Author: Staff Writer

How 5 most valuable internet companies have changed over the past 2 decades

Staff Writer
Google

It’s mind-boggling how the 5 most valuable internet companies have changed over the past 20 years In 1995, the internet was just about to get started. It was only a year after big internet companies like Yahoo and Netscape were founded. Fast forward 20 years later, and the web business landscape looks a lot different from back then. In fact, only 1 out of the 5 most valuable public internet companies from 1995 are still in the top 5 list, according to Mary Meeker’s “Internet Trends” report. Check out the…

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Startups are bringing mobile banking to the last mile in Africa

Staff Writer

Mobile banking has provided financial inclusion for developing countries. A new wave of startups is now taking the tech beyond mobile wallets. When Ismail Ahmed moved from Somalia to England in 1988, he regularly sent money back home. He experienced exorbitant fees, transfer offices with erratic opening hours, and was often worried about how easily his family would be able to retrieve the money. In 2010 Ahmed founded WorldRemit, an online service that allows users to send money internationally via a PC or phone. Today, more than 250,000 transactions flow…

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Simple Website Security Flaw Exposes Data Of Charter Internet Customers

Staff Writer
Liquid Telecom

A Website Security flaw discovered in the site of Charter Communications, a cable and Internet provider active in 28 states, may have exposed the personal account details of its customers. Security researcher Eric Taylor discovered the cable provider’s vulnerability as part of his research, and demonstrated how a simple header modification performed with a browser plug-in could reveal details about Charter’s Internet subscribers. After Fast Company notified Charter of the issue, the company said it had installed a fix within hours. The vulnerability could reveal personal information of “millions” of the…

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Confirms it was Hacked

Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis confirmed on Tuesday that hackers had successfully hacked the bank, redirecting users of its online research services to fake websites set up by the attackers. The breach was just the latest in a spate of hackings against government systems in recent months, affecting the White House, the State Department and even the president’s own email account. In this case, the attack appeared to compromise the Internet’s routing system, known as the domain name system, or D.N.S thus was  hacked. In…

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Finally After Six Years President Obama’s @POTUS is Live on Twitter

Staff Writer

“Hello, Twitter! It’s Barack. Really! Six years in, they’re finally giving me my own account.” So, it’s official. After years of signing “-BO” at the end of @BarackObama to signal the tweets he crafted himself from an account operated by the Organizing for Action staff, the President now has his very own handle @POTUS, tweeting for the first time. Sometimes, they said, Mr. Obama will type the words himself, as he did Monday, when he was captured in a photo released by the White House. Other times, he might dictate…

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Is Quantum computing about to make big trouble for cybersecurity?

Staff Writer
Google

There is a race to build quantum computers, and (as far as we know) it isn’t the NSA that is in the lead. Competing are big tech companies such as IBM, Google, and Microsoft; startups; defense contractors; and universities. One Canadian startup says that it has already developed a first version of a quantum computer. A physicist at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, Ronald Hanson, told Scientific American that he will be able to make the building blocks of a universal quantum computer in just five years and a fully-functional demonstration machine…

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Digital Firms Dominate Top Media Companies, Emerging New Media Owners Gain Ground

Staff Writer
Mobile Apps

Power in the digital advertising market is concentrated in the hands of a few large platforms, and New Media is becoming even more concentrated. The five purely digital media owners — Google, Facebook, Baidu, Yahoo and Microsoft — generated $71 billion in New Media revenue, which represents 68% of all global digital ad spend, up from 67% a year ago, according to a just-issued report from ZenithOptimedia, part of Publicis Groupe. Google’s dominance as the world’s largest New Media owner has increased, with the gap between it and its nearest competitor…

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Facebook Study Says Users Make Their News Feed Less Diverse

Staff Writer

But some have already questioned the results The long-held notion that Facebook’s algorithm leads to the creation of “echo chambers” among users isn’t exactly true, according to a report published Thursday in the journal Science. After studying the accounts of 10 million users, data scientists at Facebook found that liberals and conservatives are regularly exposed to at least some “crosscutting” political news, meaning stories that don’t conform to their pre-existing biases. The algorithm for Facebook’s News Feed leads conservatives to see 5% less liberal content than their friends share and…

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Announcement of keynote speakers for E-Learning 2015 Conference includes Sophia Bekele

Staff Writer

CIO East Africa, one of the media sponsors for the event, reported on the announcement from organizers that the keynote speakers at this international conference of E-Learning Africa 2015. The event the will take place from 20 – 22 May in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the keynote speakers include Ms. Sophia Bekele, Founder/CEO of DotConnectAfrica Group & CBS International USA, Founder of Yes2dotAfrica Campaign; Ethiopia/USA,  Mr. Shai Reshef, University of the People, USA; and Mark Surman of the Mozilla Foundation, USA. CIO Reports: One of the interesting scenes in this event…

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Website not mobile friendly? Google is making major Algorithmic change to rank you lower

Staff Writer
Privacy

On Tuesday, April 21, Google is making a major update to its mobile search algorithm that will change the order in which websites are ranked when users search for something from their phone or tablet, making it mobile friendly. The algorithm will start favoring mobile-friendly websites (ones with large text, easy-to-click links, and that resize to fit whatever screen they’re viewed on) and ranking them higher in search. Websites that aren’t mobile-friendly will get demoted. About 60% of online traffic now comes from mobile and Google wants users to have a good…

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