Media

"Spam King" allegedly conspired to kill witness from jail

According to the Associated Press, "Spam King" and online drugstore operator Christopher William Smith, aka Rizler, was caught conspiring by phone from his jail cell to have a prosecution witness killed, as he awaits trial on charges of illegally selling prescription drugs over the Internet and phone.

Smith was indicted this week on one count of conspiracy to tamper with a witness and one count of endeavoring to obstruct justice, the AP said.

The AP reported that the indictment says Smith's phone call to an acquaintance from inside a jail in Elk River, Minn., was recorded by … Read more

YouTube clip 'Breakup' showcases Logitech Webcam

Video effects by Logitech, the digital toolmaker, are receiving a viral marketing boost from YouTube.com and a quirky home movie produced by a 17-year-old.

"Breakup" was the third most-watched clip Wednesday on video-upload site YouTube, one of the Internet's fastest growing Web sites. The 75-second clip, which has generated more than 100,000 page views in two days, is little more than a young girl discussing a recent breakup with her boyfriend.

As "Bowiechick," a YouTube username, frets over the relationship, she alters her on-screen appearance with a click of a button. One minute, … Read more

A celebrity stalker mashup

Want to know which sexy celebrity was eating at that trendy new cafe in uptown New York this week? How about which too-thin model barked at her personal assistant in public for no apparent reason? The answer to these and life's other important questions can be found at Gawker Stalker.

The site has first-person accounts of celebrity sightings, complete with the where and the when, alongside an interactive Google map of Manhattan. Using hybrid software that combines content from more than one source, the site, or mashup, has the exact locations of the sightings and balloons with more data. … Read more

Online shoppers still buy offline

A new study shows that most people who use Web searches to look for products end up purchasing them offline. The study, set to be released on Tuesday, was sponsored by Google and conducted by ComScore Networks. It shows that 25 percent of Web searchers purchased an item directly related to their query. Within that group, 37 percent completed the purchase online, and 63 percent bought the item offline.

The study looked at the impact of Web search on consumers' holiday-related purchases, excluding comparison shopping sites. It reflects the searching behavior of 83 million Americans who conducted more than 552 … Read more

Smileys specially for St. Pat's

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, Smiley Central, a free-smileys Web site, has announced the release of its Irish-themed Talking Smileys, along with a list of the top 10 ways to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. The list features an animated St. Patrick's Day themed animated GIF image to go along with each suggestion.

Here, Smiley Central's top 10 list:

1. Faith and begorra! Check out the flora! .

2. Lift a glass to your lass.

3. Smooch a stranger.

4. Consume an oddly colored beverage.

5. Get jiggy with it.

6. Crack yourself up.

7. Green … Read more

Netscape.com may evolve into news site

Blogs are burning up with rumors about a pending return of America Online's Netscape.com.

The Web home of the Net's one-time leading browser is going to re-emerge as a technology news site modeled on Digg, according to PaidContent.org and Valleywag.com.

Spokesmen for AOL declined to comment.

The revamped Netscape.com is to be led by Jason Calacanis, the CEO of Weblogs, a blog publisher acquired by AOL last October, according to PaidContent.

The large following Netscape.com once drew, mostly fans of the Netscape browser, prompted Dulles, Va.,-based AOL to try and fold the site … Read more

Blog club FM nabs funding

Federated Media, a blog network started by John Battelle, founder of The Industry Standard and Wired, said Wednesday it closed a Series A round of financing led by JP Morgan Partners (JPMP)

The amount of the investment was not disclosed. But JPMP was joined in the funding round by several of FM's original investors, including The New York Times, the Omidyar Network and Mitch Kapor. JPMP partner Chris Albinson also joined FM's board.

FM essentially brings together many well-known blogs and provides backend services such as advertising sales. Blogs in the network include BoingBoing.net, Digg.com, Fark.… Read more

Pay per click boosts domain name registrations

CARLSBAD, Calif.--Pay-per-click advertising has caused Google's ad revenue to explode, but it's also meant a mad rush for URLs, Stratton Sclavos, CEO of VeriSign, said at PC Forum, a conference taking place here.

A little while ago, there were only about 450,000 new requests a week. Now it's 7 million. A substantial portion of these URLs are essentially abandoned after five days or so, Sclavos said. The idea is that these URLs will crop up on searches and allow the owner to nab a portion of ad revenue.

The little browser within the browser

Scott Matthews, CEO and sole employee of Bitty Browser, was having a pretty good afternoon Monday at PC Forum in Carlsbad, Calif. As he would demonstrate his software to a group of people, one or two of them would invariably say, "How come no one has thought of his before?"

Bitty Browser, the product, is essentially a browser within a browser. On a typical PC screen, its browser window is about three by three inches. When run on a news site, it can be used to play videos or conduct searches. The advantage is that people don't … Read more

To catch a film thief

If you're a movie-goer, you've likely watched one of the ominous pre-movie commercials from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) that warn viewers against thieving films, whether by actively downloading an ill-gotten copy of "Star Wars" or by buying a DVD on the street.

If you've missed the ads, just know that the MPAA is on the warpath to catch film rogues with digital camcorders in theaters isles. (More than 90 percent of newly released films are stolen by someone making a digital copy with the use of handheld camcorder.)

The MPAA is now … Read more