Citing unspecified studies, author Nicholas Carr claims that, "People who read hypertext comprehend and learn less ... than those who read the same material in printed form ... The more links in a piece of writing, the bigger the hit on comprehension." How big a "hit" is not clear, nor is how the presence of links might affect marketing messages. "I don't want to overstate the cognitive penalty produced by the hyperlink (or understate the link's allure and usefulness), but the penalty seems to be real, and we should be aware of it," argues Carr. For the …

The privacy amendments that Facebook implemented last week we apparently not enough to appease all in Washington. US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers reportedly sent a letter to the top social network on Friday asking it to provide more details on what it has been doing to ensure user privacy. "The letter, while brief, appears to directly address how Facebook is continuing to make some user data public by requirement, and more of it public by default," writes Inside Facebook. "Facebook's argument is that its aggressive, open approach to product development is what allows it to …

Part of the allure of DIY ecommerce sites like eBay and Craigslist is that, like garage sales and flee markets, they seem to operate under the radar of government scrutiny. Bursting that bubble, the IRS is reportedly cracking down on frequent and/or big-time sellers, reports The Washington Post. Furthermore, "As online commerce grows, it is drawing increased attention from tax collectors," the paper write. "Beginning next year, a new law 'requires the gross amount of payment card and third-party network transactions to be reported annually to participating merchants and the IRS,' according to an IRS summary." For …

Jeopardizing the "fr" in Google and Microsoft's long-held "frenemy" affiliation, Google is reportedly phasing out the internal use of Windows due to ongoing security concerns. "We're not doing any more Windows," an unnamed Google employee tells the Financial Times. "It is a security effort." "The directive to move to other operating systems began in earnest in January," explains FT.com, "after Google's Chinese operations were hacked, and could effectively ended the use of Windows at Google, which employs more than 10,000 workers internationally." "It's hard not to see a bit of significance …