dan tynan on Jan 01 2011 | Filed under: Facebook, Google, ITworld, TY4NS, Web 2.0, yahoo
As I write this there are but a few hours left of 2010, which I believe will be remembered as the year Facebook became the dominant force on the InterWebs, supplanting even mighty Google in its reach and depth. What will happen in 2011? Beats me. But that won’t stop me from offering up some [...]
dan tynan on Nov 02 2009 | Filed under: Cringley, Da Web, Facebook, Infoworld, Web 2.0
I’ve written a bit lately about how cyber thieves using social media to scam people. It turns out the most egregious scammers are many so-called “legitimate” companies that run deceptive ads on these networks. TechCrunch has a fascinating series on how advertisers are using social games to trick Facebook and MySpace users into forking over [...]
dan tynan on Oct 21 2009 | Filed under: Cringley, Da Web, Infoworld, Video, Web 2.0, Wired
Online content factory Demand Media has a new way to generate blogs and videos, using software and a network of human drones. Welcome to your Web nightmare.
dan tynan on Mar 31 2009 | Filed under: (anti) social media, Computerworld, Culture Crash, Facebook, Foolishness, Twit or Tweet, Web 2.0
Like many people, Randy Hallet is fed up with the Facebooking of the planet. Unlike most, he’s decided to do something about it. The 30-something Webpreneur has created what he calls “the anti-social network.” Hallet declined to speak by phone, though he did agree to an interview via Twitter. He tweeted: “I’m fed up with [...]
dan tynan on Mar 11 2009 | Filed under: (anti) social media, Computerworld, Culture Crash, Da Web, Facebook, Web 2.0
Would you prefer the chocolate cinnamon dogshit or the raspberry swirl? In the end, it’s still dogshit.
dan tynan on Feb 25 2009 | Filed under: (anti) social media, Facebook, Web 2.0
Social media is on the rise, and so are the privacy and security risks. Is it time to dial back on the whole Web 2.0 ‘friend’ thing?
dan tynan on Oct 23 2008 | Filed under: PC World, Spamarama
This post originally appeared on PCworld.com. As more and more spammers are arrested, prosecuted, and sued under state and federal antispam statutes, there’s one thing you can count on: Someone somewhere will invariably call the targeted spammer a “spam king.” It seems the bulk e-mail industry has more kings than a pinochle deck. But who [...]
dan tynan on Oct 01 2008 | Filed under: (anti) social media, Geekishness, Web 2.0
Think you know how to mind your manners in the brave new world of social networks? You may be in for a rude awakening. [Note: A severely neutered version of this story appears on Macworld.com. Call that version “Copyeditors Gone Wild.” Here's what this story was supposed to look like.] Etiquette used to be easy. [...]
dan tynan on Sep 17 2008 | Filed under: (anti) social media, PC World, Privacy, Web 2.0
As Texas is to nude art teachers, Illinois is to scantily clad cheerleading coaches. In April 2007, 25-year-old Natosha Shaw was temporarily stripped of her pom poms when parents at Waukegan High discovered sexy photos on Shaw’s MySpace profile. Parents claimed the aspiring dancer/model was also "inexperienced, incompetent, and immature" as well as under dressed. [...]
dan tynan on Sep 17 2008 | Filed under: Google, Web 2.0, yahoo
Do search terms really indicate what Americans are thinking? It all depends if you believe Americans are actually thinking. Cringely has more.
dan tynan on Sep 16 2008 | Filed under: (anti) social media, Foolishness, Lists, PC World, Privacy, Web 2.0
What do you do with a drunken pirate? Throw her in the brig–or, if you’re Millersville University, deny her a teaching degree. That’s what happened to Stacey Snyder, a then-27-year-old student teacher who posted a self portrait to her MySpace page under the caption "drunk pirate," even though it was not clear from the photo [...]
dan tynan on Sep 16 2008 | Filed under: (anti) social media, Lists, PC World, Privacy, Video, Web 2.0, youtube
What is it about firehouses that makes people want to take off their clothes? In this case, Boston fireman Alberto Arroyo got in trouble for stripping down to take part in a body-building competition last May. (He finished eighth in the 2008 Pro Natural American Championships, by the way.) There’s nothing wrong with fire fighters [...]
dan tynan on Sep 16 2008 | Filed under: (anti) social media, PC World, Privacy, Web 2.0
Now that an ex-beauty queen is running for the VP slot, life may be easier for hot mommas who also happen to be office holders. It will be too late to help Carmen Kontur-Gronquist, though. The former mayor of Arlington, Oregon, got in hot water with her constituents after a family member posted photos to [...]
dan tynan on Sep 16 2008 | Filed under: (anti) social media, Da Web, Foolishness, Lists, PC World, Privacy, Video, Web 2.0, youtube
It’s bad enough to dress up like you’re about to slip a dollar under some toothless child’s pillow. But former intern Kevin Colvin made it much worse by asking his boss at Anglo Irish Bank if he could take time off for a “family emergency in New York,” then flitting off to a Halloween party [...]
dan tynan on Mar 27 2008 | Filed under: Cringley, Infoworld, National insecurity
(This post originally appeared on Infoworld’s Notes From the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely My last post about Sequoia Voting Systems and its painfully stupid e-voting machines inspired both cheers and jeers from the Cringe faithful. Cringester E. N. believes we should all just grow up and accept that mistakes happen (though he seems [...]
dan tynan on Mar 09 2008 | Filed under: Da Web, PC World
In researching my PCworld.com story on wunderkids, I asked Ashley Qualls (AshBo to her friends) how it felt like to build a site to give away her MySpace designs and turn it into a thriving business. Whateverlife.com now pulls in more than $1 million a year in ad revenue. Did I mention that Ashley started [...]
