tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:05:56 +0000http://news.directory-direct.com/noreply@blogger.com (Business blog)Blogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-9062072896288038286Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:01:00 +00002008-07-23T08:05:56.842-07:00It seems as though other mobile telephones have ceased to exist since the advent of the iPhone. You could have the newest, most hi tech, up to date phone, and you would still not be the coolest one in the room if there was anyone with an iPhone. So what could possibly be wrong? What with a 41% increase in sales everything should be fine and dandy at Apple. And yet, problems seem to be looming, http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/07/apple-sales-soar-problems-loom.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-4758372859221728979Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:59:00 +00002008-07-22T04:16:11.394-07:00I've been observing Yahoo's situation over the last few weeks and joked like many others I'm sure, that it should be renamed "Yahoo?". In my last post on the subject, several execs had already abandoned ship with more poised to take the plunge. Then deals failed with Microsoft after Yahoo turned down a buy out offer, then went back to that offer which had been taken of the table, and rejected a http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/07/yahoo-survives-by-skin-of-its-teeth.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-29491900497388517Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:33:00 +00002008-07-21T03:30:57.659-07:00Well things seem to be turning up for Google. It has just come in first in a poll of brands preferred in the UK, it has managed to save our private information in the lawsuit against it by Viacom, and it has recorded 35% rise in profits this second quarter, even though their prediction was slightly higher. Some are disappointed with Google not hitting their target profit, but a 35% profit http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/07/google-beats-microsoft-mercedes-and-bbc.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-7393268101971501103Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:57:00 +00002008-07-18T05:20:36.016-07:00I was not a fan of the first Tomb Raider. For some strange reason I did not find the gameplay appealing and the amount of times you had to go through the same stage to get it right made it seem like more of a chore. However, all that changed when I played the most recent instalment of the game which was atmospheric and very exciting. However, I am strictly a PC gamer and all the fancy new http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/07/new-tomb-raider-underworld-out-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-425718224927017203Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:20:00 +00002008-07-17T03:48:27.084-07:00A few weeks ago we heard that Sony was trying to reclaim a portion of the market that it had not paid enough attention to, software. The electronics giant is the largest electronic goods producer in the world, but was losing out on very large profits seeing as customers were using their equipment with other companies' software. And Sony announced that the new Sony Bravia HD would include an http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/07/amazon-and-sony-bravia-hd-online-video.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-2739672095254677838Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:47:00 +00002008-07-16T05:51:17.427-07:00I was upset a couple of weeks ago when I found out about Viacom's victory in their litigation case against Google, specifically concerning their subsidiary YouTube. Viacom's win in the courtroom meant that Google had been ordered to hand over all the information on all the users of YouTube, because an estimated 160,000 clips that infringed the media giant's copyright had been viewed 1.5 billion http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/07/viacom-and-youtube-agreement-reached.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-5762723447068153454Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:16:00 +00002008-07-15T12:47:48.540-07:00Very much in the path of Morgan Spurlock in the “Super Size Me” documentary about an exclusive McDonald’s diet and Giles Coren and Sue Perkins in the recent “The Supersizers Go...”, anti-virus developer McAfee gathered up a number of volunteers from ten countries to play the role of internet un-savvy guinea pigs in a pioneering experiment around spam emails for 30 days. The parameters of the http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/07/mcafee-tests-spam-activity-in-uk.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Angelino Rosso)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-6256795788218247736Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:41:00 +00002008-07-03T09:17:31.560-07:00In a ruling that many view as an unofficial infringement of online privacy rights, a US court has ruled that Google is to reveal the viewing habits of any of their users who have ever watched a video on YouTube. This court case was an ongoing battle between Google and Viacom regarding a number of clips on YouTube which Viacom considers are massive copyright infringement. Therefore, Google will http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/07/youtube-viewers-habits-to-be-given-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-6862161649818515858Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:32:00 +00002008-07-02T08:55:41.916-07:00I remember spending summer afternoons geeking out with my brother in front of the PC, slaughtering demons and what not to an ecclesiastic soundtrack. It was 1996, and Diablo was one of the best games of the year. It was a bit difficult to explain the pentagram on the box to my nan, so I just hid it. It's been more than a decade and my flatmate still plays Diablo 2, so it was through him that I http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/07/diablo-3-looks-impressive.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-2136747954353612223Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:28:00 +00002008-07-01T16:43:27.810-07:00It must have been somewhat embarassing for the behemoth that is Microsoft to get turned down twice by Yahoo in the whole search engine debacle. Even though the results were mixed for Yahoo (they made more money than they would have done if they had signed with Microsoft but are in danger of being sued by their shareholders and execs are migrating away from the company), Microsoft now has to find http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/07/microsoft-trying-to-catch-up-with.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-6291434664208379880Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:12:00 +00002008-06-30T09:12:52.581-07:00 Ebay has been ordered to pay 40 million euro by a French court, after it failed to stop transactions on fake "brand" products through its website. The companies are part of the LVMH group, which includes Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Givenchy. The group is suing both for the auctioning of fake luggage and handbags, as well as for the sale of perfumes. There are some more significant http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/ebay-fined-over-fake-goods.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-7160490773202211644Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:26:00 +00002008-06-28T11:50:56.351-07:00US cable television companies are facing criticism after plans to share their customers' viewing habits, in order to tempt advertising money through ads that will be more specific to each viewer. This is not a new technique in any way, it is used on the Internet where depending on user searches, websites visited or location, specific ads are shown which are more likely to be relevant to the user.http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/cable-tv-targetted-ads-criticised.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-8954816570263308326Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:44:00 +00002008-06-26T16:59:37.771-07:00Sony has pledged that this fiscal year they will turn a profit in their TV and video games branch by giving almost all of its electronic products wireless Internet connectivity capabilities by 2011. This move is a revival of Sony after a bad few years that saw it shut down factories, donwnsize categories and cut thousands of jobs around the world. Sony wants the software and connectivity that http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/sony-vows-to-turn-profit-in-tv-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-6629277422411864450Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:41:00 +00002008-06-25T16:07:24.898-07:00One of the world's largest credit card companies, Visa, will pay social networking megasite Facebook £1 million for the promotion of its small business service to their users. The first 20,000 businesses in the US to download Visa's services via Facebook will receive $100 in advertising credit. Visa is trying to take advantage of Facebook's 80 million global audience and help small firms run http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/visa-invests-in-facebook.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-4277855719066889198Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +00002008-06-24T08:45:34.316-07:00I've always enjoyed writing, that's probably why I started blogging back in 1999. However, going through university, writing essays is a different matter. And even there, if you are studying something you are interested essays should be enjoyable. However, what do you do if you need to write an essay about yourself, your experiences, your abilities, without sounding conceited or full of yourselfhttp://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/helping-with-your-college-admission.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-390244471119663743Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:43:00 +00002008-06-23T14:06:48.582-07:00A change like nothing before may be on its way for the Internet, as discussions are being held about the laws and regulations governing domain names. Specifically, the discussions are about top level domain names (.com, .net, .org, etc.) and if the plans are approved it could allow companies to use their own name as the domain itself. Efforts have been made over the last 3 years by Icann, the http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/domain-name-laws-to-be-relaxed.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-8322371738764125979Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:34:00 +00002008-06-20T10:04:42.765-07:00 There have been numerous reports over the past few days about executives in Yahoo! resigning and moving to new companies and the possibility of lawsuits from upsed shareholders, after the Microsoft deal fell through, and Yahoo! ended up going with Google. It may be that these events, the resignations and the lawsuits, go hand in hand, as the execs are trying to get out before the ship sinks. http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/yahoo-turning-into-yahoo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-6057651493097490702Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:55:00 +00002008-06-19T03:18:53.262-07:00YouTube has had longer videos in their content for more than a year now. There are usually two ways of doing this. Somehow uploading a video that lasts for an hour and a half all in one go, which would take you a while, or uploading it in segments. I have watched a number of documentaries that way, and although I sat through the whole thing, it wasn't the most pleasant way of watching anything. http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/youtube-videos-to-get-longer-and-longer.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-5650437389834802889Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:04:00 +00002008-06-18T04:05:31.478-07:00Profits for the world's biggest design software developer, Adobe, have increased by 41% in the second quarter of 2008, thanks to demand for their products (Acrobat, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc.) in Europe and Asia. Nevertheless, stockholders were not pleased with the profit outlook and Adobe shares dropped by between 2.5%-3.1%. Despite the 45 cents per share increase forecast by the company, thehttp://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/adobe-sales-boosted-by-overseas-markets.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-8903499178017791782Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:41:00 +00002008-06-17T03:42:59.148-07:00 The latest installment in the Batman franchise, The Dark Knight, is about to hit us hard this summer. After dark auter Tim Burton's first two films followed a series of not so well executed sequels, ending in what was a garish fluorescent music video, aka Batman and Robin. However director Christopher Nolan came to the rescue and blew us all away with Batman Begins in 2005. Inspired casting http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/dark-knight-returns-to-our-screens.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-882669133993395308Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:49:00 +00002008-06-16T06:16:24.366-07:00 Saying that Yahoo! shareholders are less than happy with the rejection of Microsoft's offer for Yahoo's online search branch, is an understatement. Yahoo preferred to make an ad deal with Google, and as a result Yahoo stock dropped by 7.5%, while Google stock rose. Many of Yahoo's shareholders and certain analysts believe that joining with Microsoft would have been a much more lucrative http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/yahoo-shareholders-not-pleased-with.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-5492305094369450278Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:10:00 +00002008-06-12T02:37:55.215-07:00 A loophole that allows credit card fraudsters to bypass security and make purchases online without raising any alarms in the online purchases security systems was reported by the BBC today. Apparently The Third Man security company noticed the crime being committed completely by chance while they were monitoring sales at an online shop. Apparently, the loophole can be found in the Address http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/retailers-stand-to-lose-millions-from.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-9221832983038567500Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:43:00 +00002008-06-11T10:44:39.963-07:00So BT have finally decided to up their speed. However, the cost of their new BT Broadband Accelerator, part of its Home IT Support Service, is £90 a month. On the one hand, for a consumer such as myself I don't know if it is worth it at the moment. The minimum increase in speed is o.5Mbps and this increase can come about through optimizing your PC, checking the wiring, plugging the modem into thehttp://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/bt-goes-faster-but-at-what-cost_11.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The What Girl)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-1145894348796687524Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:04:00 +00002008-06-11T07:59:06.848-07:00So BT have finally decided to up their speed. However, the cost of their new BT Broadband Accelerator, part of its Home IT Support Service, is £90 a month. On the one hand, for a consumer such as myself I don't know if it is worth it at the moment. The minimum increase in speed is o.5Mbps and this increase can come about through optimizing your PC, checking the wiring, plugging the modem into thehttp://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/bt-goes-faster-but-at-what-cost.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17497652.post-5348013989304387734Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:19:00 +00002008-06-10T10:23:26.209-07:00 There is no doubt that the iPhone and the 3G version are two of the most sleek and beautiful mobile phone devices, although they do a lot more than just function as telephones. So in order to try and tempt some custom away from Nokia and Blackberry, Apple have announced that the new iPhone 3G will be offered to consumers for £100, in its cheapest version with 8Gb of storage. Not a bad deal, as http://news.directory-direct.com/2008/06/apple-drops-price-of-iphone-3g.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Business Online)