Deal Alert: $15 Fares on Frontier- Chicago, Miami & Philly

In the past few weeks, we’ve written about Frontier Airlines offering $19 fares from Phoenixand$15 fares from Houston to San Francisco. Today they’re back at it with$15 fares from Chicago O’Hare, Miami and Philadelphia.  Frontier is launching new service in American Airlines hub Miami and US Airways hub Philadelphia, and to celebrate they’re offering some super cheap fares on their new routes.  Tickets must be purchased by 11:59 pm Eastern time on Sep. 30, 2014 for domestic, non-stop travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays on certain dates from January 6-14, 2015. Fares are one way and do not require round-trip purchase. Aside from the $14.99 fares, Frontier is also offering $39 fares in select markets for December 30, 2014 through January 28, 2015.  Read More

Hello Ello, Goodbye Facebook: Social media network without ads woos US users

Can social networks products function without advertising? So far, the most successful example of a social media product that didn’t rely on any advertising is WhatsApp, which was bought by Facebook for $19 billion.

While WhatsApp hasn’t been flooded with ads for now and it looks unlikely in the future, a new social media website called Ello, which has been created by California-based artist and designer Paul Budnitz, is premised on the no advertisers policy. Ello is invite-only for now and according to this post on TheDailyDot is also attracting several members of the LGBT community.

The website’s homepage says the idea is to not treat the user as a product and to keep user data and privacy safe. The page reads,  Read More

You Are Being Hunted On Social Media

Working at home has ups and downs. This morning I found myself picking a piece of Lego out of my foot that I managed to step on in the darkness, again. That coupled with the fact that I had to yet find my way to the coffee maker meant that my mood was far less than pleasant.

After properly caffeinating, I cracked open my laptop to see what was waiting for me in the queue. The third email I noticed was from a friend who had sent me an email with something regarding Robin Williams who had recently passed away. My alarm bells were ringing in my head.

I have enjoyed the work of Robin Williams for many years but, this particular person didn’t and also was unaware of my fondness for his work. Then I realized that he had clicked on a phishing email or had his computer somehow compromised. I wish that there was some sort of antibiotic for this sort of situation but, the reality is that security awareness is a constant battle to be waged.  Read More

Sales of 2 New iPhone 6 Devices Top 10 Million in First Weekend

Apple’s investors obsess over early iPhone sales like Hollywood producers tracking opening ticket sales for a blockbuster movie.

A big weekend is usually a healthy predictor of consumer demand for the holiday season — not just for Apple, but for the entire consumer electronics industry.

Those Apple watchers can rest easy because the company’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are no bust. Apple said on Monday that it had sold 10 million units of its new and bigger iPhones over the weekend, up from thenine million iPhones it sold last year in the first weekend of sales for the previous generation of iPhones.

The iPhone is still Apple’s biggest cash cow, accounting for about 70 percent of its profit. So early sales can help predict quarterly or even annual results for the company, based in Cupertino, Calif.  Read More

A UMass Boston Grad Is Allegedly Behind ISIS’ ‘Sophisticated’ Social Media Strategy

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, otherwise known as ISIS, has used social media as a recruitment tool, to the point Western intelligence services are just as fearful of the Sunni militant group’s “less lethal weapons.” From state-of-the-art, full-production videos to swiping hashtags to spread their message, ISIS’ social media strategy is “sophisticated” — and it’s allegedly being run by a University of Massachusetts Boston graduate.

A senior law enforcement official told ABC News that 32-year-old Ahmad Abousamra moved to Syria and used his computer-science skills to run social media for ISIS.

Although born in France, Abousamra is reported to have grown up in Stoughton, Mass. He attended Xaverian Brothers, a private, all-boys Catholic high school in Westwood, Mass., before transferring to Stoughton High. Abousamra then enrolled in Northeastern to study computer science, according to school officials. He only spent three semesters at the university, however; he went on to graduate from UMass Boston with a degree in computer science in 2006, according to the Boston Herald. 

In 2004, Abousamra traveled to the Middle East and soon started working as the “media wing” of al Qaeda in Iraq, or AQI, which later evolved into ISIS. He was charged with terrorism-related offenses in 2009 and, four years later, the FBI added him to its Most Wanted Terrorists list, offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture and return to the states.  Read More

Seahawks win big in TV ratings, social media

SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks opened up the 2014 NFL season with an impressive effort in front of more than 68,000 fans at CenturyLink Field on Thursday, but the game’s impact went well beyond the Emerald City.

The national television audience for the Hawks’ 36-16 thumping of the Green Bay Packers was 26.9 million people, making it the third most-viewed opening game in NFL history, according to Deadline.com. That number also made the NBC-broadcast matchup the biggest television event in terms of total viewership since the 2014 Academy Awards on March 2.

Social media was in on the action as well. According to data compiled by Facebook, the game generated more than 15 million interactions – comments plus “likes” – from more than 8.5 million Facebook users.

The social media giant also released a map Friday based on which NFL team users “like.” The results are then grouped by county to see which teams have the most reach.

Unsurprisingly, the Seahawks dominate the Pacific Northwest, owning the entire state of Washington, much of Oregon and Idaho and parts of Montana. They’re hemmed in by fans of the arch-rival San Francisco 49ers to the south and their opponent in Super Bowl XLVIII, the Denver Broncos, to the east.  Read More