An anonymous reader writes “The Internet Storm Center notes that emails that look like subpoenas are being sent out to the CEOs of major US corporations. The email tries to entice the victim to click on a link for ‘more information.’ According to the ISC’s John Bambenek: ‘We’ve gotten a few reports that some CEOs have received what purports to be a federal subpoena via email ordering their testimony in a case. It then asks them to click a link and download the case history and associated information. One problem, it’s [totally] bogus. It’s a “click-the-link-for-malware” typical spammer stunt. So, first and foremost, don’t click on such links. An interesting component of this scam was that it did properly identify the CEO and send it to his email directly. It’s very highly targeted that way.’”

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Filed under: Utilities, Web services, web 2.0

If it turns out that the Internet collapses under the weight of all our uploaded files, we will blame it all on the amazing, and seemingly unstoppable, growth of file upload services like File Dropper.

File Dropper is yet another file upload service that’ll host your files up to 5 GB. As far as file sharing services go, it couldn’t be easier to use:

On the main File Dropper page, you click the upload button, browse to the file you wish to upload, and the file is automatically uploaded to the File Dropper servers. After the upload is complete, you will be taken to a page with a link to send to your friends or co-workers. All they’ve to do is follow the link and hit the download button, and the file is theirs.

As a free service, File Dropper meets the basic needs of file sharing: upload, share, and download. If you want more enhanced features, such as the ability to protect your files with a password, or the inclusion of a handy file manager, you’ll have to pony up the dough, with plans starting at $0.99 a month.

When File Dropper first saw the light of day a few weeks ago, its Achilles heel was quickly discovered: the uploads and downloads were terminally slow. Some time has passed since its initial release, so we figured that we’d test it out again:

Continue reading File Dropper: Hosts your files up to 5 GB for free

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Burz writes “As a reaction to Virgin Media CEO’s promise to violate the concept of net neutrality, Cory Doctorow is declaring his ISP contract void, canceling the service, and calling on other Virgin customers to do the same. He isn’t alone. Charlie Stross counts the ways the gang that became Virgin Media is trashing Sir Richard’s brand. Myself, I’m thinking of stopping my Virgin Mobile service in protest.”

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Filed under: World wide web, Blogging, Web services, Yahoo!

A few days ago Yahoo! announce it was purchasing IndexTools, a powerful web analytics suite that rivals similar applications from Google and Microsoft. Now IndexTools COO reports that the plan is to offer IndexTools free of charge. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that for now, the free service will only be available to existing clients and partners who accept the new terms of service. Yahoo! won’t be accepting new users until it rolls out the next version of the application and it’s still too early to know when that’ll take place.

Eventually the free service could offer some serious competition for Google Analytics, one of the most popular free tools for web publishers who want to track reader statistics and optimize their advertising.

[via Techmeme]

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Lucas123 writes “Yesterday Seagate filed suit against STEC, claiming several of its products, including solid state disks and some DRAM devices, infringe as many as four of its patents. Today STEC responded that it holds patents on the technology 10 years older than Seagate’s. A Seagate win in the suit, or a settlement, could result in the equivalent of a tax on SSDs and potentially other flash memory products, increasing prices to end users at a time when demand for SSD storage is exploding.”

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Filed under: Internet, Web services, web 2.0

Last month Drew Olanoff and Mashable’s Adam Ostrow acquired ReadBurner from developer Alexander Marktl. This afternoon they’re relaunching the site with a new look and a ton of new features.

ReadBurner is a meme tracker based on Google Reader shared items. We covered the site when it launched. At the time it was simply a repository for shared items from a handful of well known tech bloggers. Now the site features a much more elegant design, categories like Popular, Upcoming, and Most Recent, and subcategory links for All, Web, Desktop, Mobile, and Apple.

There ’s also a related stories section that lets you know if other sites have picked up on story. This feature makes ReadBurner a bit more of a Techmeme competitor than it used to be. And ReadBurner has partnered with Disqus, an online comment system to let users comment on stories. The companies are looking into ways to also make those comments appear on the original blogs where the stories came from. Finally, the site now sports Google Reader integration. Just click the Google Reader tab and your RSS reader will open up on the same page.

While we’re dubious that this will be a true Techmeme or Digg killer, it does look like a good way for casual readers to find tech related news. Since the site relies on users who share their Google Reader link blogs, it’s possible users could begin spamming the site when it goes live. But as long as the site is well managed and someone takes care to prune spammy feeds you should see stories from a more diverse set of readers showing up soon.

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Alien54 writes “Audioholics has a fun read regarding a current legal dustup involving Monster Cables. The well-known (some might state notorious) cabling company sent a cease and desist letter to Blue Jeans Cable over a supposed patent violation. What the Monster folks couldn’t have known was that Blue Jeans president Kurt Denke used to be a lawyer. His response is as humorous as it is thorough. ‘ Let me begin by stating, without equivocation, that I have no interest whatsoever in infringing upon any intellectual property belonging to Monster Cable. Indeed, the less my customers think my products resemble Monster’s, in form or in function, the superior … If there’s more than one such connector design in actual use by Monster Cable as to which appropriation of trade dress is alleged, of course, I will require this information for each and every such design. On the basis of what I’ve seen, both in the USPTO documents you have sent and the actual appearance of Monster Cable connectors which I’ve observed in use in commerce, it does not appear to me that Monster Cable is in a position to advance a nonfrivolous claim for infringement of these marks.’”

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Good news, Products and services, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Johnson and Johnson (JNJ)

With traders increasingly worried about the housing market and the credit crunch, health products maker Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) gave an optimistic note to Wall Street by posting a surprising growth in its first-quarter profit. The company reported better-than-expected earnings, with some help from favorable exchange rates.

For the quarter, the company said that its profit surged 40% to $3.6 billion, or $1.26 per share, helped by strong sales of many key products. These numbers are up from $2.57 billion, or 88 cents a share, reported in the same period a year earlier. Analysts, on average, expected the company to show quarterly earnings of $1.20 a share.

The health products maker posted growth of 7.7% for its first-quarter revenue, which climbed to $16.19 billion from $15.04 billion a year earlier. During the period, Johnson & Johnson benefited from the weak dollar which was a major driver for its consumer products sales. Analysts expected the company show revenue of $15.83 billion in the third quarter, according to Thomson Financial.

Despite a weak economy that has put a curb on consumer spending, J&J had a good overall 2007. The company’s new allergy drug, Zyrtec, has been a catalyst for its consumer product business sales which jumped 16 percent to $4.06 billion. Johnson & Johnson’s cost savings plans also proved effective in its fight against strong competition, offsetting low revenues from key anemia drug Procrit.

Looking ahead, the company plans to “continue to invest in growth opportunities that are critical to our future and are continuing to manage our costs,” J&J’s chief financial officer, Dominic Caruso, said.

Johnson & Johnson’s positive earnings gave investors’ some hope amid the challenging market conditions, but it looks like investors are still concerned about the company’s domestic sales which showed small gains compared with its overseas sales which benefited from the weak U.S. currency.

Eliza Popescu is a financial writer for the on the web investment advisory service Investor’s Observer.

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Filed under: Deals, Industry, Competitive strategy, Ford Motor (F)

Nissan and Chrysler will start to build full-sized pick-ups together. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Chrysler will start building a large pickup for Nissan at its truck plant in Saltillo, Mexico.” Nissan will also build some small cars for the US company.

The deal allows both companies to increase output from some of their plants, making more efficient use of manufacturing facilities and the arrangement could also cut design costs for the two automakers.

The new partnership raises the question of whether embattled Ford (NYSE:F) should do the same thing. Ford’s shares trade between $6 and $7 most days, about where they were when there were rumors of Chapter 11 two years ago. Ford now has only about 15% of the US market, and, if that share falls more, it has to raise the question of how viable it is for Ford to “go it alone” in the US market.

Ford could turn to several partners, but the most obvious one is Volkswagen. VW has stated that it wants to expand into the US market and has had tiny success here. Since Ford losses money on many of its smaller vehicles, an area where VW is strong, it may make sense for Ford to take VW-produced cars for its domestic dealers and have a piece of a profitable joint venture instead of losing billions on its own.

At the end of the day, Ford has to do something.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Filed under: International markets, Competitive strategy, Wal-Mart (WMT), China, Russia, Mexico, Japan, Eastern Europe

Now that it is clear that Wal-Mart’s (NYSE:WMT) international operations are growing much faster than its US division, the company is searching for new frontiers. Revenue overseas is growing at a rate superior than 20%

Wal-Mart has had trouble in some countries. Its operation in Japan continues to loss money and it has pulled out of Korea and Germany.

Now, the world’s largest retailer is looking to Russia and eastern Europe for more growth. According to the FT, Wal-Mart “firmly signaled its intention to expand into Russia and eastern Europe, announcing that it had recruited Stephan Fanderl, a German retail executive, to explore opportunities in the region.”

It will be at least a couple of years before the market can gauge whether Wal-Mart can have success in the region. It has to compete with other companies like large European retail chain Tesco. The Wal-Mart model clearly does not work in all cultures.

A break-down of Wal-Mat’s track record overseas is telling. It problems in Germany, Japan, and Korea have been more than off-set by successes in China and Mexico. To some extent that may mean that countries with lower median incomes are better markets for the company. Russia and Eastern Europe are a blended bag. Parts of Russia have done very well financially. Eastern Europe is still in a stage of economic development.

Wal-Mart may be expanding outside the US, but its success is hardly assured.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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