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Online spending drops for the first time

Kirsten Doyle
By Kirsten Doyle, ITWeb contributor.
Johannesburg, 27 Nov 2008

Online spending drops for the first time

Online monitoring company ComScore reports that online spending has dropped for the first time since records began, according to Computing.co.uk.

Spending for the first 23 days of November was down 4% on the same period last year. So far in 2008, $8.2 billion has been spent online, compared to $8.51 billion last year.

"Despite the recent reprieve that plummeting gas prices have given American consumers, the depressed and volatile stock market, declining housing prices, inflation and the weak job market all represent dark clouds hanging over their heads this holiday shopping season," says ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

Actor robots take Japanese stage

First there were dancing robots, then house-sitting robots and now a new breed of acting robots is making its big debut on the Japanese stage, says The BBC.

The play, which had its premiere at Osaka University, is one of Japan's first robot-human theatre productions.

The machines were specially programmed to speak lines with human actors and move around the stage with them.

Retailers adopt renewable energy

Big-box retailers are increasingly adding solar panels and wind turbines to sprawling stores to offset rising electricity costs and groom a "green" image, reports CNet.

Last week, Wal-Mart Stores announced it will add wind power to 360 Texas outlets. The company aims to power all stores with renewables eventually. So far, the retailer counting the largest amount of photovoltaics is Wisconsin-based Kohl's. Whole Foods is likely the first big name to add solar panels, starting in 2002 in Berkeley, California.

In the latest sign of government support for such efforts, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick called last week for all new malls and massive retailers to install solar panels. That state's rebates of up to 40% for photovoltaic installations are among the most attractive in the country for retailers eyeing regional and federal discounts for installing cleaner forms of energy.

$873m judgment against Facebook spammer

Facebook has won an $873 million judgment against a Canadian man who sent four million sex spam messages to users of the social network, says ZDNet.

It will be a long, long time before alleged spammer Adam Guerbuez, of Montreal, is found, much less coughs up that much money, but Facebook hopes the size of the judgment will scare off other spammers.

“Everyone who participates constructively in Facebook should feel confident that we are fighting hard to protect you against spam and other online nuisances,” Max Kelly, Facebook's director of security, wrote on the company's blog.

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