Facebook - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• Debunking the myths about scale-up architectures

  <em>This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter's approach.</em>

• It's a bird, it's a plane, it's the rebirth of satellite Internet

  <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/19/google-spacex-internet-plans/?ncid=rss_truncated">SpaceX</a>, Facebook, <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/article/2871304/security0/virgin-galactic-wants-to-launch-2-400-comm-satellites-to-offer-ubiquitous-broadband.html">Virgin Galactic</a> and Google have all announced major initiatives that would help connect the world -- especially developing nations -- to the Internet. But the next thing in worldwide connectivity isn't going to be in underground cables, so much as it will be over your head. It starts with satellites, but it gets a lot weirder. 

• Displaced IT workers are being silenced

  A major problem with the H-1B debate is the absence of displaced IT workers in news media accounts. Much of the reporting is one-sided -- and there's a reason for this.

• Privacy is the new killer app

  A funny thing is happening in the wake of the <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2490179/security0/security0-the-snowden-leaks-a-timeline.html">Edward Snowden NSA revelations</a>, the infamous <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2601905/apple-icloud-take-reputation-hits-after-photo-scandal.html">iCloud hack of celebrity nude photos</a>, and the hit parade of customer data breaches at <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2490637/security0/target-finally-gets-its-first-ciso.html">Target</a>, <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2844491/home-depot-attackers-broke-in-using-a-vendors-stolen-credentials.html">Home Depot</a> and the <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2845621/government/us-postal-service-suffers-breach-of-employee-customer-data.html">U.S. Postal Service</a>. If it's not the government looking at your data, it's bored, lonely teenagers from the Internet or credit card fraudsters.

• 4 startups that are changing productivity

  By now, you've likely <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2837807/one-missed-email-and-google-inbox-will-be-in-trouble.html">heard about Inbox</a>, Google's bold new plan to reinvent email with a smarter, more context-sensitive interface that treats messaging like just another to-do list. 

• Review: Halt and Catch Fire adds sizzle to PC history

  AMC's new TV series harks back to the early days of PCs -- but drama, not desktops, takes center stage.

• As Google+ nears 3rd anniversary, where does it go from here?

  With Google's social network coming up on its third anniversary, industry analysts are wondering if the company is rethinking Google+ and where it goes from here.

• Facebook may lure teen users back with virtual reality promise

  With its acquisition of virtual reality gaming company Oculus VR , Facebook may have found a way to lure back younger users to the social network.

• Trust issue looms large for tech companies capitalizing on personal data

  As tech companies increasingly rely on analyzing and selling user data to boost revenue, trust is emerging as one of the defining issues of the year for the IT sector.

• Facebook coughs up $19bn to buy WhatsApp, draw younger users

  Facebook may be shelling out $19 billion in cash and stock for the messaging company WhatsApp to stanch the departure of younger users from the social network.

• Career Watch: Paying lip service to work/life balance

  Personal coach Kelly Walsh says some initiatives with the 'work/life balance' label are actually counterproductive.

• By the numbers: Twitter vs. Facebook IPOs

  Facebook's IPO was considered an early bust while Twitter's has been deemed a success. In terms of orderly market activity, that's without question. But what about prices?

• IT: Don't let the CEO wonder what you do all day

  If there's no catastrophic system failure or major software deployment to work on, CEOs might wonder what IT does all day. Here's how to make sure your contributions aren't undervalued when things go smoothly.

• Here comes the age of ambient everything

  Trends in social, search, mobile, wearable and the Internet of things will alter our perception of reality. Change is in the air, says columnist Mike Elgan.

• Facebook loses the cool factor with bored teens

  Somewhere along the way, Facebook apparently became your father's social network. And that could be a problem for the popular social networking site.