polls

Asking your friends on Twitter or Facebook a question is a great way to start a conversation, but not everyone takes the time to give a detailed answer. The next time you have an important question to ask, try asking it by creating a poll using GoPollGo's iPhone app. Hopefully more friends will be able to quickly select an answer, giving you more input on the topic than you'd normally see.

Creating a poll via the app is simple. Enter your question, an optional description and any possible answers for the question you have posed. Don't worry … Read more

I have a bone to pick with predictions. I was supposed to have my own personal jetpack by the year 2000. I'm still waiting. That's why I'm just a little skeptical about this BBC Future infographic that looks ahead a century and a half.

As we reported earlier this week, the infographic is packed with predictions ranging from "most likely" to "least likely" from 2013 until 150 years into the future.

For this year, the BBC is giving us pretty good chances that the Great Firewall of China will fall and that doctors … Read more

Instagram and its owner Facebook really stepped into it this week. A new terms of service update set to go into effect on January 16 would have given Instagram the right to sell users' photos or use them in ads.

As you might expect, the prospect of Instagram running rampant with photos didn't sit well with its 100 million users. The interest in escaping Instagram grew, with nearly 6,000 readers sharing over Facebook CNET's instructions for backing up and deleting their Instagram accounts.

It took a little while, but Instagram finally coughed out an apology and backtracked … Read more

There can be only one. The Samsung Galaxy S3 lopped the heads off of all comers to claim the top spot in CNET's roundup of the best tech products of 2012.

CNET editors placed the contenders in an imaginary fight cage and let them battle it out like so many boxing robots. Only five devices were still standing at the end. The iPhone 5 was left holding the tossed-off bridal bouquet while the Samsung Galaxy S3 hopped into a limo for its honeymoon with the "best tech product of 2012" designation.… Read more

A lot of things have jumped the shark. The Fonz did it first, literally donning water skis for the stunt and marking the beginning of the end for "Happy Days."

MySpace did it. Even the phrase "jumped the shark" has done it.

And what about the most popular social-networking site? In some people's eyes, Facebook is pulling on its swim trunks and eyeing the big beastie.

Bradley Horowitz, chief of rival Google+, argues that Facebook has already landed on the other side of the shark. Horowitz recently called Facebook out for the way it implements … Read more

Mobile Thursday. Black Friday. Small Business Saturday. Cyber Monday. What, there's no love for shopping on Sunday? The Thanksgiving holiday has turned from a single Friday of frenzy into a whole extended shopping weekend of weirdness.

Retailers have already been running Black Friday specials all week long, diluting the concept of a single day dedicated to shopping bargain madness. Digital ad agency Digitas crunched survey numbers and decided the holiday shopping season actually starts at 5:23 p.m. ET on Thanksgiving Day, thanks to a growing number of people making purchases with their mobile devices.

The rise of Mobile Thursday … Read more

Kids in the U.S. sure do like Apple gear, says a new study.

According to a recent poll of children ages 6 to 12 in the U.S. by research firm Nielsen, Apple's tablet once again came in first as the most-wanted gadget this holiday season, followed closely by iPods and iPhones. Of those polled, 48 percent said they wanted an iPad.

This is actually the third year in a row Apple's tablet has topped the list. Since 2010, the gadget has beat out computers, and Apple's own iPod Touch. This year's list also includes … Read more

This year, cold and flu season conveniently coincided with the November 13 launch day for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. A poll from IGN showed that one in four respondents planned to skip work or school to indulge in the new first-person shooter o its first day out.

A new option to live-stream Call of Duty gameplay on YouTube meant that work and school-skippers had to be a little more careful about hiding themselves in case their bosses were browsing YouTube Live and found them gunning down foes rather than crunching spreadsheets. … Read more

Some major technology-related political hot potatoes have been tossed around this past year. The Stop Online Piracy Act may have gotten the most attention.

CNET broke down the presidential candidates' stances on a variety of tech issues before the election. For example, when it came to SOPA, Romney spoke out against it, while Obama danced a little more delicately around the issue.

The election will be shaping the direction of tech-related legislation for several years to come. It has already had an impact by weeding out three SOPA-sponsoring congressmen.

As an informed geek voter, how much did tech issues sway … Read more