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The Phone Stacking Game: Let’s Make This A Thing

So it’s Saturday night and you’re out with friend. Are they the inconsiderate jerk who can’t stop checking their smartphone? Or is that you

Investors Drive $ZNGA Up 26% In Two Days Following Facebook IPO Filing

Those of us who have been following the social gaming industry already know that Zynga makes up a big portion of Facebook’s revenues. But lots of public investors only seem to have gotten the memo on Wednesday evening, when Facebook’s S-1 filing revealed that the developer accounts for 12% of its total revenues , or $445 million. In the two days since, Zynga’s stock has gone up more than 26%, to close at $13.39 this evening.

I Use Wikipedia More Than Makeup

I just donated $40 to Wikipedia, because I promised myself I would every time I poked fun at its holiday donation drive and then just never got around to it. Did you know that you could actually donate during the off-season (Via the covert “Donate to Wikipedia” link at the far left of each individual entry page)? I didn’t, before I asked Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales whether it was possible to donate in the off-season.

Google Adjusts Political Posture With Sponsorship Of Conservative Conference

In interesting but ultimately not very shocking news, Google has signed on as a major sponsor of the Conservative Political Action Conference , which is more or less what it sounds like. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Kelihos botnet remains very much dead after all

A spam botnet brought down four months ago, which was once capable of pumping out almost four billion spam messages a day,?remains very much dead, two of the companies behind the takedown said. That determination, announced late Friday by Microsoft and Kaspersky Lab representatives, contradicted published reports, including one from Ars , that claimed the network of infected computers had been resurrected. There’s no evidence that control of Kelihos, which also went by the name Hlux, has returned to the control of its creators, the companies said. Read the comments on this post

Upgrade and Speed Up Your Computer This Weekend [Weekendhacker]

It’s a sad fact of life that over time, all of our computers get a little bit slower. Before you start shelling out for a new machine, take some time this weekend to perform some maintenance tasks, upgrade a single piece of hardware, or even overclock your machine for a little speed boost.

Appeals Court overrules lower court, upholds breast cancer gene test

Jul 29th, 2011

A bit over two years ago, a large collection of interested parties joined together with the ACLU to challenge a practice that had become business as usual: the patenting of human genes. The group filed a suit that targeted a specific set of patents: those used by Myriad Genetics to control the market for tests of the BRCA breast cancer genes. In a surprise result, the judge overseeing the case issued a sweeping ruling that not only voided Myriad’s patents, but seemed to put all gene patents at risk. Now that decision has been reversed, as an Appeals Court has upheld the patents in question

Msgboy Makes All Your Favorite Websites a Push Experience

Jul 29th, 2011

Push me, pull me, real time web: we’ve now got enough options available to us when choosing how to consume our favorite web content that we may as well start mixing things up a bit, no? Push delivery technology company Superfeedr today released a new Chrome browser plug-in called Msgboy . (The first 200 people to use this link can get it.) The plug-in accesses your browser’s history and uses it to make a big list of web pages you like and feeds you’re subscribed to. Then it uses Superfeeder’s XMPP and Websockets technology to push new updates from those sources to your browser, in the form of a Chrome Notification.

Pulmon, Add Windows 8 Like Tiles To Windows 7

Jul 29th, 2011

At least part of the user interface of the upcoming next version of Windows, running under the internal name Windows 8, will ship with a Metro UI. Part of that is a tile based system to display information right on the screen. It is likely that Microsoft will let this run on top of the standard desktop, if users want it.

Node.js Creator Ryan Dahl’s Keynote from NodeConf

Jul 29th, 2011

We covered Node.js creator Ryan Dahl’s keynote this year at NodeConf, and he’s since posted the text of the talk. But if you prefer video, you can now watch it on Blip.tv . Since Dahl’s talk, Node.js sponsor Joyent and Microsoft have partnered to bring Node.js to Windows, and the first version with Windows support has been released.

Video: This Guy Plays Air Drums That Actually Make Music

Jul 29th, 2011

I find myself playing the air drums rather regularly, and the drum set on Rock Band is by far my favorite instrument, but neither of those hold a candle to what Maayan Migdal has up his sleeve. My air drums don’t make real music. My Rock Band drums do, but they also take up a hunk of space in my room. His make real music and are invisible

Apple’s Mobile Domination Continues, Now No. 1 Smartphone Supplier Worldwide

Jul 29th, 2011

Apple is now the largest supplier of smartphones across the globe, according to reports from research firms IDC and Strategy Analytics on second quarter device sales. Apple sold 20.3 million iPhones in the second quarter to jump Nokia to take the top spot with 18.5% of global market share. Samsung also overtook Nokia with 19.2 million smartphones shipped and 17.2% of the market ahead of Nokia’s 15.2%.

Why You Shouldn’t Argue in a Negotiation [Negotiation]

Jul 29th, 2011

When you negotiate, you might think it’s a good idea to argue why you think your offer is fair. While in reality you may be right, you also may be hurting your chances. Here’s why.