Spooky sound effects. L-o-o-ong pages where you can spend several minutes scrolling down before reaching bottom. Hundreds of postage stamp-sized images. Mysterious moving balls that users must click on to gain any information. If your website’s homepage has one or more of the above…well, it’s not a good sign. In case you’re unclear on this point, TechRepublic has created a slide show of what it considers the 10 worst web design tragedies, and tragic they are. READ MORE
At the beginning of the year, Forrester Research asked consumers what their favorite operating system for a tablet would be. Forty-six percent chose Windows. Forrester asked the question again in September, and that number had dropped to 25 percent. READ MORE
If you often feel the urge to tweet the same stuff that you share with your G+ circles–and if you use Google Chrome–a new extension combines the two and gives you a better Twitter experience than Twitter’s own site does (which, admittedly, is not hard to do). It works by bringing in the tweets you follow to your G+ stream–if you want it to. If you follow a lot of people you may not want it to, and you also have the option to just capture tweets that mention your Twitter handle. READ MORE
Imagine you’re a top-notch HP employee. What’s your next career move? Maybe it should be selling hot dogs on the beach. That may be the only way to avoid the company’s practice of leveling non-compete lawsuits at employees who move on to other companies. After all, since HP is in just about every corner of the tech industry: servers, personal computers, networking, software, even mobile–just about any technology company could be viewed as a competitor. Enough! says Cisco in a blog entry. READ MORE
Apple has released to developers its iOS 5.1 beta, which is intended to bring several bug fixes to users. However, tech whizzes have already spotted some code within the release that points to several new Apple products that may be coming, specifically the next-generation Apple TV, the next iPhone and two new iPad models. READ MORE
If you’re a retailer you might be interested in a new interactive tablet display that can be used to engage customers in all sorts of ways. Called the i View Android, it can be used to promote products, display specials, let customers play games, register for loyalty programs, give feedback, scan QR codes, print coupons or access Web sites. This video even shows restaurant patrons using it to order from a menu. READ MORE
Which smartphone people prefer depends on many things: design, user experience, applications available, enterprise support and security, camera, cloud services, voice-activated services, and performance issues such as browser speed. Openness–the ability to customize the phone without limitation—is also important to some people. In this regard, Apple and Google sit on opposite ends of the spectrum with Microsoft somewhere in between. READ MORE
With all the credit card numbers flying around online for Cyber Monday, you can bet crooks are trying to grab some of them. Here are a few ways to avoid being scammed: Avoid untrustworthy websites and pop-up screens. It’s best to use a major retail company’s official Web page—such as BestBuy.com or Walmart.com—instead of using online vendors that you don’t recognize. Instead of using other links to get to trusted sites, type web addresses into your browser yourself. And if you suddenly get a pop-up trying to lure you into buying something, be wary. While most security software programs will alert you if you’re about to go to a known dangerous site, make sure this feature is available and turned on before shopping. READ MORE
It looks like Google CEO Larry Page really is putting more wood behind fewer arrows. Google has discontinued Knol, the company’s attempt to recreate Wikipedia in its own ad-supported image, adding to a long list of product funerals the company has held in 2011. According to Information Week, the number tops three dozen if you count not only full-fledged products but features, acquisitions, initiatives, and APIs. READ MORE
An October 2011 study conducted by Conversocial, a London-based software company specializing in social networking, found that many companies are failing to respond to consumer complaints aired online. Specifically, Costco, Kmart and Kroger missed 100% of their consumers’ complaints on social networking sites during September 2011, and Wal-Mart ignored 40% of complaints. Out of the 10 major retailers examined over a five-day period in September, only Safeway excelled by responding to nearly all complaints on its Facebook page. READ MORE
