Having worked for years to connect with voters on the Internet, President Obama will actually hang out with some in a Google+ video chat.

Later this month, Obama will meet with selected members of the public in a videoconference chat using the Google+ hangout feature on January 30, said Ramya Raghavan, YouTube's news and politics manager, in a blog post yesterday.

It won't be just anybody, though. People must submit questions at the White House's YouTube page, either in text or 20-second video form.

"Your YouTube questions will drive the interview, and several participants with top-voted … Read more

Following the MegaUpload shutdown and indictments last week, FileSonic, one of the Internet's most popular file-sharing services, has disabled its sharing functionality.

The service can "only be used to upload and retrieve files you have uploaded personally," according to a note posted on the site's home page. FileSonic also suspended its affiliates rewards program, which paid users when people downloaded their files.

Some users on Reddit say the online digital locker has already begun deleting files and even accounts, as ZDNet's Zack Whittaker notes.

TorrentFreak called the development "a pretty big deal. Filesonic isn'… Read more

When relationships end, a reason often cited is: my lover took me for granted.

Yet sometimes relationships continue for many years precisely because both parties take each other for granted. That seems to be what is happening in the modern-day lovefest between Google and its users.

At the beginning of the relationship, the users fell in love with Google instantly. The cute name, the astonishing speed of thought, and the general usefulness around the house made Google everyone's ideal lover.

Google loved us too. The more we used his service, the more he suddenly discovered he could sell ads … Read more

Zynga's possible plans to enter online gambling spurs a bipolar reaction for me. The capitalist in me drools over the potential business model, but the do-gooder worries about gambling addiction and sees an epic societal train wreck ahead.

AllThingsD has a big overview of Zynga's plans to enter online gambling. There are a bunch of caveats, of course--Zynga, for instance, has to navigate state and federal regulators--but it's highly likely that Zynga Poker will be played with real money at some point.

From a business perspective, Zynga's gambling exploration is absolutely brilliant. We all know the … Read more

In its continuing effort to bring focus to its operations, Google said it will shutter a half-dozen businesses--including Picnik, the photo-editing service that the company acquired less than two years ago.

Since the middle of last year, Google's been on a slashing binge, cleaving under-performing and peripheral businesses from its portfolio. In October, it announced plans to kill its Buzz social network. In July, it discontinued Google Labs. And in June, it pulled the plug on Google Health.

Google vice president of product management Dave Girouard said in a blog post that the latest round of cuts comes … Read more

The times have a-changed. This generation's Bob Dylans, Joan Baezes, and Ramblin' Jack Elliotts aren't gathering in locales like New York's legendary Washington Square Park to swap chords and licks. They're busily congregating in the gigantic public park that is the Internet, via social media.

And, as a recent video makes clear, YouTube, Facebook, and other such sites seem also to be taking the place of street corners or truck beds when it comes to providing a stage for budding protest singers and their songs.

Forest Gibson and Zachary Cohn's "The Day the LOLcats Died" (embedded below) is certainly not the first Internet protest song, or even the first anti-SOPA tune to wend its way across the Web. ("Firewall" and "SOPA Cabana" are but two other anti-antipiracy screeds that have come before--with "Cabana" even suggesting Dylan and his "Subterranean Homesick Blues" via handwritten lyrics on cards).

But the presentation and form of "LOLCats" call to mind, in a way these other tunes don't, the stereotypical image of the protest singer: a lone soul busily killing fascists with his or her acoustic machine.… Read more

Samsung and Apple are like a couple of bickering sisters. "I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I can't remember whether I hate you or I love you. I can remember suing you."

So, in the run-up to the Super Bowl, Samsung has released another ad that pokes and pokes at Apple fanboys and fangirls.

There they are waiting in line for, who knows, the iPhone 4SS. They are watching a very cool unboxing video. Then along comes one of their roommates to toss them a charger.

Oh, and look. He has turn-by-turn, voice-guided directions … Read more

The Super Bowl, an advertising festival with men in long, tight pants performing calisthenic cabaret at various intervals, is a big-budget affair.

Often, though, it is simplicity that stands out.

Last year, it was hard not to love the little boy dressed as Darth Vader who was desperate to use to the Force to control all that crossed his gaze and finally succeeded with VW's Passat.

This year, VW has continued the "Star Wars" theme with a bunch of dogs singing the "Star Wars" theme. The "Imperial March," to be precise.

This finely … Read more

Maybe it went something like this.

"It's 'Resident Evil: Retribution,'" said the Sony marketing department. "It's kind of cool. Well, coolish. So why don't we showcase some Sony products in there? Just to make them seem, you know, kind of cool?"

The trailer-makers' pinched faces failed to hide their inner aghastness. Somewhere, they believed this series to be high art. This was a glorious video game brought to celluloid life. Five times. Or, wait, was this, "Resident Evil: Retribution," the sixth?

They couldn't remember. Making movies and then making ads … Read more