A group of websites which were reportedly set to expose widespread fraud in Russia’s legislative elections have been targeted in a massive hacking attack.The owners of popular Russian radio station Moscow Echo and election monitoring group Golos, said their websites were under attack, while a number of opposition news sites were also rendered inaccessible."The attack on the website on election day is clearly an attempt to inhibit publication of information about violations," Moscow Echo editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov wrote ...

I've had a long career in online media. I don't really know much about the print world, except that you get your hands dirty when you page through newspapers. The closest I've come to deadwood publishing is running the internet departments of newspapers. It's a strange world to work in. You're an evangelist, a pioneer and something of a disrupter. That's why I never thought I'd say that online publishers need to start thinking like their print counterparts -- magazines ...

Sitting down for an interview with Tower Heist actor Alan Alda, I was a little surprised to see he was wearing something that’s becoming a familiar sight here in New York -- a QR code bangle. When I scanned it on my iPhone, it took me to his site and instantly gave me information about his new project, a play he’s written about Madame Curie called Radiance, and all the details on the show’s run in LA. In a flash, ...

Google launched its controversial product, Floor Plan, this week on the Android mobile platform to much cheering from those who are easily lost in big, labyrinth type places. A few sceptics of the product have already jumped on the “Streetview is an end to our privacy” bandwagon but most of the PR around the launch of the product has centred around convenience with Search Engine Land going on to ask “How did I live without this?"A few of the big ...

When you have been using multiple versions of Windows over a two decade period, it’s not difficult to write an unbiased review about Windows 8, it’s impossible.Thankfully, this is the Windows 8 Developer Preview, Build 8102, therefore I can rip it apart if it doesn’t meet my ridiculously high standards. It’s Windows, but not quite. How so?Think of it as an exceptionally well crafted alpha version of Microsoft’s latest magnum opus. It’s fast, it’s slick and it makes my heart ...

Google’s Chrome web browser has overtaken open-source darling Firefox as the world’s second most popular browser. That’s according to web analytics company StatCounter.The findings, first reported in the Wall Street Journal, suggest that Chrome now holds 25.7% share of the global market, up 4.7% from the same figures in 2009. Mozilla Firefox’s share, meanwhile, fell to 25.2% from 32.2%.Firefox was the first browser to make any kind of dent in Microsoft’s market dominance. Continuing improvements to the browser ...

Google has rolled out a series of changes to its video sharing platform, YouTube, which it hopes will make sharing and watching videos easier for its users.In a blog post, the service claims that it has redesigned the platform with a new look and feel by adding "a fresh coat of digital paint".The new design allows users to browse through various recommended channels. Another new feature gives users the option to customise their homepage’s feed and link their ...

With the rising popularity of smartphones, and more people coming down with conditions such as “text-thumb injury” or “text-neck”, it would seem bosses the world over may soon be facing a raft of new reasons as to why employees are unable to come in to work.A recent poll by YouGov, of more than 2 000 people, found that 44% of people in the UK used their mobiles for activities besides making calls for between 30 minutes and two hours a ...

I've never been comfortable with so-called predictions, and would rather stick to analysing concrete developments to pave the way for the future. Nobody ever said that email was an easy game. Keeping up with new trends in this very dynamic field can be tough and 2011 certainly delivered its own share of challenges that might well re-define the act of emailing, even for the everyday non-commercial sender.1. The rise of the Priority InboxThe battle for the inbox is something ...

Another day, and another Groupon clone bites the dust. After a whirlwind gold-rush to emulate the incredible success of Groupon, there has been nothing but bad news in a recession-hit economy for the hundreds of thousands of group-buying clones out there. (Yes, we know there are exceptions).Emerging markets media and internet giant, Naspers is going to shut down Dealify, its late entry into the group-buying space, after just a few months in existence."MIH has decided shut down Dealify, that ...