Wow, who would have guessed that visiting adult Web sites would be dangerous to the health of your computer? I mean, of all of the genres of sites out there—sports, tech, politics, books, etc.—the last I would have predicted to be dangerous was adult ones. Thanks, International Secure System Lab → Read More
A daring escape plan ended with parental scolding. Three patients (or “inmates,” if you prefer) at a Chinese Internet addiction center staged a coup of sorts, overpowering guards and fleeing the area. All went according to plan until they hopped in a taxi and were unable to pay. The driver became annoyed, called the authorities, drawing the adventure to a close. → Read More
I must be seeing things… is that an official WWE YouTube page, and one that already has last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw online? This is so unlike WWE, embracing technology. They must have hired someone new in recent weeks, someone who told them that, you know, the Internet isn’t merely for “geeks” anymore. → Read More
What is the Internet for? It’s certainly not for education or the betterment of humankind. No… No, the Internet is for porn, and the sooner we admit this to ourselves, the better. New stats show that, yeah, people don’t like Internet porn, they love it! One great stat to get us started: 25 percent of all searches are porn-related. One out of every four times someone goes to Google they’re… → Read More
Matt invited us to a Facebook party last week, something along the lines of “CLICK HERE FOR A FREE IPAD~!” Now, I knew this was malware-related because I know Matt knows I wouldn’t want an iPad—free or otherwise. Clearly something smelled fishy here. The point is, even so-called techies can be the victim of malware. There’s a new scam going around Facebook right now that, while not malicious… → Read More
The federal government wants to take control of the Internet in the event of an “imminent cyber threat,” as declared by the president. What constitutes an “imminent cyber threat”? You’d need two things: a known, pretty darn big flaw in the network and knowledge that someone was planning on exploiting that flaw. So, if you received a tip that, say, hackers working for the government of Rival… → Read More
What’s the best site on the Web these days? Wikipedia, correct. Haters will hate, of course, pointing to this or that error, or highlighting high-profile compilations, but the spirit of the site endures: free and open information for all. Now a study has been published that says, you know what, on the whole, the information on Wikipedia isn’t any less accurate than you’ll find elsewhere. Does this… → Read More
There’s just no hope anymore. The GOP, one of the two great political parties in the United States, recently requested people submit ideas to be incorporated into the party’s platform this fall. A Web site was created. And then, predictably, people starting trolling the site. “A ‘teacher’ told my child in class that dolphins were mammals and not fish! And the same thing about whales! We need… → Read More
There’s a campaign brewing on Twitter that really ought to be highlighted, if only because it shows the power (well, potential power) of the site. Dave McDonald, a producer on the Ron and Fez show on Sirius XM (and part-time inventor), needs a raise. He needs a raise because he has a growing family to support. But let’s not even bring up personal reasons. The man deserves a raise because he’s a… → Read More
UFC President Dana White believes the Internet is the future of television, so this Roku deal makes all kinds of sense. Beginning with next week’s pay-per-view, UFC 114, Roku owners will be able to stream live UFC events right to their TV. It’s in HD, too. Nothing but the best for you guys! → Read More
People who hate to see technology in soccer, rejoice! England manager Fabio Capello has delayed the launch of the so-called Capello Index, a Web site that would have tracked various statistical measures of England players. It was to have started with the World Cup next month and continue into the Premier League season, but the whole project has been shelved for the time being. → Read More
This is probably a case of where the idea is sound but humans will no doubt muck everything up. Thirty-three states here in the good ol’ U.S. will allow military and overseas citizens to vote via the Internet beginning with the mid-term election in November. This is being done in part to ensure that overseas voters’ votes, you know, count. I don’t know how many of y’all have ever lived overseas… → Read More
Pretty important day in the history of the World Wide Web, if not the Internet as a whole. ICANN, sorta the Internet’s regulator, will for the first time now allow non-Latin characters for Web addresses. That means that, if we wanted, sometime in the future we could register a Russian version of CrunchGear.com at KPYHЧГИP.PYC (that’s just an example, who knows what the actual Russian country… → Read More
It was 10 years ago that FC Bayern Munich beat Valencia CF for the UEFA Champions League. (Incidentally, FC Bayern Munich may win again this year when it plays FC Internationale on May 22, but my money’s on Inter; the bookies agree) Also 10 years ago: the Lovebug virus wreaked havoc on the Internet. Where were you during this trying time? → Read More
Heads up to you Mac folk. Opera has released a new version of its eponymous browser, version 10.52, that brings a number of improvements to the game. Might be we worth a look if you’re tired of Safari and Firefox, or don’t want to subject yourself to the Google borg with Chrome. → Read More
Looks like the FCC wants to replace your Cable Card with, I don’t know, something useful. The new device, dubbed “AllVid,” would work with a variety of media—TVs, computers, and the like—to deliver “multichannel video programming and Internet content.” And I’m the Queen of England~! → Read More
Remember when 56K modems first came out? I remember walking around the mall thinking to myself, “Man, the Internet must be so fast with that thing!” I mention this because Akamai Technologies, the company which pretty much powers the Internet’s biggest sites, has published a list of the fastest Internet cities in America. The winner is Berkley, Calif., which has an average Internet speed of 18.7… → Read More
Don’t mess with Canada, I suppose. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested someone last month for selling pirated games over the Internet. Of all the dumb things I’ve read, that’s right up there with the best of them. Like, selling pirated video games on the Internet should be featured in “World’s Dumbest Criminals” on some trash-television channel. → Read More
Call me crazy, but Web sites usually work best when they’re online. Nobody knows this better than we do here at CrunchGear, where the site is down a good 20 percent of the time. But at the very least you’re not paying for our crummy service, unlike the poor FoxSoccer.tv customers. Fox wants $45 per season for online access to a whole host of content, including live games from all over the world. → Read More
You guys have heard of Google, right? Congratulations, you’re smarter than the likes of Sonyand Adidas! A new study has found that these companies, and other prominent FIFA World Cup sponsors, like Coca-Cola and Emirates, have failed to leverage Google (specifically) and the Internet (more generally) to link themselves to the event. You’d think that after shelling out so much money to be known as… → Read More
Something called the iPad comes out in a few days, and I’m not quite sure what it is. It’s like a less powerful laptop, right? Hmm… Anyhow, Apple has published a lists of sites that are now 100 percent “iPad ready.” Anyone else looking forward to sites having giant “Works With iPad!” banners and buttons and whatnot? → Read More
All that talk of UFCnot “getting” the Internet? Yeah, it’s time to put that idea to rest. The company’s longtime TV partner, SpikeTV, launched ultimatefighter.com earlier today, a place where mixed martial arts fans can watch the entire Ultimate Fighter library online. For free. Let that sink in—still think Dana White hates the Internet? In addition to serving up all 231 fights in the… → Read More
Pretty much spot-on, this. There’s an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal that argues that Americans should badger Congress and the president, asking them to hold off on doling out stimulus dollars to electronic medical record systems that don’t have appropriate privacy safeguards in place. As it stands, electronic medial records aren’t exactly sealed—insurance companies can peek at them, as… → Read More
Symantec published a report recently listing the 50 riskiest places to be online, as apparently having that many beardos in one place can only result in evil. Seattle made the top of the list, however San Francisco, Boston, and Washington D.C. made it up near the top as well. → Read More
Kudos to Comcast for embracing the year 2009. The nation’s largest—and quite possibly worst—ISP has finally committed itself to deploying 100 mbps broadband beginning this year. That will make the FCC happy, what with the loft goals it set with its National Broadband Plan. It’s also good news for people who know their way around things like Usenet—taps nose like a spy. Will it… → Read More
Today’s a very important day in the history of me using the Internet, a history that began in late 1996. Ladies and gentleman, I have completely uninstalled AdBlock. I do believe that makes me a man in the Jewish faith, so I’ll be expecting presents from all of you. → Read More
Just hilarious. Apparently the U.S. intelligence community thought Wikileaks so odious that it labeled it a “potential force protection, counterintelligence, operational security (OPSEC), and information security (INFOSEC) threat to the US Army.” Good ol’ Wikileaks, bringing down the U.S. government. → Read More
The FCC would like to know what you do with broadband. This is what I do, and what I imagine 99 percent of Americans use it for. → Read More
Might as well get this over with now. The FCC has announced its National Broadband Plan, which describes where the agency would like to see the U.S. in a few years’ time vis-à-vis broadband and connectedness. It’s sorta like the UK’s Digital Britain report, published last year. The big thing is this: it’s in America’s best interest to turn itself into a first-world nation again, and the best way… → Read More
Up until a moment ago, this was going to be a standard “newsy” post: the FCC will announce its National Broadband Plan on Tuesday, here’s what it’s all about. Then I read the comments of a PC World article discussing that very same plan—many people are outraged that the government would muscle its way into the free market! If Americans wanted fast broadband then the market would provide it… → Read More
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
Berlin, Germany
San Francisco
