-Article by Philip Icuss

Facebook has managed to come up with an idea worse than making the timeline profile mandatory. The idea is that you should pay your hard earned money to promote a status, picture, video, etc. so that more of your Facebook friends will see it.  Facebook spokesmen have told reporters that this feature, named the “Highlight feature,” is just in the testing stages in New Zealand.
 
Statistically speaking, a person’s Facebook post only reaches about 12% of their Facebook friends. This new update gives a user the ability to promote their post to all of their friends, thus, if the post is important, you can make sure that no one misses it. ZDnet.com gives a "Highlight feature" example in their article:

1. Say you like your gym’s Facebook Page. 
2. Some friends see the story in their news feeds, others may miss it.
3. The owner of the gym can pay to feature the story so your friends are more likely to see it.

In theory this is not a bad idea because it allows positive promotion of a company, community service opportunity, etc., but it’s easy to see people abusing this feature to try and bring attention to themselves and clog up my newsfeed with posts that I didn’t want to read in the first place.
 
Basically, Facebook needs to find better ways to try and make some revenue, because this highlight feature is not going to be the difference maker that they hope it is. More eyes are on its IPO than the nitty gritty of its New Zealand testing ground at the moment, but investors should be paying attention to what happens there. This kind of user monetization could completely undermine what makes Facebook so valuable.
 

If you want to see a cheap movie from home, I’ll bet you a whole Lincoln you don’t think “Let’s to go Blockbust…oh yeah, it’s not there anymore.” We’re so used to streaming videos online or seeing what’s at the Redbox. And the numbers make a strong argument against not just Blockbuster, but the DVD medium itself (including Blue Ray). The flexibility, portability and price of online streaming is motivating the same migration that happened from CDs to MP3s in the music industry.
 
In 2012, streamed video entertainment is set to surpass DVD and Blue Ray device viewing for the first time ever. Paid, legal movie downloads are set to double last year’s amount from 1.4 billion downloads to 3.4 billion. In contrast, physical video viewing is set to decline from 2.6 billion views to 2.4 billion.
 
The obvious leader in video streaming services is Netflix. Despite a recent branding and pricing debacle, they have actually done a great job capturing much of the media streaming market. Apple, Amazon and others have some very legitimate offerings too, however, and there’s no telling who may or may not come out “on top” in the end.

Technology changes, and there’s always someone waiting to take over. There very likely could be a new Hulu or Netflix pop up tomorrow that will blow our standards out of the water and make it even easier to cut cable completely. So. DVDs versus streaming? Which is your entertainment venue of choice?
 
Dan Thompson and Beth Haynes with WBIR-TV discussed the issue recently. Have a look below and give us your opinion.

There is a trend developing in the technology world: everything is getting [surprise!] smarter. Your phone is smart, your car is smart, your TV is smart, and now the remote control is smart. Several TV manufacturers make remote controls that utilize voice and motion detection to allow the user change channels, volume, access web browsers and other applications. Dan Thompson visited WBIR-TV to chime in on the smart remote trend. Watch the video here or skip below for the wordsmithed version.
  
 

Do you have to buy the TV to get a smart remote or do they come separate?

• Right now, the new remotes are unique to the televisions they are sold with. If this catches on though, a universal remote technology may be implemented, similar to the one we use now.

Can you use your iPhone as a TV remote?

• Sure, there are lots of users apps out there that a person can use to control their TV. It depends on the specs of your devices. I have an application on my smartphone that allows me to remotely turn on my DVR at home, to turn my TV on and off, etc. More of these TVs are coming with this technology built in. LG, for instance, is launching a model with the revamped Google TV built in. More and more, manufacturers are hearing the outcry for app-implementation in their home devices and we should expect more of this technology integration in the future of remotes.

How long until these technologies come down in price?

• We can expect the prices to drop considerably by Christmas this year.

We like giving away free stuff. It’s fun. Today we’re giving away 4 tickets to see the folk-rock-blues icon Bonnie Raitt in concert next Monday, May 14^th at the Tennessee Theatre. Over the past few weeks, we’ve had a short survey posted on our site. Fill it out and you were entered to win. Today, we’re happy to announce that the winners are…

…drumrollllllllllll…

Eric Sexton of Jacksboro, TN and Jennie Johnson of Cleveland, TN!

Eric and Jennie will each receive 2 tickets, front and center on the 7^th row, and a gift card for dinner to Bonefish Grill.

Congratulations Eric and Jennie! Thanks for participating and enjoy the show! 

You may be infected with a virus that could block you from the internet. Around 350,000 computers are already infected with this malware, called “DNS Changer.” Dan Thompson with Claris Networks and Jason Graf with Sword and Shield Enterprise Security visited WBIR to give the entire scoop. If you’d rather just watch the video, skip on down to watch.

What is the virus and how does it work?

Dan: “Essentially, DNS is a technical term that references the translation that goes on behind the scene when you and I are browsing the internet. For instance, if you type www.facebook.com, DNS is the stuff that goes on behind the scenes that lets your computer know to go on the internet. So what the virus has done is to redirect all those requests to go to somewhere besides Facebook. It looks like Facebook, but it’s not. For every person that this virus directs to this fake site, the malware creators are making money. Some people make money on the internet by clicks, so they’re funneling all these people over to a site that’s making them cash.

Does this impact both Windows and Mac users?

Jason: Yes. It seems that the safety net of the Mac system has been dissolved for the first time. This virus along with another that came out recently called Flashback, affected over 650,000 Mac users. Both employ what’s called “click fraud” to solicit illegitimate clicks.”

Describe the investigative process in finding this virus and its creators.

Dan: The FBI knew what was going on with this virus a while ago, but they realized that if they yanked the carpet out from under it, tons of people would be stranded who couldn’t surf the internet anymore. What the FBI decided to do was to leave those servers in place, albeit at taxpayer dollars. Now they are stuck with a conundrum: either they leave these servers in place indefinitely (which they have decided not to), or turn it all off (which they are going to do). This will completely disable infected computers’ ability to browse the internet.

What is the target date for the shut off?

Dan: July 9^th

What will happen on July 9^th?

Dan: “If you have the virus on July 9^th when they turn those servers off, you will receive a “Page cannot be displayed” error, no matter which address you attempt to visit.

How do you know if you have the virus and will this July 9^th blackout correct the problem if you do?

Jason: Go to the website www.dcwg.org. This website will scan your computer, let you know if you’re infected with the virus, and give you tips on removing it if you do.

This malware also shuts off your antivirus software and prevents you from getting updates, which makes your computer much more susceptible to other malware.