Blog Posts by Chase Kell

Twitter has taken aim at five of its most troublesome spam enablers with a lawsuit filed in federal court, the company's latest effort to crack down on mass-produced junk tweets.

Defendants listed in the lawsuit, filed last Thursday, include Philippines-based JL4 Web Solutions (referred to in the suit as "TweetAttacks") and Tennessee-based Skootle Corporation (referred to as "TweetBuddy"; "TweetAdder"), as well as individuals Garland Harris and James Lucero.

Twitter claims to have spent as much as $700,000 fighting spam produced by the five parties listed in the lawsuit.

"With this suit, we're going straight to the source," Twitter shared in a recent blog post. "By shutting down tool providers, we will prevent other spammers from having these services at their disposal. Further, we hope the suit acts as a deterrent to other spammers, demonstrating the strength of our commitment to keep them off Twitter."

No more than a day after the suit was filed in San Francisco, several of the

"Project Glass" aims to deliver hands-free digital information to users on the go

Rumours surrounding Google's latest project, which began to surface months ago, have been confirmed. The tech giant is set to enter the eyewear industry with "Project Glass," an experimental pair of augmented reality glasses that could very well complete your Geordi La Forge Halloween costume.

In a video released Wednesday, Google has unveiled their prototype digital glasses, which use augmented reality to deliver data on the go. The high-tech eyewear can display directions, take photos and engage in videochats, all at the command of the user's voice.

"It's like Iron Man except instead of important world-saving information you're answering your friend's text messages and learning about delays on the subway," explains Mario Aguilar in a Gizmodo piece.

Check out the savvy shades in action:

For the most part, these glasses appear to be a miniaturized, hands-free smartphone accessory, bringing many of

LG may not be the first manufacturer to experiment with flexible e-paper, but their new Electronic Paper Display (EPD) could very well be the first to hit the shelves.

The six-inch high-resolution EPD, taking form in a 0.7 millimeter (0.027 in) plastic substrate, is now considered to be the first of its kind in full production.

"With the world's first plastic EPD, LG Display has once again proven its reputation for leadership and innovation with a product we believe will help greatly popularize the E-Book market," said Sang Duck Yeo, Head of Operations for LG Display's Mobile/OLED (organic light-emitting diode) division, in a Gizmag blog. "Based on our success in mass-producing plastic EPD, we are excited as we look toward applying concepts from this experience to future developments like plastic OLED and flexible displays."

Sporting a resolution of 1024x768, LG is hoping their brand new display will "revolutionize the e-book market," according to Engadget. But the flexibility

Late night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel's first Unfriend Day was such a huge success, he just had to do it again.

The inaugural 2010 event saw millions of Facebook users trimming the fat from their respective profiles, all in the name of what irked the jocular television host.

"Everyone I work with is on Facebook all the time," Kimmel shared with the Los Angeles Times. "I just don't understand why they're interested in what somebody they went to the fifth grade with is having for lunch...I decided it would be a good idea to encourage people to whittle those friends down."

With the help of Canadian Trekkie William Shatner, Kimmel kicked off his second annual Unfriend Day in November 2011. What followed was either a simple coincidence, or proof that Kimmel's influence can challenge that of Oprah Winfrey.

A report from GOOD reveals that more than half a billion Facebook users were unfriended in 2011, far surpassing the 158 million who saw the same fate in 2009.

Morley Winograd, director of the

It's no secret that many of today's employers review social media activity in order to probe the personal lives of prospective employees. The practice has nearly reinvented the standard background check, and companies such as Social Intelligence provide this very service to employers looking for in-depth assistance.

"All we assemble is what is publicly available on the Internet today," said Max Drucker, chief executive of Social Intelligence in The New York Times.

But a recent report from The Globe and Mail has revealed what one employer resorted to when the social information wasn't made publicly available.

Justin Bassett, a statistician from New York City, was minutes into what he thought was just another job interview when the standard discourse had quickly developed into an invasion of privacy.

He had just finished answering a few typical character questions when the interviewer began to search for his Facebook profile. But when it was discovered that Bassett had made his profile

windows8tabletTech bloggers had nothing but great things to say when Microsoft debuted the Windows 8 operating system last month at Mobile World Congress.

Well, that may not be entirely true.

"Windows 8 is a breeze to use," shared Seth Rosenblatt of CNET. "It's tricked out with social networking and synchronization, it's robust enough to handle Photoshop, it gracefully moves from touch to keyboard and mouse, and it's got some top-notch security. Despite what Microsoft is calling strong interest from hardware manufacturers and developers, however, its impact is still uncertain at best."

The market impact of a Windows 8 tablet seemed to be the only impediment worth noting. And perhaps for good reason, considering that Apple maintains market dominance, and Microsoft's hint at strong interest from manufacturers was the only detail on a Windows 8 tablet that we had to work with.

But a recent report from The Verge may shed some light on the marketability of a Windows 8 tablet. Turns out Microsoft wasn't

Nearly two months ago, NASA released a stunning video that captured the Aurora Borealis as it danced its way across the Canadian skies. The crew of Expedition 30 caught the gorgeous greens from aboard the International Space Station — the footage begins at a pass near the border of Washington State and British Columbia, bending eastward into southern Alberta.

Six short weeks later and the very same crew is at it again, releasing another beautiful video that documents a remarkable light show high above the Great Lakes.

"This great video of the Aurora Borealis was captured as the ISS became very close to the aurora lights over Canada," reveals SpaceWatch99, who uploaded the video on YouTube. "The sequence of shots was taken January 25, 2012 from 09:27:08 to 09:32:16 GMT, on a pass from northwestern Wisconsin to southeastern Quebec, near the Gulf of St. Lawrence."

People wait in line the 5th Avenue Apple Store in New York.Just as we have come to expect, hundreds lined up at stores around the world as the much anticipated new iPad hit the shelves today. It's the kind of fever that has become synonymous with an Apple product launch, yet despite all of the hype, the crowds gathered in certain cities seemed a little more barren than normal.

The queues amassed along Fifth Avenue, the site of Apple's flagship New York City location, were nothing compared to previous years. Just ask Peter Brown, a small business owner who travelled all the way from London: "I came by at midnight and nobody was here."

From what we can gather, there could be a handful or explanations. Perhaps the bulk of those who were super excited had already ordered theirs online, helping Apple to achieve a new record for iPad pre-orders. Maybe at $519 a piece, the price just isn't right for the aspiring tablet owner. Or maybe Marc Saltzman's blog on why it doesn't always pay to be an early adopter has convinced a global audience.

Yet