Hey website builders – stop stealing my expensive bandwidth! Video autoplay is a terrible idea (I’m looking at you, ESPN.com). And according to AdWeek, it might be coming to your Facebook walls. Auto-play video a terrible user experience. It’s annoying. It bothers co-workers. It feels a little like a hacker [Keep reading]
Shop for a cell phone these days, and you aren’t buying a cellphone plan. You really shouldn’t be buying a gadget, either. Shop like you are first and foremost buying a data plan. Data will cost many of you $2,000-$3,000 during the next two years — a lot more than [Keep reading]
Can a hip Chicago 20-something spend only $100 a week? That’s $50 for food and $50 for fun on the weekends? We’re about to find out. Nicole DiVito is imposing the strict budget limits voluntarily as part of “No-spend November.” She’s slamming her purse shut, limiting herself to $400 for [Keep reading]
Feel like you’ve lost control of your identity and personal information? The “Reclaim Your Name” initiative aims to win control back for you. Reclaim Your Name is the brainchild of FTC Commissioner Julie Brill, who ventured into the belly of the Beast on Monday — AdAge.com — to make a case [Keep reading]
When $200,000 stands between you and a dream, what do you do? You borrow the money, of course. But what if you have a good idea, but no one wants to listen? Every small business that survives a few years in downtown Newark is a success. Janell Robison had made [Keep reading]
If you want to know what some folks in the federal government think of your privacy, just look at that smiley face. If you want to know what stands between your personal life becoming public — well, it’s that smiley face. And when future generations scream at us because we [Keep reading]
When Boeing builds an airplane, several parts are constructed separately — the engines, the fuselage, the landing gear. While these parts go through manufacturers’ testing, when they are finally assembled into a completed aircraft, Boeing flies the thing to make sure it’s airworthy. (Airbus does this too) It sure sounds [Keep reading]
Apple is messing with Lawrence Lessig’s ability to comment online, and I’m guessing that’s not going to end well. “Is talking about legal rights the new porn?” he wrote on his blog. As they say, them’s fighting words. “When did it become inappropriate to inform people about legally protected rights [Keep reading]
Americans pay more and get less for high-speed Internet than almost any developed nation in the world, a study has found. Just like last year. The New America Foundation is now making an annual habit of taunting American consumers with research that shows Koreans, Germans, the French, etc., all get [Keep reading]
As a consumer reporter, product safety falls into my arena of interests. As a dog owner, so does pet safety. A similar thing can be said for my friend who loves to learn more about dogs at websites similar to pupsters passion to ensure they can take the best possible [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan