| How One Site Beat Google's Anti-Spam Update the Right Way Posted: 13 Jul 2011 03:19 PM PDT  When Google updated its search algorithm a few months back, many so-called content farms saw their search ranking take a big hit. One site that feels it was unfairly targeted is now claiming that by making a few changes (some of them very minor) they were able to claw back significant search traffic. In fact, HubPages says it has gotten back to its pre-update traffic levels.
The site was negatively affected due to the presence of the typical low-cost SEO content Google was going after. But HubPages also produced a fair amount of high-quality articles. CEO Paul Edmondson searched for ways to counteract the search update, but tactics like tightening editorial standards were mostly ineffective. HubPages hit upon the idea of breaking the site into subdomains and bounced the idea off of Google. The Google spam-killer Matt Cutts told Edmondson he should go ahead with his plan, and offered a few more tips. By breaking each author's content into its own subdomain, the Google index was able to sort the good from the bad without penalizing the whole site. The effect was dramatic for those authors using subdomains. HubPages is now in the process of rolling out subdomains for all its authors. The site makes about $10 million annually, and that's after paying 60% of ad revenue to the authors. Do you think Google's anti-spam update went too far, or maybe not far enough? |
| Dream Machine 2011: The Feature Film Posted: 13 Jul 2011 01:53 PM PDT |
| Dear Netflix, It’s Time to Get Your S*** Together Posted: 13 Jul 2011 12:40 PM PDT 
You probably know Netflix raised its prices. And, like everyone else, you're probably outraged at the death of $10 1 disc + streaming plan. But the $6 price hike doesn't have to be the end of the world. First off, everyone should probably calm down and understand that this move isn't a greedy cash grab by Netflix. In fact, the company is actually trying to subvert the establishment, whose own greed has led them to believe that streaming video is a bad thing. Netflix knows streaming is the future. Well over 60% of Netflix customers stream right now. And from the sound of things, the god of red envelopes is aggressively going after streaming content, offering upwards of $100,000 for the rights to a single episode of television. Netflix execs have gone on record saying the less money they spend on mailing DVDs, the more they can spend on acquiring streaming content. From the way Netflix talks, they want to be proactive about going out and getting as much content as they can and establish success before networks and studios can validate their decision to safeguard that content. Sure, Netflix is very profitable, but getting that content will require a significant amount of money up front. But here's the problem: Right now, the Netflix streaming library sucks. Despite the fact that it's a cheaper method of deliver for Netflix and easier to manage for customers, studios would rather Netflix not stream anything at all for fear of losing money on more standard movie licenses. It's mostly full of old and forgotten films that people either have already seen or have no desire to see. Sometimes good movies and TV shows will pop up in, but they generally disappear weeks later. And with The Criterion Collection packing up and moving to Hulu, Netflix's streaming flaws are even more apparent. The other issue: Netflix's DVD service is great, and that only underscores how emaciated its streaming library is. You wait 28-days and you have access to pretty much any movie you could ever want. As long as you have the patience to wait for the movie to arrive, and ability to remember to drop it in a mailbox, it's fine. Comparatively archaic, but fine. Netflix believes this service is still viable in the long term. The problem is, will people really pay $15 for both? And if they pare down to just the DVD-only plan, and turn to another service like Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime for their streaming needs, what does that mean for the future of Netflix's streaming library? Trying to find a middle ground, Netflix has, up until now, sacrificed new movies so that people can have cheap plans. If Netflix wants users to embrace this new $16 1 disc + streaming price model, it needs to understand that maintaining the current cycle of offerings is not enough. And I think they know that. But they need to offer up a better justification for the price raise than this: At the time, we didn't anticipate offering DVD only plans. Since then we have realized that there is still a very large continuing demand for DVDs both from our existing members as well as non-members. Given the long life we think DVDs by mail will have, treating DVDs as a $2 add on to our unlimited streaming plan neither makes great financial sense nor satisfies people who just want DVDs. How about more new releases available to stream? Way more. Announce more exclusive, original TV series, like that awesome David Fincher/Kevin Spacey project that's on the way. And ideally, how about a few major new releases available before the 28 day purgatory? That may be unrealistic, but so is expecting customers to swallow a 50-percent price hike without upping the quality of your product. But the company doesn't have time to sit and ponder its options. There are plenty of alternatives for people to turn to. Hulu is already a fully-realized threat. Amazon Prime essentially offers its streaming library for free (once you factor in the cost of shipping on your Amazon orders), and keeps improving the selection. People who have cable and HBO have access to high quality movies and TV shows through streaming apps and on-demand channels. For people considering going streaming-only in light of the price hike, or never cared about the disc service to begin with, canceling their Netflix subscription all together might not even seem that major. If people want more from Netflix, they need to check in with reality, financially speaking. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings once went on record, putting that exact sentiment into words: We can't afford all the new stuff and offer the service for $8. So at $8, we're a complement to the new-release business. So maybe people need to speak with their wallets instead. Instapaper founder Marco Arment took to Twitter and ventured a guess about the effect the streaming-only plan will have on Netflix, and thinks that if a large number of people go streaming-only, it's possible Netflix will have more firepower to negotiate with going forward. He also thinks it's possible Netflix was caught off guard by the costs involved in scaling up their streaming operation, and needed more financial resources to do so. And Arment is onto something. Netflix needs to find a way to strong arm studios into giving up more streaming content. Right now, the studios have the power. Netflix has everyone's attention now, but Hastings and Co can't just sit on their asses. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this price bump isn't in vain. Image via Flickr/Jovino 
Gizmodo is the world's most fun technology website, focused on gadgets and how they make our lives better, worse, and more absurd. |
| The Chinese Government Shut Down 41% Of The Country's Websites In 2010 Posted: 13 Jul 2011 12:07 PM PDT  China's a great place to go if you want to find a company to manufacture some hardware components, but it's a little less awesome if you want to, say, blog about making those components. The country's ramped up its assault on the Internet over the past few years, jailing "immoral" citizens and shutting down websites left and right. Now, China's bragging about its heavy-handedness; the country boasts that its iron grip strangled the life out of over 1.3 million websites last year alone.
The regulatory chopping block devastated the face of the Chinese Internet. The country's Academy of Social Sciences – we'll call it "ASS" – told BBC News that the shutdowns resulted in a 41 percent decrease of the total number of Chinese websites by the end of 2010. Despite the crackdown, ASS spokesman Liu Ruisheng claimed China enjoyed a "high level of freedom of online speech." Even though almost half of all Chinese websites were culled from the Net last year, the survivors churned out new work at a break-neck pace: the total number of Chinese web pages available skyrocketed by 79 percent. "This means our content is getting stronger, while our supervision is getting more strict and more regulated," the ASS spokesman argued, presumably to the derisive laughter of the BBC reporter. |
| What Are You Worth To A Website? Posted: 13 Jul 2011 10:48 AM PDT Investors left holding the worthless scraps of paper that the Pets.com stock became after the dot-com bubble burst can tell you that figuring out the worth of a Web property can be a tricky proposition. With companies liked LinkedIn, Groupon and Pandora going public and making millions – or billions – on an almost daily basis, media pundits are worried that another bubble may pop soon. Cautious investors trying to stay ahead of the game measure a Web property's worth by its users' worth. So what are you worth to some of the biggest sites on the Web? The Indian version of Technology Review took a peak at some of the numbers. The publication quotes Bijan Sabet, a venture capitalist who says that a viable startup should make at least $2 of revenue per user, per year. Of the companies the study looks at, only Twitter fails to meet that number out, although Pandora toes the line at $2 exactly. In fact, the worth of individual users hovers around $2/ea for most of the web properties out there. Only Groupon and Google enjoy high user values, in fact. 
At almost $80 a head, Groupon blows away the competition in per user revenue, but Technology Review says not to look too much into that, since Groupon users tend to buy expensive deals from the company whereas other companies often rely solely on ad revenue. Google generates almost $30 from every user, and Facebook game maker Zynga comes in third somewhere around $5 per user We're kind of scratching our heads at how some of these companies are raking in the cash with blockbuster IPOs when they're only making around $2 per user per year, but to be fair, economics were never our strong point. Technology Review says thanks to its gargantuan user base and high per-user revenue, Google is far and away the most valuable Web property around. Facebook is rated as the second most valuable property, with Zynga and Groupon tying for third. Image Credit: Technology Review |
| How to Use Windows 7 Problem Steps Recorder to Make Easy PC Guides Posted: 13 Jul 2011 10:42 AM PDT Of the many new features introduced in Windows 7, the humble Problem Steps Recorder was one of the least talked-about. At first glance, the application—which combines an automatic screenshot utility and a sort of low-grade keylogger—appears to be nothing more than a tool to make life a little easier for Microsoft's legion of support personnel. Upon closer inspection, there's actually much more to the Problem Steps Recorder. For one, you don't have to be a Microsoft support rep to view the files created by the Problem Steps Recorder, which means that if your clueless friend insists that his PC doesn't do what it's supposed to, you can have him record his actions, and tell him where he went wrong. Even more interestingly, you can use the PSR on your own machine to quickly and easily create illustrated, annotated PC tutorials. Step 1: Shrink Your Work Area The Problem Steps Recorder punctuates every click you make with a screenshot, showing the entire desktop. If you're running at a very high resolution, or with multiple monitors, these screenshots will be hard to follow along with, so start by disabling your secondary monitor, if you have one, and lowering the resolution to something like 1028x764. Awful, we know, but it's only for a minute. Step 2: Start the Problem Steps Recorder In the tradition of all of Microsoft's handiest utilities, the Problem Steps Recorder isn't plainly visible in the Start menu. To run it, you'll need to open the Run dialogue box by hitting Win + R, and then typing psr.exe (below, top). In a pinch, you can also search for PSR at the bottom of the Start menu. 
The Problem Steps Recorder itself is pretty simple—just three buttons (above, bottom). You probably don't need us to tell you that in order to begin your recording, you hit the Start Record button. Step 3: Perform Your Action Now, simply perform the action that you want to illustrate. Try to do it as economically as possible; the PSR records a new screenshot every single time you click the mouse button, so any unnecessary clicks will make the final guide file longer, larger, and more complicated than it needs to be. 
If you want to elaborate on what you're doing at any time, or explain some onscreen element, click the Add Comment button in the PSR. You'll be prompted to select an area of the screen, and a dialogue box will pop up that allows you to enter a comment (above). Doing this will create another screenshot in the final guide file, with your comment and the area you selected highlighted. Step 4: Share the Results As soon as you hit the Stop button on the PSR, it will ask you where you want to store the .zip file it has created. Name it whatever you like, and put it wherever you want—this is what you're going to share with the person who needs help. Email them the file or share it using a service like Dropbox. 
Inside the zip archive, there will be just a single file, in the .mht format. Your system may not have a default association for .mht, but it's just XML—you can open it with any modern browser (above). Explain to your friend how to extract and open the file (if only you could use the PSR for this!), and that's it—an instant, nicely formatted how-to guide. |
| UK Lawmakers Sweating As Geeky Government Agents Chase Cash And Fast Cars Posted: 13 Jul 2011 10:11 AM PDT  Q, everyone's favorite gadget-smith, never got the respect he deserved. The job carried some great perks, sure – getting his hands on all that cutting-edge tech must have been awesome, and Q stayed immaculately dressed – but in the end, it was always James Bond who got the glory and the tricked out Aston Martins. Q and his friends might end up with the last laugh, though. The British government is warning that it's losing computer whizzes left and right as the allure of big paydays and fast cars are sucking geeky government agents into the private sector.
The news comes on the heels of an annual report by the Intelligence and Security Committee, who oversees the spy-type activities of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and the Security Service (MI5), as well as Britain's Government Communications Headquarters. The country's cybersecurity falls under its jurisdiction, and the committee's worried that a move to keep its budget locked at current levels for the next four years could cost them key personnel. "Month-on-month, we are losing whizzes who'll basically say: 'I'm sorry, I am going to take three times the salary and the car and whatever else'," Reuters reports ISC director Iain Lobban as saying. "...I can offer them a fantastic mission, but I can't compete with their salaries. But I probably have to do better than I am doing at the moment, or else my internet whizzes are not going to stay ... and we do have a steady drip, I am afraid." Cars and money does sound pretty tempting, we have to admit. Lobban claims Britain's networks are hit by over 1,000 cyber attacks month in and month out. Is it wise to freeze raises to the country's top geeks in these days of rampant hack attacks? Only time will tell. |
| RunCore Rolls Out Industry's First SATA 6Gbps mSATA SSD Posted: 13 Jul 2011 09:48 AM PDT  RunCore, a Chinese manufacturer of solid state drives (SSDs) for consumers, enterprise, and military applications, just announced a new line of mSATA SSDs -- T50 -- based on the SandForce SF-2281 controller. These are the first mSATA drives to support SATA 6Gb/s and are aimed primarily at high-end ultraportables with a maximum I/O performance of 60,000 4K random write IOPS and 35,000 random read IOPS.
The T50 is available in three capacities, including 30GB (no price announced), 60GB ($198), and 120GB ($358). These drives offer up to 550MB/s sequential read and up to 470MB/s sequential write speeds. RunCore also announced two other mSATA drive families, the mid-range I50 and entry-level RunCore Lite mSATA. The I50 is targeted at tablets and light laptops with SATA 3GB/s and delivers sequential transfer rates of up to 280MB/s for read and up to 270MB/s for write operations, along with maximum I/O performance of 45,000 4K random write IOPS and 30,000 random read IOPS. These will come in 60GB ($178) and 120GB ($308) capacities. For netbooks, MIDs, tablets, and other such devices, RunCore's Lite mSATA comes built around the SandForce 2141 controller and comes in 16GB ($28) and 32GB ($38) capacities. RunCore didn't reveal performance numbers for these drives, though we know the SandForce 2141 chipset is rated for up to 250MB/s sequential read and write transfers. Image Credit: RunCore |
| Judge Whacks Wi-Fi Hacker with 18-Year Prison Sentence Posted: 13 Jul 2011 08:51 AM PDT  A Minnesota man is finding out that you can actually serve hard time for actling like an all-around jackass online. That can take many forms, but in this case, Barry Ardolf received an 18-year prison sentence for essentially terrorizing his neighborhood through a series of cyberattacks in retaliation for having the cops called on him by his neighbors. It gets more bizarre.
According to the Pioneer Press and Digital Trends, Ardolf's "cybercampaign of terror" was ignited back in 2008 when his neighbors, Matt and Bethany Kostolnick, filed a police report against him for planting what they called a "wet kiss" on their 4-year-old son's lips. According to the police report, the young child wandered over to Ardolf's property shortly after moving into the neighborhood. He then reportedly picked the boy up, carried him back home, and kissed him on the lips. After that incident, Ardolf, 46, then a technician at Medtronic, hacked into the Kostolnik's wireless router using a program he downloaded to crack the WEP encryption. Over the course of 707 days, Kostolnick opened email accounts in Kostolnik's name to send lewd and threatening messages to his contacts, he sent death threats to the vice president and other elected officials using Kostolnik's name, and created a fake MySpace page for Matt Kostolnik and uploaded child porn, which he then emailed to co-workers at Kostolnik's law office. Kostolnik's law office hired a firm to track down the culprit, which it did by installing a packet sniffer. After some time, Ardolf's name and Comcast account came up, and the FBI took over. He was ultimately charged with a number of crimes, including identity theft, unauthorized access to a protected computer, making threats agasint Biden, possession of child pornography, and distribution of child porn. He was charged in June 2010, rejected a plea deal, and was indicted on more charges before going to trial and later pleading guilty. Ardolf, who is a widower and father of three children of his own, apologized to the Kostolniks before sentencing, but according to the Pionner Press, he spent most of the time talking about himself. More details are available here. Check it out, and then tell us if what you think of the punishment. |
| 'Cyber Widows' Speak Out Against the Internet, Social Networks Posted: 13 Jul 2011 08:05 AM PDT  Some marriages are doomed from the start. For example, did anyone think that Drew Barrymore and Tom Green would grow old and funny together? Like those two, Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman barely lasted five months before untieing the knot. Couples get divorced for many reasons, and according to some "cyber widows," technology and the Internet can drive a wedge between partners who otherwise had a happy and healthy relationship.
Marianne Power of Independent Online spoke with a number of divorcees who point to the Internet for ruining their marriage. One of those divorcees include Victoria, a 38-year-old full-time mother who says she played second fiddle to her husband's notebook. "When Craig came home at night, he'd have something to eat, then he'd open up his laptop to respond to work emails," Victoria laments. "I fooled myself that because we were in the same room we were still being together. But as the months passed I felt hurt and rejected that he'd spend hours emailing colleagues, but hardly say a word to me." Victoria claims that his virtual self became more important than his real self, and eventually they just stopped communicating altogether. In another example of a marriage turned sour, Power tells the story of Charlotte, a real estate agent from South London. Charlotte complains that her husband joined Twitter about a year ago as a way to "tell a few gags to his mates." But as his followers increased in number, so too did John's time with Twitter. "Now he is on his mobile phone all the time," Charlotte says. "We never used to argue much, but recently I've lost it when I've been speaking to him about something that's important and he looks down to check his stupid Twitter account." More than isolated incidents, Power claims these and others are cautionary tales of the harm technology is causing in relationships. She cites a recent study of why wives ended their marriage. In it, 15 percent felt their partner put computer games before them. Power points to other studies and surveys, such as one that blames Facebook for one in five divorces, and another in which the phrase "mobile phone" occurred in one out of every eight divorces citing unreasonable behavior. You can read the rest here. |
Despite what was initially suggested in a leaked memo sent to GameStop stores yesterday, the new model of PlayStation 3 will not require owners to use an HDMI cable to play games in high definition. 
