Rick Power

Wikia Search Scrapped

Rick — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:15:39 +0000

When Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales launched Wikia Search his aim was to create a community-led search engine, however Wikia Search has been ditched. His decision to “close the doors” on the project was announced in a blog post. Mr Wales Wikia Search “has not been enjoying the kind of success that we hoped for”. He blamed the recession for his decision to withdraw funding but promised to continue as a “cheerleader” for alternatives to Google. “I personally believe in the opportunity for free software to make serious inroads into the search space. In a different economy we would continue to fund Wikia Search indefinitely,” he said.

Infected eBay Tool

Rick — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:25:26 +0000

An add-on for eBay used by thousands of users looking to sell on eBay has been highlighted by Google as potentially malicious. This is because it became infected with a trojan. The tool in question named Auctiva provides tools for sellers on the popular auction website. The company confirmed a virus had attacked files on its servers but fixed the problem soon after. Google works with the StopBadware.org organisation to keep users in the know about potentially malicious websites that are infected with viruses and trojans.

A spokesman for Google said the site was to be reviewed by StopBadware soon.

Microsoft offer Reward

Rick — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:04:14 +0000

Microsoft are determined out who is responsible for the creation of the Downadup/Conficker virus. The company are offering a reward of $250,000 (£172,000). Since it started circulating in October 2008 the Conficker worm has managed to infect millions of computers worldwide and doesn’t appear to be showing any signs of slowing.

The software giant is treating this as a criminal attack and so are offering the cash reward in an attempt to bring down the person/persons behind the Conficker worm. Here is a demo of Windows Touch – Windows 7…

Facebook Celebrates 5 Years

Rick — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:36:50 +0000

Today Facebook is celebrating its 5th Birthday and to mark the occasion, they are giving their 150 million users a mystery virtual gift.

The gift shop is usually open for users to buy virtual presents usually ranging from cuddly bears to a pint of beer.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said, “In the spirit of celebrating connections between people, we encourage you to use this gift to give thanks to [those] you are connected with on Facebook.” In a blog post, Mr Zuckerberg acknowledged the company’s achievements, making it the market leader as the biggest social network to date.

“Building and moving quickly for five years hasn’t been easy, and we aren’t finished. As we celebrate Facebook’s 5th birthday, we continue to work hard to evolve Facebook and make it as simple as possible to communicate with and understand the people and entities that matter to you,” wrote Mr Zuckerberg.

Amazon – Beating the Crunch

Rick — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:33:52 +0000

Amazon enjoyed Christmas 2008 as they saw profits raise by 9% in the final three months of last year. The company took full advantage of a robust holiday shopping season. Amazon claim net profit totalled $225m in the fourth quarter, up from $207m a year ago.

Unlike many, Amazon has not yet been hit hard by consumers cutting back. Amazon has re-assured their customers that the online store would continue to offer low prices and free shipping deals to help budget-conscious shoppers. Revenue increased 18% to $6.7bn, beating analysts estimates and Amazon it expected sales to rise in the first three months of 2009. In a time where many retailers are struggling, it seems that Amazon find themselves in the small group of stores that has managed to avoid negative changes to profits and takings.

Tweet Smell of Success

Rick — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:34:24 +0000

Recently released stats show that use of micro-blogging service Twitter rocketed nearly 1,000% in the UK over the past year. This data was released by industry analysts HitWise.

For the first time, the site has seen more visits than “social bookmarking” site Digg, which allows users to share links to sites. Twitter hit the headlines earlier in January, providing the first pictures of downed US Airways flight 1549 and continues to attract exposure with an increase of users, including celebrity bloggers.

The site may continue its meteoric rise as the new US President is a long serving user of the service. Twitter has jumped from 2,953rd most popular in the UK in 2008 to 291st as of mid-January and shows no signs of slowing.

Windows Worm Attacks Millions

Rick — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:24:02 +0000

If you don’t have the latest security updates, you could be in danger of being attacked by a worm that spreads through low security networks, PCs and even memory sticks. The malicious piece of software has been infecting under several different names including Conficker, Downadup, and Kido.

First discovered in October 2008, this worm is posing an increasing threat on Windows’ users. To combat this, Microsoft have released a patch, however the worm has already infected over 3 million machines.

According to experts, this figure could potentially be far higher. It is advised that users should have up-to-date anti-virus software and install Microsoft’s MS08-067 patch to protect themselves against this dangerous worm.

Build Traffic with Traffic Android

Rick — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:04:03 +0000

Traffic Android is a brilliant online tool that makes building traffic to your website very easy indeed. Some features include automatic schedule social bookmarking, RSS aggregator submission and more. This is the tool for anyone who is serious about bookmarking and drawing in traffic to their website.

Here is a Traffic Android

Check out this awesome tool at

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The Secret…

Rick — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:06:03 +0000

Do you know the secret?

Schoolgirls Suspended Over Facebook Page

Rick — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:39:14 +0000

Grey Coat Hospital School in London have suspended 29 girls schoolgirls for using social networking website Facebook to engage in a hate campaign against their teacher. Headteacher Rachel Allard said the girls were suspended for up to 15 days for persecuting a member of staff using a Facebook hate page.

As a result of the attack, the Telegraph newspaper claim the targeted teacher was forced to seek counselling. The offending Facebook page has now been removed.

Headteacher Allard added: “The vast majority of parents who have been to see me about this incident are supportive of the school and understand why we have taken firm disciplinary action.”