Stories by Brennon Slattery

Facebook's 'Like' button evolves

Facebook has made a subtle but important change to the functionality of its Like button that will transform the way you share on the site and on the Web as a whole.

California school district battles truancy with GPS

Students with a tendency towards truancy in California's Anaheim Union High School District are being assigned GPS units to make sure they're going to school on time, according to The Orange County Register.

Facebook goes gay-friendlier

Facebook, the online representation of modern society, is a-changin' with the times by adding two new options to its list of relationship statuses: "in a civil union" and "in a domestic partnership."

UPDATED: Netgear CEO goes ape on Apple

CEOs, like children, squabble sometimes, and publicly rail against one another in the name of corporate positioning. But usually the dueling suits occupy the same product market, or are somehow competing. This doesn't appear to be the case with the global chairman and CEO of Netgear, Patrick Lo, who for no clear reason attacked Steve Jobs and Apple in the Australian press. And instead of bolstering Netgear's reputation, Lo's comments came off smug, cruel and confused.

eBookFling brings digital libraries to Kindle, Nook

When e-book lending came to the Nook - and then eventually to the Kindle - it opened the gates for e-reader owners to connect and spread the wealth of literature. But despite the popularity of e-readers, chances are that not all of your book-loving friends owned one, or they "went tablet," so swapping was limited-until eBookFling.

Upload and view videos in Google Docs

Google Docs is becoming a more robust cloud-based productivity suite, and the addition of uploading, storing and viewing videos is a boon for sharing corporate presentations and the like. It's also a slick way to skirt your company's firewall on streaming video sites such as YouTube.

MS makes inroads with Bing, releases new app version

Bing is witnessing a surge in market share and cutting-edge mobile app functionality that is making Microsoft's answer to Google not only a contender in the search engine wars, but also an app-killing mobile mammoth.

Gmail Delegation: Another reason to ditch Outlook

Google has introduced Gmail Delegation, a new feature that allows multiple users to access one Gmail account. Gmail Delegation isn't specifically for business -- families sharing one e-mail account will find it useful -- but its collaborative nature is perfect for companies looking to ditch Microsoft Outlook's glitchy saddlebags and adopt Gmail as their e-mail system.

Android market gets huge overhaul, but is it enough?

Google is overhauling its Android App Market in an effort to improve the experience for both users and developers. The updates, which are due before the end of 2010, will be applicable to all devices running Android 1.6 or higher. But with the Market's running tally of drawbacks -- mainly its developers' dissatisfaction with the process -- the renovation may not be enough to amend relations or compete with Apple's robust App Store.

Kindle, iPad aren't mortal enemies

A recent ChangeWave survey posited that the iPad is chomping into Kindle's e-reader market share. The iPad jumped 16 per cent to 32 per cent, and the Kindle dropped 15 per cent but still commands 47 per cent of the market. Surely this means the downfall of the Kindle? No. And don't call me Shirley.

What is Dell's Inspiron Duo, and Does It Stand a Chance?

The Dell Inspiron Duo tablet (or is it a netbook?) will be officially released November 23, <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20022898-64.html">CNET says</a>, citing "industry sources familiar with the launch plans."

Path: Photo-sharing social setwork isn't very social

As if we needed another one, Path was launched yesterday, a new social network built around photo-sharing, smartphones and exclusivity. Path is founded on a great idea: building a social network around photographs. It has potential, but this early version of Path seems a bit underdeveloped -- pun intended.

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