When Jack Ma, the owner of Alibaba, first opened the doors to his Internet store in 1999, he knew that the business world would be forever changed. Unfortunately, widespread corruption and fraud has sullied the name of this privately owned and publicly traded company. Representatives for Alibiba say that neither Chief Executive Officer David Wei nor Chief Operating Officer Elvis Lee Shi-Huei had anything to do with the fraud, but it is unknown why and how over 2,000 illegal storefronts were allowed to be opened under their management. The company itself has been criticized on the Internet for years. Unhappy customers complained that they were unable to have their disputes resolved, especially when they had issues with companies with the highly coveted ‘gold’ status. Ironically enough. most of the fake stores sold gold items.
While it is commendable that Alibaba is finally making changes to its internal infrastructure, critics say that it is too little too late. Many questionable items are sold on the website, and since the sellers are located in countries such as China and India, it is virtually impossible to regulate the sellers unless, of course, Alibaba decides to step in. The news is yet another blow to Yahoo, who is still reeling from lay offs and lost profits. As approximately 40% of Alibaba is owned by Yahoo, any potential losses will only add the slew of problems that the Internet giant is facing. Ma is confident that his newly hired executives have what it takes to …

For years, people wondered about how Demand Media was able to produce thousands of articles a day that largely are made up with the same regurgitated information available elsewhere on the web and still make a profit. Late last year, it was shown that Demand Media was actually not that profitable at all, but when the company decided to go public last week people couldn’t wait to buy their stocks. Demand Media is responsible for the content that you see on websites such as LiveStrong and Ehow. When you go to search for a ‘how-to,’ phrase there is a good chance that one of their articles will be appearing at the top of your search results.
After coming onto the US stock market, Demand Media stocks closed at nearly $23 a share. Unfortunately, Demand Media’s impressive numbers may be short lived as Google has finally announced that it will be cracking down on poor quality content. This is not to say the Demand Media doesn’t produce articles that are valuable, but their mechanical approach to hiring writers and editing their content has made surfers weary about even clicking on their links. Some say that once you have read one Demand Media produced article you have virtually read them all. In any case, the company was able to target enough keywords to give their websites authority, and in turn, many surfers rely on their content to get the answers that they seek. If Google manages to reduce Demand Media’s influence, it …

There has been a big push for consumers to use energy conserving products, but Ikea made a bold statement when they announced that they would no longer be carrying incandescent light bulbs. While some may think that Ikea is just trying to force customers to purchase pricier LED light bulbs, but the fact of the matter is that this technology is the way of the future. You might initially spend a bit more on LED light bulbs, but you will end up saving a good amount of money on your utility bills. As a swanky furniture store that mainly appeals to young and environmentally aware consumers, Ikea believes that incandescent light bulbs will be obsolete in a few years anyways.
According to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, light bulb manufacturers will have to produce products that are 30% more energy efficient by 2012. Some critics believe that incandescent light bulb makers will not be able to comply with the new standards, which will cause some companies to go out of business while others will have to switch over to LED technology. In essence, Ikea is already ahead of the pack and many other major retailers will have no choice but to follow suit.
A large portion of US consumers already regularly purchase LED light bulbs. Now that Ikea has gotten rid of incandescent light bulbs altogether, even more people will learn how important energy saving light bulbs are. It will probably be another couple of years …

Die-hard Apple fans have been wincing every time they go to a computer retailer and see that personal computers, laptops and iPads are all placed together. Sure, they all kind of do the same thing, but technically speaking, iPads are nothing like a laptop. Even those in the financial sector are having a difficult time distinguishing the two. While this is a good sign for Apple, it could also be a sign that consumers are moving away from traditional computing devices.
The desktop computer will probably always have a place in the homes of middle aged and older consumers, but the new generation is focused on high tech computing devices that will allow them to access their files from anywhere. Being tied down to a desktop computer can have a negative effect on the social lives of consumers, but with the invention of social networking it is ironic that people are willing to share their lives from afar.
One of the main differences between the iPad and standard computers is its touch screen technology. Simply put, iPads allow users to do more things at a faster pace. At the same time, iPads are not able to execute the same tasks that computers and laptops are able to. It’s really a question of convenience versus necessity, but as the iPad evolves, other major computer manufacturers could be in trouble. For now, many users focus on the iPad for storage and Internet access. Having more places to store your important …

Both established companies and start-ups in the video conferencing industry can gain impressive revenues based on projected growth. The main reason that web conferencing is expected to grow so much over the next few years is that companies have seen what it has done for their budgets. While phone conferencing has been around for decades, video conferencing has brought an entirely new dimension to board meetings, annual reviews and quarterly earnings calls. In other words, company executives are able to see and hear what their peers have to say, which allows for a more interactive experience. Although major businesses will not be able to do away with business trips altogether, they have learned that it pays when their executives can stay on their home turf longer. When company heads spend extended periods of time traveling, they are not able to manage their home territories as efficiently. In turn, consumers are often waiting for longer periods of time and their issues are not resolved in a timely manner. A few disgruntled consumers can bring bad press and low profit margins. For the average person, video conferencing may not seem to be impressive, but corporate executives that have been in the business for awhile will tell you that business has completely changed as a result of the introduction of web conferencing.
With video conferencing, even business professionals on the go can log into their laptops and join a web conference that was forced to begin early. These companies have been discussing how …

Two students from an undisclosed school in the Muscogee County School District in Columbus, Ohio, decided that it would be funny to hack their school’s servers. Although they caused no permanent damage, their reckless behavior caused school-wide interruptions, which has cost the district some money. After network administrators were able to pinpoint the source of the trouble, records tying the students to the attack were found. It is not known how the school punished the students, but federal computer hacking charges followed. School administrators in the Muscogee County School District have asked educators and students to come together and work on a new policy that will make these sorts of computer attacks avoidable in the future.
While many students in public schools in the US have nearly unrestricted access to computers in the classrooms as well as in libraries, many abuse their privileges. Low level security measures have become ineffective due to the availability of so called ‘hacking manuals’ that are posted on the Internet and printed in books. Many juveniles pressure, bully and dare their peers to hack into school systems to change grades or cause other mischievous inconveniences, but they are largely unaware of the potentially serious consequences. Although computers in classrooms are usually closely guarded, libraries and computer labs make it more difficult for educators to keep track of students at all times. The parents of the two students involved in this computer hacking prank gone wrong may have to pay fines and restitution as well as …