Since the early 2000s, online auction site Ebay and online payment processor PayPal have gone hand in hand, revolutionizing online shopping and payment processing. Now, this tight relationship is coming to an end.
Today, Sept 30, 2014, Ebay Inc. announced Ebay and PayPal will become two separate entities in the second half of 2015. I’ve read Ebay’s online statement on the matter and they have some great points on how it will be beneficial for everyone. But what that statement didn’t tell you is activist hedge fund billionaire Carl Icahn has been fighting for this split for months. He believes this move will highlight each company’s strength and focus more on their core business. For example, now Ebay can become a better online shopping center and PayPal can become a better payment processing system after the split up, according to Mr. Icahn. But Ebay chief executive John Donahue doesn’t agree. He’s always believed them being together will play on each others’ strength. Oh, John Donahue will resign as soon as this split is complete. Next year, when PayPal begins their new adventure, they will be lead by Daniel Shulman, the man that led American Expresses’ mobile online payment systems.
I wouldn’t worry about PayPal. In the past year, PayPal has processed over $203 billion worth of online payments. They even have debit cards strictly backed by your PayPal account. Who would have predicted that back in 2002? But I wonder is it wise to choose an outsider to lead PayPal in this new world. Wouldn’t it be better to bring a PayPal executive to take this role? Now what about Ebay? They’re certainly not the only candy store in town anymore. While they’re still the top online auction site, they have plenty of competitors: Webstore, eBid and Onlineauction.com are just to name a few. Can Ebay keep her crown after this split?
Remember when Yahoo, not Google, was the top search engine? Remember that list of topics, and the number in parenthesis telling you how many websites Yahoo had about that topic? That was the Yahoo Directory. And now we say goodbye, Yahoo Directory.
And let’s just say that this goodbye in unceremonious. In one paragraph, they explained how Yahoo Directory helped users explore the Internet, but it was time to change with the times, and this service will be ending in December 2014. Yahoo Directory was founded in 1994, the same year Yahoo was. In fact, Yahoo is an acronym for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Order-then exclamation point. For years, Yahoo Directory was the premier search engine site. But in the 1990s, search engines were in their infancy. Back then, all a good search engine needed was generic terms that can help you find broad information was acceptable, and for the times, remarkable. This directory required human laborers to review, summarize, and categorize the websites. And believe it or not, this was a winning formula for several years.
But by the early 2000s, Google had revolutionized the Internet as a whole and the search engine game. They processed search results by automation. And unlike Yahoo, Google didn’t have a long list with a number beside it, meaning you’d have to go through pages and information you don’t want. Suddenly, all you did was type in a specific keyword and it brought you to a specific website. This worked so well that by 2003, Google surpassed Yahoo and never looked back. And in December 2014, Yahoo Directory will close it’s doors forever. It’s been dying a slow death. Directory may be fun if you just want to browse and browse through all kinds of subjects. But in 2014, who has time for that anymore? The real question is, what took Yahoo Directory so long to die?
It’s been a lifelong dream for technology gurus like Facebok CEO Mark Zuckerburg for every person in the world to have Internet access. And they’re using every resource they can to make that happen, even potential drones.
Social media giants like Facebook and Google are determined to use air technology like high altitude balloons and drones. But even Facebook leaders say this is going to be a great challenge. But Connectivity Lab and Internet.org, created by the inventors and higher ups of Facebook, are determined to release solar drones that they insists can connect billions of people to the Internet, especially those in poor and remote areas who wouldn’t have online access otherwise. And these aren’t just another version of your typical commercial jet airliner. These balloons and drones will have to fly above weather and all air circumstances, as high as 60,000-90,000 above sea level. If they get too much lower, inclement weather could easily impact, if not destroy, these air devices. Then there are the regulations, like one human must operate every drone. But Connectivity Lab is very optimistic. They’re so optimistic in fact they’re going to start testing next year. It’s not known where, but they’ve got 21 places between Africa, Asia and Central/South America they’re looking at. It successful, there will have drones all over in 5 years or less.
I respect what they’re doing in principal. In 2014, every person on Earth should have at least the opportunity to experience the Internet, something we Americans all but take for granted. They may not like it, but at least they should have the opportunity. But questions arise. Where are they going to find the manpower to fly one drone/balloon per person? And how are they going to convince lawmakers to give them the legal wiggle room they need? And what about privacy rights and concerns? Will these drones even make it off the ground?
It’s probably the biggest hot-buttoned news story of 2014: the rise of terrorist group ISIS, or Islamic State. Hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear about an evil deed done by these extremist thugs. It seems that no one is immune, not even technology or social media.
On one of ISIS’s Twitter accounts, they’re calling for the assassinations of Twitter employees in the United States and Europe. Their tweets have called for sleeper cells and ‘lone wolves’ to kill employees and bring war to them. These same vile, vicious tweets told San Fransisco Twitter employees to watch their back. There is a suspect in question: Twitter account @Dawlamoon, an account operated to be loyal to ISIS, is at the center of this story. It isn’t confirmed if Dawlamoon is a true social media mouthpiece of ISIS, just one of their cheerleaders, or if it’s just blowing smoke to make headlines. But it is rumored, just that, rumored, to be an ISIS forum. But after the threatening Tweets were posted on back on Monday Sept 8th, the account was suspended. Lately, Twitter has been working around the clock to shut down all pro ISIS based accounts. Unfortunately, the terrorist organization is using techniques to counter such suspensions.
We’re living in a time that was unthinkable just 10 years ago. ISIS and other terrorist groups are using social media to push the propaganda offensive and the charm/charisma offensive to win people over to their twisted, sadistic cause. They even have You Tube videos of themselves giving ice cream to children. We in the technology community must do all we can to counter these lies before more people get duped. Twitter trying to suspend their accounts is a great start. Now I believe in free speech as much as anybody, but not when you’re threatening people’s lives. Let’s use our voices, vlogs, blogs, social media pages, smartphones, desktops, laptops and other devices to expose these thugs for who they really are. What else can we do to combat this threat?
Wow Russia, you’ve been in the news a lot lately. And I’m not talking about the Sochi Olympics. I’m talking about news events like conflict with Ukraine and the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash. It’s no surprise they’re in the midst of a potential hacking story.
Gmail, one of the world’s most popular email services, has been severely hacked. Almost five million email usernames and passwords have found themselves in a Russian bitcoin forum.? Word got out about this when a suspicious link was posted to a website popular with hackers. The hacked accounts, which count up to 4.93 million, are in English, Russian and Spanish. Over half the tainted accounts can still easily be accessed. One thing Gmail? users can do is avoid any ‘security’ websites that claim to check and see if your username and passwords have been compromised. Cyber criminals love those sites and probably even created some of those sites. It’s been confirmed many of the hacked passwords weren’t even taken from Google. Before I throw Russia under the bus, we don’t know who is behind this hacking, though it’s coincidental the hack was first revealed on a Russian language forum.
They’re other things Gmail users can do. First and foremost, don’t panic. All you have to do is change your password and turn on two-factor authenticity. But I want to get back to where these hacks could come from. Do you understand why so many are suspicious that this originated from Russia or surrounding nations? There’s been a recent history of hackers from Eastern European nations causing a ruckus. Think about the social/political pushing and shoving between the US and Russia in the last couple of years. Is this just another criminal hack attack? Or does this have a deeper, more geopolitical meaning as things heat up internationally?
For around five years now, Twitter has helped lead the world in social media. It’s connected us with celebrities and other people who we wouldn’t even reach otherwise. But why stop there?
Twitter is announcing it’s first commercial product. They’ve brought in the big timers. Former Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard will lead this team. All summer long, ‘buy now’ buttons have been seen all over Twitter. Well, by a few people have anyway. Is this why? Twitter talked about this button in a blog today. You can believe the buy now button will be seen by more and more Twitter users over time. That’s right: If this thing is successful, you can literally buy from your Twitter account, from the ‘buy now’ button to the payment processing to the shipping. It will all be as easy as Ebay. They’re partnership roster is increasing in a hurry. This roster includes online shopping company Fancy, digital company Gumroad, and payment company Stripe. It’s got backing from celebs like Eminem, nonprofits like Donors Choose and retailers like Home Depot. Gumroad has been convincing Twitter to start this commercial product service for over a year. They’re not the only ones. Facebook is also developing a commercial product system.
Let’s see how this goes. It sounds like the right things are being done and the right connections are being made. We don’t have a date yet. We don’t even know if this is going to work. Let’s face it, Ebay and others could you some competition. But what will these commercial products be? Will they be electronics, or clothes, or food, or travel/vacation, or household products? Another question: Will people use Twitter as a shopping network? Or will people just hold on to Twitter as a social network? Will other social media networks even want to take this endeavor?
