Poll: Blogging's big
mostly among young liberals
Blogging
may a big deal to politicos but most Americans have never even heard of
it. A new CNN/USA
Today/Gallup poll found that
56 percent of the U.S. population has no knowledge of blogs, although 75
percent of the U.S. public uses the internet. Only 32 percent are very or
somewhat familiar with blogs. Blogging seems to attract a young, liberal
audience. About 21 percent of people 18-29 read blogs at least monthly and
24 percent of liberals say they read blogs at least monthly. There was no
large discrepancy in gender.
FTC cracks down on false spyware-slaying scans
Companies
hoping to attract new customers have begun sending pop-up ads to make
consumers think their computer is infected with spyware. The cure
just happens to be their removal software. Now the Federal
Trade Commission is cracking down on such schemes. The FTC shut down
a company that scared customers into buying its product. Spokane,
Wash.-based MaxTheater
charged $29.95 for its Spyware Assassin software that didn’t remove
anything from people’s computers. The company offered
free spyware scans that
showed spyware on computers even when there was none. A U.S. court
has ordered the company and its owner, Thomas Delanoy, to suspend its
activities until a court hearing tomorrow.
Latest e-scam permutation targets Craigslisters
Internet
schemes seem to get more sophisticated as time goes on. But the goal
is still to take innocent people’s money. One of the latest scams
allegedly involves those same supposedly Nigerian scammers who have
been targeting people via email for years, who are now answering
Craigslist ads and some
eBay ads. The scam works in much the same way as the email scam, with
the originators trying to get the victim to wire money back to them
or another person after the scammer sends a cashier's check, which
turns out to be bogus. More than 50 cases have been reported so far
on Craigslist, which has posted a warning about the scam.
Too
busy/lazy to hunt in real life? Do it on the web
The thrill of hunting a wild hog can now be
realized from a laptop thanks to the internet hunting site Live-Shot.com.
Users can log on to fire real, remote-controlled weapons at
animals on a supervised ranch in Texas. More than 350 people from all
over the world have paid $15 a month and $6 each time they fire off
10 rounds from a .22 caliber rifle. They must also pay $300 for a
two-hour instruction session and to obtain a Texas hunting permit
that can be acquired over the internet. Shipping and processing the
meat or any taxidermy costs extra. Although the practice is very new,
opposition is already in full effect. Texas Republican representative
Todd Smith has introduced a bill to ban the practice, even though he
is an occasional hunter. The Humane Society of the United States is
asking Congress to make such online hunts illegal across the country.
|
