Apparently social networks are so hot they are more popular than porn.  As reported by Reuters, Bill Tancer and Hitwise have analysed data from over 10 million users the results of which, Tancer claims, reflects not just what’s happening on-line but also a broader view of people’s behaviour and society.

According to Tancer one of the major shifts search-wise in the last ten years has been the drop of interest in adult entertainment and pornography and the increase in searches for social networking sites.

“As social networking traffic has increased, visits to porn sites have decreased,” said Tancer, “My theory is that young users spend so much time on social networks that they don’t have time to look at adult sites.”

The popularity of social networks to me highlights what’s important to us.  The need for people to connect and communicate is so strong we continously adapt and embrace new opportunities and advances as they present themselves.

We are so fascinating!

I love this idea! As a part-time uni student working full time I already take advantage of the recordings of lectures that I am unable to attend during the day. It’s true that listening to a podcast of a lecture is not the same as attending (and I cannot wait until they progress to vodcast so I can actually see what the lecturer is pointing at!!), however, the “iLectures” are incredibly useful and popular, even with students who can attend lectures, as a revision tool for exams. I’m sure online tutorials (which is my interpretation of the additions on offer) would be massively popular, particularly when recent studies show that students are finding it increasingly difficult to balance work and study but cannot afford to give up their day jobs.

Before I decided to commit to a degree as a mature age student I attended a few psych lectures with my younger sister (who went to uni before I did ) to test my interest. I thought that if I held interest in lectures even though I was not receiving any credit and the only “prize” at the end was information / knowledge then I must have a genuine interest in the information on offer. This was an invaluable exercise that some found extremely weird and nerdy but made my decision super easy. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Parry’s idea has so many potential benefits not just for students at another institution where the subject is not offered but also for people trying to decide whether to pursue further education who are unsure of their abilities, or for intelligent and passionate people who perhaps cannot afford formal secondary education but would benefit from the knowledge without the qualification.

Fantastic! More of this please.

On April 7 2008, the Swedish Tax Agency posted a ruling on their website, titled “Virtual worlds — value-added tax” In it, the agency states that in-game transactions may incur liability for both value-added tax (simillar to Australian GST) as well as income tax under Swedish law.

Vili Lehdonvirta translates; Transactions between participants in a virtual world, where the deal is about the sale of a “product” or a “service” against reimbursement in an internal currency, should be considered, according to the Swedish Tax Agency’s ruling, [actual] sales of electronic services, if the internal currency can be exchanged to a valid legal means of payment. If the internal currency cannot be exchanged to money, the transactions should not be considered [actual] sales.

Next time you buy and sell virtual furniture with a Swede in Second Life, consider the implications of off shore tax transactions, adding GST to virtual goods, and the golden question for virtual/real world tax crossovers-who to invoice.

Read more here.

Ten days after the March release date, the state’s official mobile phone company ETECSA registered 7,400 new phones on the network. Staggering, considering a typical mobile phone contract costs about $120 to activate, which is half a year’s wages on the average state salary.

Voting by text is only available to AT&T subscribers. The information was sourced from Nielsen Mobile, who tracks text message voting and contest behavior through its panel of 43,000 U.S. wireless lines. 

TV.com is extremely popular with TV viewers in the United States who use the website to chat about their favourite shows, obtain commentary and program listings, and to watch TV episodes. Mr Nelson said when TV.com launched in Australia, local TV networks would have a big problem on their hands.

“TV.com is a very popular global site and seems like it’s growing significantly as an international social network, with a lot of participation around online forums,” he said. “Many locals visit TV.com regularly and it’s even more popular than some of our local TV websites, so with the merger, CBS can do advanced screenings and previews way ahead of what the networks can do locally. This would have strong repercussions for local TV brands.”

Mr Nelson said TV.com would drive viewers away from local TV network websites, placing pressure on online advertising revenue at those sites.

Hulu.com is a new online video service offering popular TV shows, full length movies and clips that can be viewed anytime for free. The service is only available in the United States at this point in time, though worldwide distribution is in the pipeline.

Founded in March 2007 by NBC Universal and News Corp, Hulu offers free content based on an advertising model. The collection of online videos are from 50+ content providers such as FOX, NBC Universal, MGM, Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros. Users can watch current primetime TV such as The Simpsons and The Office the morning after they air, classics like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Married…with Children, movies like The Usual Suspects and The Big Lebowski, and clips from Saturday Night Live and other popular TV shows and movies.

“The trailer presents all the elements of a truly epic movie, in the hands of one of the world’s most visionary directors and two of the world’s biggest movie stars,” said Marcos Oliveira, managing director of 20th Century Fox Australia. “We couldn’t be more excited.”

BigPond group managing director Justin Milne added, “Movie trailers are hugely popular online, particularly ahead of the big screen hits, and there is none more highly anticipated than Australia,”

Australia will be released November 13.

Jason Hill from SMH Digital Life published some exciting new stats a few days ago about the rise of women gamers. According to Jason, the average gamer in Australia is now 28 years old, up from 24 just two years ago. And despite being largely ignored by the game industry, 41% are female.

Women and older Australians are the fastest-growing audience for computer and video games and if trends continue, by 2014 the average age of Australian gamers will be the same as non-players - 42 - with an equal number of male and female players.

Also, look at this bling-Australians spent a whopping $1.3 billion on video games and consoles last year - a rise of 43% from 2006.

We can look back at 2007 as the year gaming really began to take off.

pic: gaming today

YouTube is the most popular platform in the US, with over 6 Billion videos streamed during March 2008. Following YouTube was Yahoo, Fox Interactive, then Nickelodeon Kids and Family Network.

Between January and March 2008, streams watched per viewer increased from 51 to 60 per month and the total time viewers spent watching streams increased from 124 minutes to 137 minutes per month.