridge the sharp differences between Beijing and Washington. But both governments want to use the occasion to help build a less confrontational relationship.
Three years ago, Henry Paulson, then Treasury secretary, used the talks to press Beijing to let its currency, the yuan, rise in value against the dollar, to make it cheaper for Chinese to buy U.S. goods. U.S. manufacturers blame an undervalued yuan for record U.S. trade deficits with China — and, in part, for a decline in U.S. jobs. Read More >
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer.
Ultimately, how well the U.S. efforts succeed could help determine how fast the economy recovers and how many U.S. jobs might be created once it does.
Other issues, such as climate control and North Korean nuclear ambitions, also will command attention. Few expect the talks to bridge the sharp differences between Beijing and Washington. But both governments want to use the occasion to help build a less confrontational relationship.
Three years ago, Henry Paulson, then Treasury secretary, used the talks to press Beijing to let its currency, the yuan, rise in value against the dollar, to make it cheaper for Chinese to buy U.S. goods. U.S. manufacturers blame an undervalued yuan for record U.S. trade deficits with China — and, in part, for a decline in U.S. jobs. Read More >
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Firefox 3.5.1 Fixes Critical Security Flaw
The Mozilla Corp. has released Firefox 3.5.1, a new version of their Web browser. The new release corrects a security problem the company acknowledged earlier this week as "critical." Firefox is available for free download from the Web site.
Firefox 3.5.1 corrects the security flaw identified in Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory 2009-41: a problem with the software's "Just-In-Time" (JIT) compiler used for JavaScript. A crash could result in an exploitable memory corruption problem that could, under certain cases, be exploited by an attacker to run arbitrary code, like malware.
Several stability improvements have also been made. Mozilla first outlined plans to release Firefox 3.5.1 earlier this month.
Firefox 3.5.1 corrects the security flaw identified in Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory 2009-41: a problem with the software's "Just-In-Time" (JIT) compiler used for JavaScript. A crash could result in an exploitable memory corruption problem that could, under certain cases, be exploited by an attacker to run arbitrary code, like malware.
Several stability improvements have also been made. Mozilla first outlined plans to release Firefox 3.5.1 earlier this month.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Is "Cloud Computing" the Future?
Internet users heavily into cloud computing, most unknowingly
Those who put photos on Facebook, send messages via Gmail or play Club Penguin are accessing programs and software files stored far away in cavernous rooms containing thousands of computers.
Google Inc. made waves in the tech world this week when it announced plans to release an operating system called Google Chrome OS that would encourage wider use of something called cloud computing.
Although most have never heard of cloud computing, many do it every day. By uploading photos to Facebook, sending messages via Gmail or playing Club Penguin online, users are accessing programs and software files that are kept far away in cavernous, climate-controlled rooms containing thousands of computers.
By Alex Pham - July 10, 2009 - Read More >
Those who put photos on Facebook, send messages via Gmail or play Club Penguin are accessing programs and software files stored far away in cavernous rooms containing thousands of computers.
Google Inc. made waves in the tech world this week when it announced plans to release an operating system called Google Chrome OS that would encourage wider use of something called cloud computing.
Although most have never heard of cloud computing, many do it every day. By uploading photos to Facebook, sending messages via Gmail or playing Club Penguin online, users are accessing programs and software files that are kept far away in cavernous, climate-controlled rooms containing thousands of computers.
By Alex Pham - July 10, 2009 - Read More >
10 Things That Could Still Go Wrong with the Economy
The recent buoyancy of the financial markets has created a sense of calm about the economy. The overall sense of panic has gone.
But there's still a wariness in the air, a feeling that the fragile "green shoots" of the recovery might be stomped out by some new crisis. People are waiting for the next shoe to drop.
Here we suggest 10 things that might stymie our recovery. Some are purely financial events. Others are geopolitical. And one involves these little piggies.
Did your favorite nightmare scenario make the cut?
1. Swine Flu Second Wave: Typically, influenza outbreaks come in waves, getting worse with each one. The very ease with which we seem to have survived the first wave of swine flu may make us vulnerable to a horrific second wave.
2. Commercial Real Estate Collapse: Various commercial real estate deals face trillions in refinancing obligations over the coming years. But the market is practically closed, ensuring massive bankruptcies and restructuring.
Why are lenders so freaked out? Because existing loans are going sour at a pace unlike anything we've seen in history. Because of that, even commercial real estate properties with strong cash flows are finding financing extremely difficult to come by.
3. The Option Adjustable Rate Mortgage Explosion: Anyone referring to the "subprime crisis" has got to get with the program. The subprime wave of defaults is basically over. Now the question is, what about all the other types of mortgages? You know, Option ARM, Alt-As and of course, good old fashioned prime mortgage.
The big wave of Option ARM resets has yet to come, and given the drop in home prices, refinancing won't be realistic. Let's hope the homeowners can afford their new monthly payments.
4. Global Food Crisis: As we saw last year, the global food supply teeters on the edge of adequacy. Any serious shock--floods in the Midwest, a war in Asia, social unrest in China, political upheaval in Thailand or Egypt--could result in shortages in countries that import large amounts of their food.
5. Israel Bombs Iran: The Obama administration's openness to the Iranian regime may have the perverse effect of emboldening its nuclear ambitions. Very likely, the fears of the nuclear Iran are over-stated. It would probably behave like most members of the global nuke club, cowed by its own destructive power into behaving responsibly.
But Iran isn't the only country to worry about in the region. Israel may not be willing to tolerate a nuclear armed Iran, and may choose to strike out to destroy Iran's nascent nuclear capabilities. This would obvious raise tensions throughout the Middle East. At the very least, oil prices will likely spike and remain elevated following any military action against Iran. This, in turn, will slow the global economy.
6. A Wave of Municipal Defaults: Historically, cities and states don't default on their loans very much. But as Warren Buffett pointed out, historical results don't mean jack because muni insurance wasn't around. Unless it gets a bailout, California may go bankrupt, causing the muni market to seize up, bringing public works and spending to a halt, kneecapping GDP.
At that point, with no ability to borrow, the other states will rush to default themselves, sparing their taxpayers any more pain.
7. Another Bank Run: It seems unlikely, given the government's implicit guarantee of the banking sector, but it's always possible that investors or lenders could lose confidence in one of the banks again, prompting a financing run a la Bear Stearns.
If this happened, we'd be back to square one with all the confidence and bailouts since Lehman's collapse -- only, the government would have fewer bullets left in the gun.
8. Runaway Inflation: The Federal Reserve seems confident that it can "land the recovery." Is it right?
There's good reason to be skeptical that the Fed will be able to reduce the monetary base before it floods out into the economy, driving up prices and destroying savings. For one thing, the Fed has never really been very good at doing this. By the time the Fed realizes that inflation is taking off, it may be too late.
9. North Korean Missile Launch: Wee dictator Kim Jong II has lulled the world to sleep, performing missile tests on a seemingly daily basis. What was once a cause for alarm now barely merits a bulletin on CNBC. In fact, the dollar has rallied on the nervousness.
But his neighbors in China, South Korea and Japan are freaked out and an actual war, or genuine provocation, could wreak havoc on far eastern trade. This might cause investors to flee towards the dollar, but it would be terrible for markets and economic activity.
10. Chinese Financial Crisis: Most economic discussion of China these days is about how dependent the US government has become on China buying Treasury bonds. But China has lately learned that its own economy is dangerously leveraged on foreign demand for Chinese manufactured goods. The global downturn has helped expose the fragility of the Chinese economic miracle, and worse might be coming.
A collapse of profits in China could very well spark a banking crisis, much like the collapse of real estate prices did to US financial institutions. Very little attention has been paid to the fragility of the Chinese financial system, which is dominated by large, slow, non-transparent, often corrupt state-run banks and centralized decision making. Slowing exports could be the tide that goes out and reveals which Chinese banks have been swimming naked. And the Chinese financial system, which has almost no effective securitization and therefore high concentrations of financial risk, is much less prepared to deal bank failures than the US was.
Of course, this will be bad news for the US. Any financial crisis in China will hurt the demand for our debt, both public and private, driving up interest rates and slowing down the US economy. This, in turn, would reduce demand for Chinese exports, exposing shaky banks to risk of collapse all over again.
By John Carney and Joe Weisenthal
The Business Insider, June 11, 2009
But there's still a wariness in the air, a feeling that the fragile "green shoots" of the recovery might be stomped out by some new crisis. People are waiting for the next shoe to drop.
Here we suggest 10 things that might stymie our recovery. Some are purely financial events. Others are geopolitical. And one involves these little piggies.
Did your favorite nightmare scenario make the cut?
1. Swine Flu Second Wave: Typically, influenza outbreaks come in waves, getting worse with each one. The very ease with which we seem to have survived the first wave of swine flu may make us vulnerable to a horrific second wave.
2. Commercial Real Estate Collapse: Various commercial real estate deals face trillions in refinancing obligations over the coming years. But the market is practically closed, ensuring massive bankruptcies and restructuring.
Why are lenders so freaked out? Because existing loans are going sour at a pace unlike anything we've seen in history. Because of that, even commercial real estate properties with strong cash flows are finding financing extremely difficult to come by.
3. The Option Adjustable Rate Mortgage Explosion: Anyone referring to the "subprime crisis" has got to get with the program. The subprime wave of defaults is basically over. Now the question is, what about all the other types of mortgages? You know, Option ARM, Alt-As and of course, good old fashioned prime mortgage.
The big wave of Option ARM resets has yet to come, and given the drop in home prices, refinancing won't be realistic. Let's hope the homeowners can afford their new monthly payments.
4. Global Food Crisis: As we saw last year, the global food supply teeters on the edge of adequacy. Any serious shock--floods in the Midwest, a war in Asia, social unrest in China, political upheaval in Thailand or Egypt--could result in shortages in countries that import large amounts of their food.
5. Israel Bombs Iran: The Obama administration's openness to the Iranian regime may have the perverse effect of emboldening its nuclear ambitions. Very likely, the fears of the nuclear Iran are over-stated. It would probably behave like most members of the global nuke club, cowed by its own destructive power into behaving responsibly.
But Iran isn't the only country to worry about in the region. Israel may not be willing to tolerate a nuclear armed Iran, and may choose to strike out to destroy Iran's nascent nuclear capabilities. This would obvious raise tensions throughout the Middle East. At the very least, oil prices will likely spike and remain elevated following any military action against Iran. This, in turn, will slow the global economy.
6. A Wave of Municipal Defaults: Historically, cities and states don't default on their loans very much. But as Warren Buffett pointed out, historical results don't mean jack because muni insurance wasn't around. Unless it gets a bailout, California may go bankrupt, causing the muni market to seize up, bringing public works and spending to a halt, kneecapping GDP.
At that point, with no ability to borrow, the other states will rush to default themselves, sparing their taxpayers any more pain.
7. Another Bank Run: It seems unlikely, given the government's implicit guarantee of the banking sector, but it's always possible that investors or lenders could lose confidence in one of the banks again, prompting a financing run a la Bear Stearns.
If this happened, we'd be back to square one with all the confidence and bailouts since Lehman's collapse -- only, the government would have fewer bullets left in the gun.
8. Runaway Inflation: The Federal Reserve seems confident that it can "land the recovery." Is it right?
There's good reason to be skeptical that the Fed will be able to reduce the monetary base before it floods out into the economy, driving up prices and destroying savings. For one thing, the Fed has never really been very good at doing this. By the time the Fed realizes that inflation is taking off, it may be too late.
9. North Korean Missile Launch: Wee dictator Kim Jong II has lulled the world to sleep, performing missile tests on a seemingly daily basis. What was once a cause for alarm now barely merits a bulletin on CNBC. In fact, the dollar has rallied on the nervousness.
But his neighbors in China, South Korea and Japan are freaked out and an actual war, or genuine provocation, could wreak havoc on far eastern trade. This might cause investors to flee towards the dollar, but it would be terrible for markets and economic activity.
10. Chinese Financial Crisis: Most economic discussion of China these days is about how dependent the US government has become on China buying Treasury bonds. But China has lately learned that its own economy is dangerously leveraged on foreign demand for Chinese manufactured goods. The global downturn has helped expose the fragility of the Chinese economic miracle, and worse might be coming.
A collapse of profits in China could very well spark a banking crisis, much like the collapse of real estate prices did to US financial institutions. Very little attention has been paid to the fragility of the Chinese financial system, which is dominated by large, slow, non-transparent, often corrupt state-run banks and centralized decision making. Slowing exports could be the tide that goes out and reveals which Chinese banks have been swimming naked. And the Chinese financial system, which has almost no effective securitization and therefore high concentrations of financial risk, is much less prepared to deal bank failures than the US was.
Of course, this will be bad news for the US. Any financial crisis in China will hurt the demand for our debt, both public and private, driving up interest rates and slowing down the US economy. This, in turn, would reduce demand for Chinese exports, exposing shaky banks to risk of collapse all over again.
By John Carney and Joe Weisenthal
The Business Insider, June 11, 2009
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