Fresh whispers of a date for Facebook’s long-awaited initial public offering have emerged. According to the Wall Street Journal, the IPO could come as early as the first half of 2012.This despite Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently saying he was in no hurry to take the social networking giant public.According to the Journal, Facebook hopes to raise around $10-billion in the IPO which would see it valued somewhere around the US$100-billion mark.That is around twice the current ...

The tech industry is scratching its collective head about a new acquisition by Twitter of a startup company that develops security software for Android smartphones. Whisper Systems, founded by the larger-than-life Moxie Marlinspike, a security researcher, cryptographics specialist and manic maritime enthusiast.The fit seems strange as Whisper focuses on on-device security software for Android phones – although Twitter may be looking for brains, not products, as it has taken some stick for the lack of security on its globe-spanning microblogging ...

Only a handful of nations have ratified the right of members of the LGBT community to marry. This means the fight for marriage equality is still one of the most important civil rights battles being fought across the world. That a video produced for the Australian marriage equality campaign went viral is proof of this.Australian activist group Get Up!, produced the video to be flighted on Australian television as part of its support for Australia's fights for marriage equality. The ...

Raising funding can be potentially expensive, as it requires resources, and time-consuming experience. Done correctly, it can yield valuable results and a substantial financial investment to grow your business. Enthusiastic entrepreneurs that want to go this route should be well prepared and display these five key essentials that funders look for when considering investing.1. Know your market Clear and thorough market and competitor analysis is the mainstay of any successful business concept -- even more so when seeking funding. Understanding who ...

Many years ago, I worked for UUNET Internet Africa in South Africa. I remember sitting in the Operations room and looking at an international undersea cabling map, which showed each and every cable connecting the different continents of the world. It used to amaze me that South Africa's connection to the rest of the world was so fragile. If I remember correctly, we really relied on one or two undersea cables at the time. I believe one of them was ...

Following the controversy around a Durex Twitter account faux pas, the condom maker has apologised and deleted offensive tweets from its Twitter account that caused an outcry over the weekend.Durex posted a message on Sunday saying the "irresponsible" tweets had been removed, although an inappropriate photo showing a naked man was still visible on the account.“Due to the offensive nature and the response received, the irresponsible tweets have respectfully been removed,” read the Tweet.The scandal began late on Thursday following ...

Paul Crocker, lead narrative designer for Batman: Arkham City, sat down with Gearburn.com to discuss the deep, dark storyline of the latest smash release in the franchise and the challenges of bringing a driven but tormented superhero into the game environment.UPDATE Tweet:, "Brand new DLC coming December 20th with all new Batcave. Joker's carnival and the iceberg lounge also available to download then!"Ryan Gordon: As the story arc is different from the mainstream media version of Batman, do you ...

The people of South Africa recently united to watch a turning point in their country’s democratic history -- the passing of the Protection of Information Bill by Parliament -- perhaps the gravest offence the democracy has seen in all its seventeen years.Those of us opposing the bill dubbed it "Black Tuesday", wearing black in protest and encouraging others to join us in the hopes that the MPs would wake up to the fact that their duty was to vote ...

While accepting a Walkley Award for “Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism” on behalf Wikileaks, Julian Assange launched into a tirade aimed at Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gulliard.A somewhat dishevelled Assange, in a message recorded in the UK where he continues to fight extradition to Sweden where is wanted to face questioning regarding charges of sexual assault , accepted the award described as Australia’s version of the Pulitzer.He began the speech with the expected thank you for the award. That he ...

While most retail businesses this year are pushing to get a bigger slice of the online shopping spend, eBay Inc. has turned the tables on its more-traditional competitors by opening up physical "pop-up" stores in New York, San Francisco and London.Open for only five days (from 1 – 5 December) these stores will allow consumers to touch-and-feel products and purchase the product on the spot by using QR codes and scanning it in with their mobile phones.Traditional shoppers who are ...