Technology Slice Blog

Cartoon Characters On Facebook - Popular characters from the animated world are invading Facebook. Like the last celebrity doppelganger craze, members of the massive social networking site are replacing their profile pictures with images from their favorite childhood cartoons. "Change your profile picture to your favorite cartoon from when you were a kid," it says on the note that is being passed around between friends. "The goal of this game is not to see a human picture on Facebook, but an invasion of childhood memories until Monday. PLAY AND PASS ALONG!" Based on trending Google searches on Friday, the new practice is picking up ground. Popular search terms include "cartoon characters from the 80s," "Rainbow Brite," "Smurfs," "Ren and Stimpy," "Rugrats, " and "Doug." According to the note, the new Facebook meme has a charitable purpose. "From now until December 7, change your profile pict...

Cartoon Characters Prepaid Cards - It was the Kardashian sisters a few days ago. Now it’s cartoon characters who are promoting prepaid cards. Myplash.com has begun selling Teen Prepaid MasterCards with images that include So So Happy, Skelanimals, Paul Frank, and Emily the Strange, according to a report issued Wednesday by Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of Lowcards.com, a credit-card comparison Web site. On Nov. 17, Hardekopf wrote about how the Kardashian Kard was a bad deal because of the high fees that came with the card. Myplash.com also sells prepaid cards featuring various artists, and earlier this year began marketing one featuring characters from the Twilight movie saga. “There is nothing illegal about using cartoon characters to promote a financial product to teens, but it sure bothers me as a parent and seems to cross over the line of what is good taste,” said Hardekopf, also author of The Credit Card Guidebook. Fees for the Myplash cards are lower than fees for t...