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October 10, 2008 7:01:04 PM CDT

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Stories related to: instant messaging

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13 Stories

  • September 2008

    • How IM Sapped My Ability to Deal

      Nerve  |  Sep 7, 08 5:05 AM CDT

      How IM Sapped My Ability to Deal

      (Newser) - After breaking up with his live-in boyfriend online, writer Will Doig realized IM had become an intimate part of their relationship, and the fallout was crushing. "At the first hint of crisis, my response had always been the same"—instant message his boyfriend "for an impromptu therapy session," he writes in Nerve. After the breakup, Doig went through "IM withdrawal, pregnant with random notions, trivia, gossip and anecdotes"—and nothing to do with them. More »

      Tags

      social networking  • love  • relationship  • break-up  • instant messaging  • Instant Messenger

  • August 2008

    • 6 Degrees of Separation? New Study Says 6.6

      Washington Post  |  Aug 2, 08 12:39 PM CDT

      6 Degrees of Separation? New Study Says 6.6

      (Newser) - A huge Microsoft study of its Messenger records bolsters the oft-quoted, but never proven, theory of “six degrees of separation"—almost. The study puts the figure at 6.6, but that's still a pretty small world. A Microsoft researcher analyzed 30 billion messages sent among 180 million users worldwide and found that most people could be linked by a string of fewer than 7 acquaintances, the Washington Post reports. More »

      Tags

      Microsoft  • social networking  • scientific study  • instant messaging  • Microsoft Live Messenger

  • June 2008

    • Tech Firms to Fix Monster They Created

      New York Times  |  Jun 14, 08 11:25 AM CDT

      Tech Firms to Fix Monster They Created

      (Newser) - Google, Microsoft, Intel, and IBM are partnering are on a new initiative to help workers distracted by emails and instant messages improve their productivity, the New York Times reports. The Information Overload Research Group, a nonprofit launching next month, will devise cultural and technological solutions to reduce the digital deluge that’s costing firms $650 billion a year in productivity. More »

      Tags

      Google  • Microsoft  • Intel  • email  • IBM  • work  • instant messaging  • office  • productivity

  • March 2008

    • After Beacon 'Screw Up' Facebook Ups Privacy

      PC World  |  Mar 19, 08 1:18 PM CDT

      After Beacon 'Screw Up' Facebook Ups Privacy

      (Newser) - Facebook is launching a series of new privacy features today, allowing users to better pinpoint who can see which parts of their information, PC World reports. Privacy has been a watchword at Facebook ever since the PR disaster that was the Beacon advertising platform, which tracked users online. “With Beacon, we just screwed it up,” one VP admitted. More »

      Tags

      Facebook  • online privacy  • instant messaging  • Beacon  • chat room  • privacy settings

    • Hookers Today Depend on Tech for Success

      Associated Press  |  Mar 12, 08 4:44 PM CDT

      Hookers Today Depend on Tech for Success

      (Newser) - Eliot Spitzer's woes are shedding light on the new world of the oldest profession. Prostitutes and escort services use online social networking to find business, IMs to record the time spent with a client, and the web to make payment simpler and more private, reports the AP. New technology also widens the divide between "indoor and outdoor" prostitution, says a sex industry expert. More »

      Tags

      Internet  • Eliot Spitzer  • prostitution  • website  • instant messaging

  • February 2008
  • January 2008

    • Flash Attack Could Turn Routers Into Zombies

      PC World  |  Jan 16, 08 1:11 PM CST

      Flash Attack Could Turn Routers Into Zombies

      (Newser) - Security experts have demonstrated how attackers could use Flash software and the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) protocol to hijack their home routers, reports PC World . Users exposed to a malicious Flash file could have the servers they're trying to reach changed remotely and secretly, meaning a fraudster could redirect the user to phony bank or e-commerce websites even if they typed the right address into their browser. More »

      Tags

      hackers  • computer security  • Skype  • instant messaging  • Adobe  • online fraud  • Flash  • routers

  • December 2007

    • Campaign for Young Voters: Vote 4 Me! Pls?

      McClatchy Newspapers  |  Dec 24, 07 10:17 AM CST

      Campaign for Young Voters: Vote 4 Me! Pls?

      (Newser) - New technology has given presidential hopefuls a host of new ways to transmit the "Vote For Me" message, McClatchy reports. Campaigners are using social networking sites, YouTube videos, instant messaging, and even text messaging in a bid to gain an edge with young voters. But their target audience seems more bemused by it all than fired up with campaign fever. More »

      Tags

      Election 2008  • YouTube  • technology  • campaign  • telecommunications  • text messaging  • instant messaging

    • Sex Talk Sinks Microsoft Santa Software

      Associated Press  |  Dec 6, 07 3:26 AM CST

      Sex Talk Sinks Microsoft Santa Software

      (Newser) - Microsoft got an early peek at Santa’s naughty list and found that it contained Old Saint Nick himself. The company pulled the plug on its automated Santa instant messaging program after a user claimed the elf brought up oral sex in a chat with his underage nieces when they repeatedly asked if he wanted to eat pizza, AP reports. More »

      Tags

      Microsoft  • instant messaging  • Santa Claus  • Microsoft Live Messenger

  • November 2007

    • I Dumped U For Yr Sister, Oops GTG ...

      Associated Press  |  Nov 15, 07 2:42 PM CST

      I Dumped U For Yr Sister, Oops GTG ...

      (Newser) - Usurping the old note passed in study hall, about 40% of teens now depend on instant messaging to say things they wouldn't in person, according to a new poll. "If they freak out or something, you don't see it," one high schooler tells AP. The survey also found—duh—that teens use IM more than older people, and that they're more likely to multi-task on it in ways that would short-circuit oldsters' minds. More »

      Tags

      teenagers  • instant messaging

    • '4-Hour Workweek' a Silicon Valley Siren Song

      New York Times  |  Nov 10, 07 2:27 PM CST

      '4-Hour Workweek' a Silicon Valley Siren Song

      (Newser) - Tim Ferriss is an ex-kickboxer and tango champ, but he's ensnared the attention of some in Silicon Valley with a simple message: pull the plug. Techies like Netscape founder Marc Andreessen—ironically, an investor in attention-sapping chat service Twitter—have found solace in “The 4-Hour Workweek,” Ferriss’ tome extolling the virtues of a simpler, less-connected lifestyle, the NY Times reports. More »

      Tags

      email  • Silicon Valley  • BlackBerry  • blogging  • instant messaging  • entrepreneurs  • Treo  • motivational speaker

  • October 2007

    • Senate Would Extend Web Tax Ban 7 Years

      ComputerWorld  |  Oct 26, 07 3:18 PM CDT

      Senate Would Extend Web Tax Ban 7 Years

      (Newser) - The Senate passed a bill yesterday to extend a ban on Internet access taxes for 7 years; it will have to be reconciled with a House bill—which has a 4-year lifespan—and signed into law by next Thursday to beat the current law’s expiration date. The bill was a compromise between those seeking a permanent ban and those looking to match the House’s shorter moratorium, ComputerWorld reports. More »

      Tags

      taxes  • email  • broadband Internet  • instant messaging  • moratorium  • web services

  • August 2007

    • Yahoo Adds Phone Text Messaging to Email

      USA Today  |  Aug 27, 07 5:01 AM CDT

      Yahoo Adds Phone Text Messaging to Email

      (Newser) - Sending phone text messages soon won’t require a phone, thanks to an upgrade in Yahoo’s already leading email service, which will provide the new feature for free. The new system will integrate email, text messages and instant messaging, reports USA Today . Customers "don't want to bounce around to many different areas," said a Yahoo spokesman. More »

      Tags

      Yahoo  • cell phones  • email  • text messaging  • communication  • instant messaging

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