5 top Twitter apps for business users - Business Center - PC World

So your company has started using Twitter. For the first few weeks, you spearheaded the task of updating it, replying to followers and monitoring things. Only the lucky few companies can hire someone to manage social media efforts full-time. Luckily, the Twitter ecosystem has seen a a variety of start-ups and developers build free, Web-based tools that allow businesses to manage their Twitter accounts. These tools can help you manage the success of your tweets, and monitor the community response.

We had one overriding piece of criteria for this slideshow: The app had to be fully Web-based. Web-based Twitter apps let your employees access the account (and its settings) from any machine, on any operating system, at any time...

Ads follow Web users, and get deeply personal - NYTimes.com

For all the concern and uproar over online privacy, marketers and data companies have always known much more about consumers’ offline lives, like income, credit score, home ownership, even what car they drive and whether they have a hunting license. Recently, some of these companies have started connecting this mountain of information to consumers’ browsers.

The result is a sea change in the way consumers encounter the Web. Not only will people see customized advertising, they will see different versions of Web sites from other consumers and even receive different discount offers while shopping — all based on information from their offline history. Two women in adjoining offices could go to the same cosmetic site, but one might see a $300 Missoni perfume, the other the house-brand lipstick on sale for $2...

Barnes & Noble launches free Wi-Fi -- Wi-Fi -- InformationWeek

Barnes & Noble on Tuesday launched free Wi-Fi at its bookstores, providing customers with a convenient way to buy and download electronic books.

The free wireless hotspots will be provided through AT&T (NYSE: T), which has managed Barnes & Noble's paid Wi-Fi network since 2005. The bookseller operates 777 stores in 50 states and offers more than 700,000 e-book titles...

Cable WiMAX momentum building | Telecompetitor

The cable industry didn’t invest over $1.5 billion in Clearwire for nothing. That 2008 investment is turning into 2009 momentum for cable broadband wireless services powered by WiMAX. The first out of the gate was Comcast, who launched their first High-Speed 2Go WiMAX service in Portland, Oregon last month. Atlanta soon followed, and Las Vegas is reported to be on deck.

Now comes word that Time Warner Cable is prepping their first WiMAX launch for sometime ‘this fall,’ with Charlotte identified as their first market. The nation’s second largest cable company revealed these plans during their 2Q09 earnings conference call, citing plans to launch a total of four WiMAX markets by the end of the year...

1-800-Flowers.com blooms on Facebook - InternetNews.com

Will e-commerce on Facebook finally blossom? That may depend on how 1-800-Flowers.com fares as the e-tailer today became one of the first to open up a fully integrated storefront on its Facebook page.

By doing so, Facebook users can browse and purchase from 1-800-Flowers.com without leaving the social networking site or being redirected to the company's Web site...

Investing in a broadband future-plugged-in - FierceTelecom

With all the recent fanfare paid to wireless data and applications alike, one might begin to wonder if the horizon for wired broadband is simply fading to a bleak mural of a yesteryear gone by. Not so, if companies like AT&T and Verizon have a say. New capital investments and a stealth retooling of their operational systems could imply that wireline carriers recognize the strategic value of ownership in the broadband last mile.

Adding new subscribers has proven challenging for most operators, especially in light of a downturn in discretionary spending for services among U.S. domestic households since Q2, 2008. The inflection point in Q1, 2009, however, shows a reversal in consumer behavior as many opt to consolidate services such as cable content, VoIP over TDM wires, and services that ante up better utility of telecom purchases. A positive uptick in momentum for bundling voice and data, along with digital content services, is turning a new corner on just how consumers plan to slog through the recession while staying connected. Clearly, this ebb of stagnate consumerism is different by the way in which consumers value the telecom influence...

Twitter: A new tool for British civil servants -- Twitter -- InformationWeek

Twitter may restrict its posts to 140 characters, but the British Cabinet Office needed 20 pages to explain the microblog to its civil servants.

In a document that included objectives, metrics and five appendices, civil servants last week were advised to produce between two and 10 Tweets per day -- at least 30 minutes apart to avoid overwhelming followers -- in an "informal, 'human' voice' to promote "comprehension of and engagement with our corporate messages..."

Bango aims to help monetize content consumed via WiFi - FierceBroadbandWireless

Mobile payment company Bango announced WiFi-enabled operator billing for smartphones, enabling operators and content providers to monetize content customers buy while using WiFi connections.

Earlier this month, Bango issued a report indicating that more than 20 percent of people visiting sites to purchase content using their mobile phones are now connecting via WiFi. It said WiFi presents a major challenge to both content providers and operators as these mobile visitors are unrecognized by the networks, making it difficult to sell and market mobile services to them and significantly impacting mobile content revenues...

AT&T makes unique WiFi deal with Barnes & Noble; sees surge in hotspot usage - FierceBroadbandWireless

AT&T announced a new WiFi agreement with retailer Barnes & Noble to offer free WiFi to all of the store's shoppers, not just AT&T customers. The deal also includes an ebook component whereby WiFi users, along with iPhone and BlackBerry users, will be able to access 700,000 Barnes & Noble ebooks.

The news comes as AT&T announced a jump in WiFi usage in the second quarter. The carrier said it handled nearly 15 million WiFi connections on its network, a 41 percent increase over the first quarter. AT&T said 49 percent of the total connections were made by integrated devices. This is an increase of 41 percent over the first quarter 2009--a significant shift that tracks with the growth of WiFi-enabled devices, AT&T said...

Rural businesses and the Internet « Blandin on Broadband

Thanks to John Shepard for the heads up on a recent report by Jack Geller and the EDA Center at the University of Minnesota, Crookston (Rural Businesses and the Internet: The Integration Continues). The research report looks at adoption and utilization of Internet technologies among businesses throughout rural Minnesota. They surveyed 689 rural businesses across the state and across all industry sectors.

Here are some of the highlights. Most business in Minnesota (69 percent) have fewer than 10 employees and report gross sales of less than $1 million (65 percent). Almost 90 percent now operate online. Most use broadband; only 4.3 percent report using dialup. But of those who didn’t have broadband half reported that it wasn’t available. Most businesses (70 percent) are happy with their broadband speed and cost. The median cost was $50 per month; an impressively low was $20 per month, while some larger businesses reported paying well over $1000 per month...

Network Attached Storage units let PCs share data - USATODAY.com

They look like hard drives, but they act unlike any hard drives you've ever seen. In the industry, they're referred to as Network Attached Storage (NAS) units. But I'd call them Digital Media Control Centers.

They're hard drives that plug into your network router to push music, video and photos to the computers in your home or office. They also can back up your data, stream music from your iTunes program and make the data available remotely...

Managing your small business’s online reputation - NYTimes.com

Your customers are talking about you — and the whole world is listening.

Local review sites are reshaping the world of small business by becoming the new Yellow Pages, one-stop platforms where customers can find a business — and also see independent critiques of its performance. How do you manage your reputation when everybody is a critic?...

National Symphony Orchestra is tweeting Beethoven's 'Pastoral' at Wolf Trap - washingtonpost.com

The National Symphony Orchestra is trying an experiment. It's tweeting Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony, Thursday night at Wolf Trap.

For a healthy portion of the classical music audience, Internet-related words such as "tweet" or "Twitter" cause parts of the brain to shut down. Deep breaths. Here's what will happen: The orchestra will use the micro-blogging site Twitter to send text messages of 140 characters or fewer from conductor Emil de Cou during the performance. (Example: "In my score Beethoven has printed Nightingale = flute Quail = oboe Cuckoo = clarinet -- a mini concerto for woodwind/birds...")

Drawing scrutiny, Microsoft and Yahoo strike a partnership - washingtonpost.com

Microsoft and Yahoo's blockbuster deal to form a 10-year partnership in Internet search and advertising lands at a time when the Obama administration is taking an especially hard look at consolidation in the high-tech industry.

But the companies say it is the only way to form a credible competitor to the industry's Goliath, Google, which holds 65 percent of the market for Internet search advertising...

Fake security software steals $34 million monthly -- InformationWeek

Ignorance may be bliss, but it can also be expensive. Insufficiently knowledgeable computer users are downloading and paying for fake security software in increasing numbers, creating massive revenue for cybercriminals.

"More and more people are acclimating to the Internet and they feel they can make these important security decisions," said Sean-Paul Correll, security evangelist and threat researcher for Panda Security. "They don't feel the need to call their tech-savvy grandson..."

Verizon profit drops as consumers disconnect lines - BusinessWeek

Washington - Verizon Communications revenue rose 1.9 percent, but net income dipped 2.8 percent in the second quarter of 2009 compared to a year earlier, with the company's traditional wireline income taking a big dive.

Verizon on Monday reported revenue of US $26.9 billion in the second quarter, compared to $26.4 billion in the second quarter of 2008. Net income was down from $5.2 billion to $5 billion. Those numbers are adjusted to account for Verizon's acquisition of AllTel in January...

The misguided urge to regulate wireless - BusinessWeek

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) has called for an inquiry into the Apple iPhone and BlackBerry Storm, the Senate Commerce Committee has held hearings, and the U.S. Justice Dept. has opened an investigation. Their concern? Wireless carriers market these expensive, cutting-edge smartphones by subsidizing the handsets and requiring two-year service agreements. What they lose on the phones they make back in monthly fees.

To some, this seems unfair and anticompetitive. But calls for regulation are perverse. Indeed, Senator Kerry performs a great favor by singling out the iPhone and the Storm—iconic examples of dynamic, productivity-fueling innovation—as the root of the problem. These products are precisely the disruptive technologies that policymakers should herald. Yes, we need to investigate them—to figure out how to encourage more of the same...

The iPod Is dead. Long live the iPod - BusinessWeek

I was recently cleaning out a closet and came across an interesting artifact: my first iPod.

It was nearly eight years ago that I was among the very first people in New York City to carry around the first-generation iPod. About the size of a pack of cigarettes, it was advertised with the tagline "A thousand songs in your pocket." I can even remember the song used in the first TV spot: Take California by The Propellerheads...

Comcast polishes off wideband in SF - Telecom News Wire

LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Comcast, (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) the nation’s leading provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services, today announced it is launching next-generation DOCSIS 3.0 and making the leap from broadband to wideband in San Francisco’s East Bay and North Bay area’s (see complete list of cities below). With the launch, Comcast has now completed its rollout of the fastest and most reliable wideband service in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company previously deployed wideband in the San Jose-Silicon Valley area, in San Francisco and on the Peninsula, in portions of the East Bay and in the Monterey-Salinas area earlier this year.

With wideband, Comcast has introduced a new echelon of Internet speed tiers, which will redefine the customer experience online and create a platform for Internet innovation in the years ahead. Comcast now offers the fastest speeds available today in the Bay Area, including the Extreme 50 tier with download speeds of up to 50 Mbps. Wideband also enables Comcast to double speeds for the majority of existing high-speed Internet customers at no additional cost...

TWC pinpoints two WiMax markets - Telecom News Analysis

Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) expects to launch WiMax services in four markets before the end of the year, starting this fall in Charlotte, N.C., and Dallas.

"You will hear a lot more about this as we build up to the launch this fall," said TWC president and CEO Glenn Britt, who revealed the news this morning during the MSO's second-quarter earnings call. He didn't name the other two markets being planned...

Whose 5 stars are those? Authorities eye online 'user' reviews with corporate roots -- chicagotribune.com

NEW YORK (AP) — The Web site said an herbal remedy could cure cancer and offered miraculous firsthand accounts. One woman offered to "share my experience": The formula had routed her lymphoma, sparing her radiation treatment, she said.

The woman, Holly Bacon, also owned the company selling the product she praised online, authorities said...

Twitter etiquette: How to tweet politely - PC World

Because it's just a messaging platform, Twitter is far less complex than Facebook. Nevertheless, misuse and abuse seem at least as common on the former as on the latter. Some of our favorite Twitter etiquette rules follow...

Facebook Etiquette: 10 Rules for Better Socializing - PC World

What's okay on Facebook? On sites like MySpace, anything goes (or seems to), but the rules of etiquette on Facebook seem to be a little more refined--not a lot, mind you, but a little. Keep these tips in mind, whether you're making your first friend or your 1000th...

Ionia (MI) Sentinel-Standard - News

IONIA - The Ionia County Board of Commissioners took initial steps to install a fiber optic phone line which is slated to be a part of Ionia County Central Dispatch's new VoIP phone system.

“We're trying to build this for the future because we don't know what technology is going to bring,” Ionia County Central Dispatch Director Jim Valentine said...

ERF wireless updates current WISP strategies and recent achievements

LEAGUE CITY, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ERF Wireless (OTCBB:ERFW), a leading provider of enterprise-class wireless broadband products and services, announced today that the company’s WISP operations are continuing to grow at a significant rate. New acquisitions during the past seven months have added more than 16,000 square miles of coverage that support the company’s Oil & Gas Services Division, as well as its regional banking networks. Some $2,500,000 in recurring annual revenues has also been added as a result of theses recent acquisitions. To date, the WISP subsidiary has acquired and assimilated a total of 15 WISPs, with coverage that now exceeds 160,000 square miles in Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana, as well as parts of Oklahoma.

According to Robert McClung, CEO of the Wireless Bundled Services subsidiary of ERF Wireless, “During the past several months, we’ve achieved a number of acquisition and operations objectives that have allowed us to build a solid foundation for expanding our customer base and service offerings...”

Spammers got busy when Michael Jackson died - USATODAY.com

LAS VEGAS — When Michael Jackson died on June 25, his fans mourned — and cybercriminals swung into action.

Within 38 hours, they forged alliances with familiar partners to trigger global spam campaigns that capitalized on the singer's death...

Has Wikipedia created a Rorschach cheat sheet? Analyze That - NYTimes.com

There are tests that have right answers, which are returned with a number on top in a red circle, and there are tests with open-ended questions, which provide insight into the test taker’s mind.

The Rorschach test, a series of 10 inkblot plates created by the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach for his book “Psychodiagnostik,” published in 1921, is clearly in the second category.

Yet in the last few months, the online encyclopedia Wikipedia has been engulfed in a furious debate involving psychologists who are angry that the 10 original Rorschach plates are reproduced online, along with common responses for each. For them, the Wikipedia page is the equivalent of posting an answer sheet to next year’s SAT...

eBay: Stricter selling requirements on tap - InternetNews.com

EBay today announced several major policy changes for sellers including new minimum requirements standards for all sellers and a new top-rated tier for high-volume merchants.

In the company's final policy update this year, key changes include criteria to be met to sell on eBay, a top-rated seller category for PowerSellers and more stringent use of detailed seller ratings (define), which are used to rank e-tailers on how they execute transactions...

USA Today goes digital, plans weekend edition - Washington Business Journal:

USA Today plans to offer a new digital version of its newspaper that will come with a new weekend section.

USA Today, the flagship newspaper of Mclean-based Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI), announced Monday that beginning Aug. 3 it would offer an “e-Edition,” a page-by-page, exact replica version of USA Today that would also have additional interactive and exclusive content. USA Today said the e-Edition would be delivered by email every morning by 5:30 a.m. to subscribers of the print edition of the paper. Subscriptions to just the e-Edition will also be available for $99 for one year...

Tiny optical tags could replace barcodes -- InformationWeek

Researchers from MIT's Media Lab have created a new optical tag that can store a million times more data than a similarly-sized barcode, without the privacy risks of RFID tags.

The tag, called a Bokode, is only 3mm, much smaller than a typical barcode. It relies on a new way of encoding data: measuring the brightness and angle of light rays coming from a Bokode tag...

Officials say Craigslist is still allowing ads selling sex - USATODAY.com

CHICAGO — Two months after Craigslist promised to rid itself of advertisements placed by prostitutes, law enforcement officials say the online classified ad site is still in the business of selling sex.

From a sheriff who has no intention of dropping his lawsuit to an attorney general who suggests that he and colleagues could further pressure the company to crack down on online prostitution, they say they are not through with Craigslist...

Verizon gives free Wi-Fi to Internet customers - cleveland.com

NEW YORK -- Verizon is giving some of its home broadband customers free access to thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots in airports and other public places, taking a page from competitors that already offer wireless Internet access.

The offer excludes Verizon Communications Inc. customers on the cheapest DSL and FiOS Internet plans...

Verizon's FiOS and business services grow amid falling earnings - FierceTelecom

Although Verizon saw positive growth in its consumer broadband and strategic business services segment, the ILEC saw a 21 percent decrease in earnings along with $416 million in severance and pension costs.

During the quarter, Verizon reported income of $1.48 billion, or 52 cents a share, down from $1.88 billion, or 66 cents a share, from the Q2 2008. Putting aside merger and other associated one-time labor costs, Verizon's per-share earnings decreased by 4 cents to 63 cents per share. At the same time, the ILEC saw an 11 percent increase in revenue to $26.86 billion...

How to mitigate social networking risks - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

1. Educate employees

According to Ron Culler, chief technical officer of Secure Designs Inc. in Greensboro, damage from social networking is often the result of employees’ insufficient understanding of these Web-based networks. He advises that these cyber-communication platforms will be more effective and less dangerous if everyone is adequately informed on the potential advantages and risks involved.
2. Create separate accounts

Catching up with high school friends and “tweeting” about your breakfast cereal choices is perfectly fine, but according to David Gewirtz, president and CEO of ZATZ Publishing, it shouldn’t be done on networking accounts linked to your business. He recommends that, if you choose to utilize networks for personal endeavors, consider creating a separate account from the one you use professionally...

Tracking deliveries of all kinds is on everyone's radar - USATODAY.com

Dawn Pabst hates the wait for a pizza delivery. So after she orders a pepperoni pizza from the Domino's website, she never waits. She tracks.

The Air Force technician from Las Vegas tracks the second-by-second status of her pizza via colorful, thermometer-like gauges at Dominos.com. She's one of millions of customers who monitor everything from order accuracy to the moment their pizza is prepped, baked, boxed or sent for delivery. Pabst says she even tracks the name of the person who bakes her pizza...

The doctor is (logged) in: Insurers clear way for online patient interaction - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina’s decision this month to begin paying doctors for treating patients through online communication is likely to expand the use of e-visits, which so far have been sparsely adopted around the Triad and state.

Treating patients without an actual face-to-face visit has its limitations, and Blue Cross, the largest insurer in the Triad, will strictly monitor and verify how doctors use e-visits...

Amazon faces a fight over its e-books - NYTimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO — Last week, Jeffrey P. Bezos, chief executive of Amazon, offered an apparently heartfelt and anguished mea culpa to customers whose digital editions of George Orwell’s “1984” were remotely deleted from their Kindle reading devices.

Though copies of the books were sold by a bookseller that did not have legal rights to the novel, Mr. Bezos wrote on a company forum that Amazon’s “ ‘solution’ to the problem was stupid, thoughtless and painfully out of line with our principles.” An apology was not enough for many people...

Site wins fans by letting them play fashion designer - NYTimes.com

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — The fashion magazines Vogue, InStyle and Lucky may rule the newsstand racks. But online, they are also-rans, overlooked by the fashion-conscious in favor of Polyvore, an upstart Web site far from Fifth Avenue.

Polyvore is a user-generated fashion magazine filled with user-generated ads. The people who go to it play fashion editor and create collages featuring pictures of clothes, accessories and models from across the Web. Readers view the collages, which the site calls “sets,” and if they click on a dress or necklace, they are taken to the Web site that sells it...

Up-and-comers who are breaking down a digital divide - washingtonpost.com

"I was never encouraged to be interested in technology," said Mitchell, 39. "Even my mother thought I was going to the arcade room to hang around boys -- not because I actually loved the games . . . There just aren't a lot of women who feel comfortable in the field."

In 2000, she started Digital Sisters, a nonprofit that provides training for women and others who traditionally have not been part of the tech community. Nine years later, she said she still sees a huge digital divide that adversely affects women, especially minority women...

Streaming services may soothe the music industry - NYTimes.com

LIKE many teenagers, Josh Wilson, the 13-year-old son of the New York venture capitalist Fred Wilson, has on occasion visited the Internet’s peer-to-peer file-sharing services to download music and television shows.

But recently, as Mr. Wilson recounted last week on his popular blog, A VC, Josh has started streaming television shows from Netflix under the family’s $24-a-month subscription plan and listening to licensed, ad-supported music videos from YouTube on his iPhone. Asked by his father why he was not using file-sharing services like BitTorrent to download shows like “Friday Night Lights,” Josh replied, “BitTorrent takes too long...”

Why physicians may never have their own Facebook : MedCity News

A recent dust up between the American Medical Association and the physician network Sermo has provided online medical networks with something they haven’t found themselves: purpose.

Scattered from Cleveland and Seattle to Virginia and Massachusetts are companies still trying to prove out a winning model to gather physicians in a Facebook — or is it a LinkedIn, or is it a Ning? — type of environment reserved solely for the medical community...

Lafayette becoming most wired community in America

Last week I had the opportunity to head back down to Cajun Country for another trip to Lafayette, LA. While there's much to share about my journeys, there's one thing in particular I want to highlight today: Lafayette is fast becoming America's most wired community.

Of course you all know about Lafayette Utility System's deployment of a full fiber network, but it's worth revisiting what they're offering. Residents of Lafayette can get 50Mbps symmetrical service for less than $60 a month...

Editorial Observer - A new kind of memorial for the Internet age - NYTimes.com

I got a Facebook friend request a while back from Luke Cole, who had attended law school with me. We were never close, but I liked him. He was smart and funny and he cared about important things. We had lost touch, but once I friended him back I received a steady stream of updates on his life...

Mail volume expected to continue decline; U.S. Postal Service adapting services - washingtonpost.com

The U.S. Postal Service says it removes "underperforming" mailboxes -- those that collect fewer than 25 pieces of mail a day -- after a week-long "density test." Snail mail is a dying enterprise because Americans increasingly pay bills online, send Evites for parties and text or give a quick call on a cellphone rather than write a letter.

Combine the impact of new technologies with the gut punch of the recession, and in the past year alone, the Postal Service has seen the single largest drop-off in mail volume in its 234-year history, greater even than the decline from 1929 to 1933 during the Great Depression. That downward trend is only accelerating. The Postal Service projects a decline of about 10 billion pieces of mail in each of the next two years, going from a high of 213 billion pieces of mail in 2006 to 170 billion projected for 2010...

Americans flocking to Internet with wireless devices -- Mobile Internet -- InformationWeek

The use of wireless devices to access the Internet is soaring, according to a report released by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.

Pew's "Wireless Internet Use" report found that 56% of adult Americans have accessed the Web using wireless devices ranging from laptops and mobile devices to game consoles and MP3 players...

Twitter unveils business guide, search widget - Dayton Business Journal:

Twitter Inc. on Thursday night launched a new live-updating search tool and a marketing campaign to show businesses how to profit from the popular micro-blogging service.

The new widget (which can be found here) allows users to create a continuous real-time update box on a custom search topic. The way it looks can be custom edited and it can be placed on a Web page...

Prayers fly via Twitter to Old City of Jerusalem - USATODAY.com

JERUSALEM — For centuries, people have written prayers on scraps of paper and stuffed them into the ancient cracks in the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. In recent years they could fax or e-mail their prayers — and now they can tweet them, too.

The Western Wall now has its own address on the social networking service Twitter, allowing believers around the globe to have their prayers placed between its 2,000-year-old stones without leaving their armchairs...

Laptop prices dip under $300 in the US - Business Center - PC World

Laptops are closing the price gap on less-powerful netbooks, with retailers delivering fully equipped systems for under US$300 as part of promotional offers.

Wal-Mart will start offering limited quantities of a fully loaded Compaq laptop for $298 starting July 26, according to an entry on Wal-Mart's Checkoutblog site...

Twitter launches tools for businesses -- Twitter -- InformationWeek

In its ongoing effort to figure out how to make money, Twitter has launched a new search tool and an online manual for businesses.

The idea is that businesses will learn to use Twitter to market themselves and possibly pay for services that Twitter could roll out later...

Back-to-school pitches go social with Facebook, Twitter - USATODAY.com

The first sighting of Britney Spears' new back-to-school commercial for Candie's wasn't on TV. Or in theaters. Or even on the website of the hip, tween-targeting seller of footwear and clothing. Those venues would be so 2008.

The spot that shows a sultry Spears ogling a guy at a polo match had its premiere online Thursday on social-networking sites Facebook and BritneySpears.com and promoted by Spears via social network Twitter — where she had 2,536,459 "followers" as of midweek. Candie's purposefully launched the ad this way in hopes that millions of girls will send it back and forth to each other...

US Airways adds Wi-Fi service - Charlotte Business Journal:

US Airways Group Inc. will provide Wi-Fi service on its aircraft beginning early next year.

The carrier, which operates its largest hub at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, has hired Aircell to provide Internet access for passengers with laptops, smartphones and other Wi-Fi-enabled devices. Financial terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed...

Advocates ask Google for privacy guarantees in online library - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Three advocacy groups have asked Google to commit to protect the privacy of readers in its book search service, which is poised for a major expansion under a pending class-action settlement. The groups, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley, have asked Google to limit the data it collects about users’ reading habits, to commit to protect reader records by handing them over only in response to subpoenas or court orders, and to put into effect measures giving users control of their data.

The groups made the requests in a letter to Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive. In an accompanying blog post, the groups are urging people to send e-mail messages to Mr. Schmidt demanding privacy protections...

The AP plans 'news registry' to protect content -- InformationWeek

Moving to limit the unauthorized republication of its news stories by aggregators, The Associated Press on Wednesday said that it plans to create a news registry to track all AP content online.

In a statement, Dean Singleton, chairman of the AP Board of Directors and vice chairman and CEO of MediaNews Group, said that the AP is building a way for good journalism to survive...

Google developing 'ringback advertising' for Google Voice -- InformationWeek

Google has updated a patent application filed last year for "ringback advertising," a form of audio advertising that appears to be intended to work with the company's Google Voice service.

Audio ads, the patent application says, may unnecessarily annoy consumers. But providing audio ads during a time otherwise used to play a ringback tone may allow advertising without annoyance "because the consumer would have to otherwise listen to some other form of audio..."

Pew study finds rising tide of wireless Internet - InternetNews.com

It's no secret that smartphones are all the rage or that Americans are fond of surfing the Web on the go. But a new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project reveals just how quickly the wireless Internet is catching on.

On an average day, 19 percent of the survey respondents told Pew that they access the Internet with a mobile device. While that mark is obviously a decided minority, it represents a 73 percent increase since December of 2007, when Pew conducted a similar study...

Clearwire finally gets handheld device - FierceBroadbandWireless

Clearwire is finally getting a handheld device and is allowing customers to roam outside of the WiMAX coverage areas. Samsung announced commercial availability of the Mondi WiMAX tablet at the same time Clearwire launched service in Las Vegas this week.

Starting Aug. 1, the Mondi will be available at Clearwire retail outlets and select Best Buy stores in the markets where Clearwire has launched commercial service: Atlanta, Portland, Ore. and Las Vegas, which officially rolled out yesterday. The 4.3-inch touchscreen device will run on Windows Mobile 6.1 and include WiFi connectivity, a full Qwerty keyboard, optical mouse, built-in GPS, push email support, a 3-megapixel camera and camcorder, the Opera 9.5 browser and support for instant messaging and MMS. The Mondi will retail for $449 without a Clearwire contract and $349 with a two-year service contract...

Wal-Mart woos laptop shoppers - washingtonpost.com

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc has expanded its laptop selection by 40 percent and will be aggressive in pricing the computers and the accessories to go with them as the discount retailer looks to win sales from frugal back-to-school shoppers.

Starting this Sunday, Wal-Mart will begin selling an exclusive Compaq Presario notebook computer that it developed in partnership with Hewlett-Packard Co for $298. A similar unit currently sells at Wal-Mart for $548...

Amazon Is buying online shoe seller Zappos - NYTimes.com

Amazon.com is trying the shoe retailer Zappos.com on for size.

The companies announced on Wednesday that Amazon was acquiring Zappos, based in Henderson, Nev., for 10 million shares of Amazon stock, worth nearly $900 million at its current level...

Cablevision expands WiFi footprint - Telecom News Wire

BETHPAGE, N.Y. -- Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) today announced that it has successfully deployed Optimum WiFi wireless Internet access in New York’s Rockland and Orange Counties, as a free enhancement for its Optimum Online high-speed Internet customers. The newly activated areas – which are focused on the places where people shop, dine, commute and meet – cover municipalities such as: Nanuet, New City, Nyack, Pearl River, Spring Valley, Suffern, Central Valley, Greenwood Lake, Harriman, Monroe, Tuxedo, Warwick, and Woodbury. The service is also available at New Jersey Transit train station platforms and parking lots, including: Harriman, Nanuet, Pearl River, Sloatsburg, Spring Valley, Suffern, and Tuxedo.

Optimum WiFi spans thousands of access points, and offers wireless Internet capability across the company’s New York, New Jersey and Connecticut service areas. In addition to Rockland and Orange Counties, Optimum WiFi is broadly available across Westchester, Bergen, and Passaic counties, and on hundreds of commuter rail platforms and station parking lots across New Jersey Transit, Metro North, and the Long Island Railroad...

Social media marketing makes more money - InternetNews.com

Does social media marketing boost the bottom line? The answer is a resounding "yes," according to a recent study that cites a correlation between brands with social media campaigns and higher earnings.

Companies that had the highest levels of social media activity -- and engagement -- increased revenues by as much as 18 percent on average over the past year, while the least active realized a six percent dip in sales, according to research from social media platform Wetpaint and digital consulting firm Altimeter Group...

Report: Shortage of cyber experts may hinder government - USATODAY.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. federal government agencies are facing a severe shortage of computer specialists, even as a growing wave of coordinated cyberattacks against the government poses potential national security risks, a private study found.

The study describes a fragmented federal cyber force, where no one is in charge of overall planning and government agencies are "on their own and sometimes working at cross purposes or in competition with one another..."

Sprint revving up 4G plans – Will confusion follow? | Telecompetitor

Sprint made several announcements today concerning the launch of Sprint 4G services. They identified Atlanta, Portland, and Las Vegas as Sprint 4G markets, scheduled to go live ‘some time in August.’ According to Sprint, Sprint 4G will “deliver peak downlink speeds of more than 10 Mbps and average downlink speeds of 3-6 Mbps.” Sprint is using Clearwire’s WiMAX network for the service. Sprint is the largest shareholder in Clearwire, owning 51% of the company.

The 4G options provided by Clearwire’s network make for an interesting situation. In addition to Sprint 4G, Clearwire will market the service, using the Clear brand. Cable companies will also market the WiMAX service, with Comcast first up, marketing their High-Speed 2Go service. That’s a lot of WiMAX options, from a single network, in any given market. Can all of those services co-exist in the same market, chasing the same subscriber base?...

Comcast launches next-generation DOCSIS 3.0 in the city of Philadelphia | TELECOMMUNICATIONNEWS.NET

Comcast, the nation’s leading provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services, today announced it is making the leap from broadband to wideband with the launch of next-generation DOCSIS 3.0 in the City of Philadelphia. The launch in the city completes the company’s roll-out of faster Internet speeds to all areas of the Philadelphia market including the counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery, southern New Jersey and northern Delaware. The speed upgrades began in December 2008.

The Company also announced it has reached nearly 50% of all homes passed by its High-Speed Internet service with its superfast wideband speeds, which means today nearly 25 million homes and businesses can now enjoy one of the fastest Internet services in the country...

Security Fix - The growing threat to business banking online

Federal investigators are fielding a large number of complaints from organizations that are being fleeced by a potent combination of organized cyber crooks abroad, sophisticated malicious software and not-so-sophisticated accomplices here in the United States, Security Fix has learned. The attacks also are exposing a poorly-kept secret in the commercial banking business: That companies big and small enjoy few of the protections afforded to consumers when faced with cyber fraud.

Earlier this month, I wrote about Bullitt County, Kentucky, which lost $415,000 after criminals planted malicious software on the county treasurer's PC. That rogue program allowed the crooks to initiate wire transfers to more than two dozen so-called "money mules," people duped into laundering the money and wiring it to the perpetrators in Ukraine...

'Billboard' aims to be one-stop shop for listening, shopping - USATODAY.com

Competition to create the digital world's leading destination for music fans intensifies as Billboard joins the fray Wednesday with a revamped website for pop music enthusiasts.

The effort pits the 115-year-old trade publication — owned by Nielsen — against rivals including AOL, Clear Channel, MySpace and Yahoo. Billboard says it has an edge because its site, for the first time, will allow all visitors, not just subscribers, to look at Billboard's weekly sales lists from the past 51 years...

Hungry Girl delivers to diet-conscious fans - Los Angeles Times

Lisa Lillien considers the bowl of cocktail wieners simmered in a quick-fix barbecue sauce as if she were appraising a fine wine. First, she swirls -- to evaluate the richness. Then, she sniffs. Tasting a spoonful of the sauce, she nods approvingly. Then comes the moment of truth: She bites into a wiener. Wrinkles up her nose. And pronounces it awful."The sauce is incredible," she says. "But the dogs are rubbery."

Standing in the middle of her Woodland Hills test kitchen, wearing jeans and a hot-pink track suit jacket, Lillien, 43, might not look like she leads one of the most rabid, devoted and willing-to-spend-money armies out there. That would be women on a diet.

But Lillien is the creator of Hungry Girl, that bouncy cartoon character that dispenses calorie-saving recipes, health and diet tips and tell-it-like-it-is product reviews in a daily e-mail blast. Lillien started in early 2004 with roughly 70 subscribers -- all of them friends and family. Today, there are more than 750,000 subscribers, and Hungry Girl is on track to have a million by year's end...

Online -- and in the loop -- With D.C. police - washingtonpost.com

Kent Boese was watching television in his Northwest Washington home when he heard a series of popping sounds. So he did what has become natural to thousands of D.C. residents eager for up-to-the-minute information about crime in their neighborhoods.

He sent an e-mail. "Does anyone have any details about the shooting that just happened on Quebec near Park Place not more than 30-45 minutes ago? Thanks, Kent..."

Second Life trains first responders -- Career Training -- InformationWeek

The virtual world Second Life may owe its existence to gambling, and what the motion pictures industry coyly calls "adult situations," but one day people may owe their lives to medical skills learned in world.

Second Life is being used by medical schools and other healthcare training programs to simulate medical emergencies so doctors and nurses can learn to make quick decisions...

Gates Foundation gives $6.5M to U.S. libraries - Dayton Business Journal:

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is awarding $6.5 million in grants to public libraries in 11 states, including Ohio, to maintain and increase access to computers.

The grants are expected to generate an additional $3.7 million in local funding for the same use, according to the Seattle-based foundation. The money will be used to purchase or upgrade computer hardware...

Twitter all-star? Best Buy puts number at 250 - USATODAY.com

CHICAGO (AP) — After buzz built online about a new marketing job, Best Buy is reworking the help-wanted listing that sought Twitter experience and put a number on it — 250 followers.

After the initial description for the new position of senior manager of emerging media marketing was published four weeks ago, the world's largest consumer electronics chain watched as the blogosphere reacted, prompting scores of tweets, re-tweets and blog posts...

WiMax in Las Vegas now, coming to Macs on August 17

Las Vegas (NV) – Clearwire today announced the availability of its WiMax service in Las Vegas now, which is, according to the company, the 53rd major U.S. city to be covered by the mobile broadband technology. There is also a new software that will enable Macs to connect to Clearwire’s WiMax network as well as a new 4G/3G hybrid modem that will be offered beginning next month.

Clearwire, the U.S. major WiMax provider funded by Intel, Comcast, Sprint, Google, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks, today announced that it has begun offering WiMax mobile broadband service in Las Vegas with a coverage area of 638 square miles...

Music, software heads stump for tougher IP laws - InternetNews.com

WASHINGTON -- For representatives of industries like software and music looking for tougher copyright-protection laws, it's good to have friends in high places.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke joined the heads of several industry associations this afternoon to unveil a new report highlighting the economic contribution of the copyright industries...

P2P causing mobile network congestion as well - InternetNews.com

Mobile data bandwidth usage increased by 30 percent in the second quarter of 2009 and peer-to-peer networks have a lot to do with it. A report by deep packet inspection (DPI) provider Allot also found P2P accounted for congestion in highly utilized nodes.

"We had seen similar report on fixed line bandwidth but nothing specific in the mobile space," Jonathon Gordon, director of marketing for Allot (NASDAQ: ALLT), told InternetNews.com...

Database combines details of remains, disappearances in hopes of making matches - washingtonpost.com

Authorities in Virginia have identified the body of a teenager who went missing 14 years ago in their first success using a new nationwide database that seeks to put names on thousands of dead people who have gone unidentified, sometimes for decades.

Prosecutors in Maryland hope to use the same system to finally close a homicide case that has resulted in a mistrial and a hung jury...

Barnes and Noble to create an e-book megacenter - NYTimes.com

Four months after acquiring an e-book retailer, Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest chain of bookstores, is starting its own mega e-bookstore on its Web site, BN.com.

In an announcement on Monday, Barnes & Noble said that it would offer more than 700,000 books that could be read on a wide range of devices, including Apple’s iPhone, the BlackBerry and various laptop or desktop computers. When Barnes & Noble acquired Fictionwise in March, that online retailer had about 60,000 books in its catalog...

Qwest doubles top broadband speed in some cities to keep up with cable

NEW YORK — Qwest Communications International Inc. is doubling its top Internet download speeds in some areas to keep up with the offerings of cable companies.

The phone company said Monday it is introducing a plan with download speeds of up to 40 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 20 mbps in parts of 15 cities, including Denver; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Salt Lake City; Seattle and Vancouver, Wash.; and Minneapolis/St. Paul..."

Qwest doubles top broadband speed in some cities to keep up with cable

NEW YORK — Qwest Communications International Inc. is doubling its top Internet download speeds in some areas to keep up with the offerings of cable companies.

The phone company said Monday it is introducing a plan with download speeds of up to 40 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 20 mbps in parts of 15 cities, including Denver; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Salt Lake City; Seattle and Vancouver, Wash.; and Minneapolis/St. Paul...

Healthy broadband makes healthy Americans | Speed Matters – Internet Speed Test

Recently, the American Heart Association called for greater access to telemedicine in rural areas. Specifically, the AHA's policy statement called for tools like videoconferencing to be used to allow neurologists to examine stroke patients, who otherwise might not have access to the care they need. The AHA noted that not only do rural areas often not have the specialists that stroke patients need, but that they often receive care from emergency or primary care settings - where chances of the misdiagnosis are much higher.

The Heart Association noted several "barriers" to telemedicine, including liability concerns, insurance and medicare policies and state licensing restrictions. But there's another barrier preventing many rural areas from receiving the telemedicine they need: Internet access...

Speed matters to the American Association of People with Disabilities | Speed Matters – Internet Speed Test

Over 50 million Americans are reported to have some kind of disability according to the 2008 U.S. Census. As the Senior Director for Telecommunications and Technology Policy for the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), I strive to make the lives of these Americans better.

We at the AAPD are glad to partner with Speed Matters to raise awareness about how broadband can improve the lives of disabled persons. The Speed Matters Benefits section enumerates the many ways in which broadband enables people with disabilities and can provide opportunities for independence. These benefits include but are not limited to...

BlackBerry, iPhone dominate market - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

The iPhone and BlackBerry devices account for only 3 percent of all cell phones sold in the world.

But they bring Apple Inc. and Research in Motion Ltd. 35 percent of global operating profits in their market, according to a report issued Monday...

Report: Twitter gets $48M a month in free publicity - Dayton Business Journal:

A new study puts a price tag on all of the mentions that Twitter Inc.'s microblogging service gets from the media — $48 million in the past month alone.

News-monitoring service VMS estimates there have been 2.73 billion impressions in the past 30 days, with TV reponsible for 57 percent of the value, newspapers 37 percent and magazines 5 percent...

Contests and giveaways move to new, fast terrain of Twitter - WSJ.com

On July 1, Moonfruit was a below-the-radar Web-site building company with 400 followers on Twitter. Just a few days later, the London-based company had acquired 47,000 followers on the micro-blogging site, traffic to its home page had increased by 1,300% and the word "moonfruit" was popping up all over the Internet.

The 52-employee firm says its new-found recognition was the result of a Twitter contest that went viral, and it's a marketing tactic increasingly being used by small businesses...

'Telework Day' urged for cost, energy savings - Business Center - PC World

Telework advocates working with the Commonwealth of Virginia hope to encourage people across the country to work from home or another remote location on Monday, August 3, 2009, in an effort to support green efforts and take the strain off the transportation infrastructure.

Telework Day, according to Telework Exchange, is a joint project by the organization, Telework!VA and Virginia government officials to galvanize the state's work around green initiatives, designed to both help the environment and reduce costs. The campaign to establish a designated day for telecommuting builds on Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine's June 2009 executive order to reduce energy consumption and increase efficiencies at branch agencies and institutions. The state government hopes Telework Day will prompt private employers to also offer telework programs to their employees...

Concerns raised as LA looks to Google Web services - USATODAY.com

LOS ANGELES — Security and privacy concerns have been raised over a multimillion-dollar proposal by Los Angeles to tap Google's Internet-based services for government e-mail, police records and other confidential data.

At issue is the security of computerized records on everything from police investigations to potholes as the nation's second-largest city considers dumping its in-house computer network for Google e-mail and office programs that are accessed over the Internet...

Interfaith Internet: Religious groups call for more access - USATODAY.com

WASHINGTON — An interfaith coalition of groups concerned about equal access to the Internet launched a campaign Tuesday to expand high-speed Internet access in rural and poor communities.

The campaign, called "Bring Betty Broadband," uses a short video with a cartoon character who struggles to use her computer without high-speed Internet access. It is featured on a new website, BringBettyBroadband.org, that encourages viewers to contact the Department of Commerce about improving "digital inclusion" in communities currently without high-speed Internet options...

Washington school district selects Web-based data management solution

Pearson School Systems, also referred to as Pearson Education, has reportedly announced that Spokane School District 81 in Washington has selected its student data management solution ‘PowerSchool Premier’ as its new Web based Student Information System for implementation by the 2010 school year. The new system will support 52 schools and special programs and approximately 30,000 students across the district.

School officials said the existing application, Schools Administrative Student Information (SASI) System that was also developed Pearson, was outdated in terms of handling the current demand for interlinked Internet, broadband, and Wi-B technologies. Consumers, service providers and companies want simultaneous high definition video streaming, unified communications, Web 2.0 social networks, infrastructural virtualization, Web-based Software as a Solution applications, network operations center offloading, remote backup and super quick environments for cloud computing...

Ruckus Wireless introduces 802.11n access point for outdoor market - FierceBroadbandWireless

Last year Ruckus Wireless entered the 802.11n enterprise space, this year it is jumping into the 802.11n outdoor market with an access point that uses 802.11n and targets service providers and operators looking to offload their 3G data traffic onto an alternative network.

The company introduced the ZoneFlex 7762 access point, uses fast draft IEEE 802.11n technology, supports dynamic beam forming and can use two frequency bands--5.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz--simultaneously, said David Callisch, vice president of marketing with Ruckus...

Intel Corp. prescribes telemedicine to treat health care costs - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

Intel Corp. wants to be a player in the health care technology business. The Santa Clara-based chipmaker’s most prominent arm has been its Digital Health Group, created in 2005. The group is designing and producing health care information technology for hospitals and the home.

Its biggest announcement came this spring, when Intel and General Electric Co. announced the two companies would invest a combined $250 million in personal health care products and services over the next five years...

Finding their calling: Trio turns used cell phones into treasure - Austin Business Journal:

Austin, TX - Three former high school classmates have started a Web-based company that resells new and used cell phones after they became disenchanted with their initial post-college jobs.

Green Cells LLC, a bootstrapped startup that operates across the street from an East Austin biker bar, launched its Web site www.cycledcells.com in June. It is now selling about 250 phones per week through Internet auction Web sites...

Op-Ed Contributor - Lost in the Cloud - NYTimes.com

EARLIER this month Google announced a new operating system called Chrome. It’s meant to transform personal computers and handheld devices into single-purpose windows to the Web. This is part of a larger trend: Chrome moves us further away from running code and storing our information on our own PCs toward doing everything online — also known as in “the cloud” — using whatever device is at hand.

Many people consider this development to be as sensible and inevitable as the move from answering machines to voicemail. With your stuff in the cloud, it’s not a catastrophe to lose your laptop, any more than losing your glasses would permanently destroy your vision. In addition, as more and more of our information is gathered from and shared with others — through Facebook, MySpace or Twitter — having it all online can make a lot of sense.

The cloud, however, comes with real dangers...

Music industry lures ‘casual’ pirates to legal sites - NYTimes.com

PARIS — Record company executives say there are three kinds of music fans. There are those who buy music, and those who get a kick out of never paying for it. And then there are those whom Rob Wells at Universal Music Group calls “dinner party pirates”: the vast majority of listeners, those who copy music illegally because it is more convenient than buying it.

If those low-level copyright cheats could be converted to using legal music services, the digital music business would get much-needed help. Yet even industry executives acknowledge that until recently, they were not giving those listeners many ways to do what they wanted: to sample new music and to play it back anytime, at little or no cost...

Homeless advocate brings his message to the masses through social media - Los Angeles Times

Mark Horvath, a documenter of homelessness who was once homeless himself, was touring a tent city in Sacramento when he raised his cellphone to take a photo of one man's ingenious shopping-cart storage system. Suddenly, another man rushed at him, screaming, with a knife.

Horvath was terrified, he said, but not so scared that he stopped sending photos and text messages about what was happening...

Personal-finance tools take to the Web - washingtonpost.com

More Americans feel uneasy about the state of their finances -- and not because of any change to their income or expenses.

Instead, the latest bad news concerns software that many people use to manage their cash flow. One of these applications, Microsoft Money, perished at the end of June after Microsoft chose to stop developing it. Another, the Mac version of Intuit's Quicken -- which needed a rewrite when it shipped in 2006-- now won't get its next update until February, the latest in a long string of delays...

Blinded by science in the online dating game - NYTimes.com

I’VE been checking out Internet dating sites recently. No, I’m not in the market (although my husband is a little suspicious of all this “research”). But since many of my friends use them, I was curious. And because everyone is looking to save money these days, I wanted to know if some sites were more effective — and therefore a better investment — than others.

I didn’t know then what a Pandora’s Box I was opening with that question. The competition is fierce among companies to prove that their particular method is more scientifically valid. There’s everything from hourlong compatibility questionnaires to DNA testing...

Online marketing eats into traditional media - InternetNews.com

Interactive marketing will near $55 billion and represent 21 percent of all marketing dollars spent in 2014 as advertisers shift money away from traditional media to search marketing, display advertising, e-mail marketing, social media and mobile promotions, according to a recent study.

The trend is already underway, as more marketers this year are taking money from traditional marketing budgets and using it in interactive advertising, as opposed to supporting interactive efforts with new funding, as was the case in years past, according to the Forrester Research report "US Interactive Marketing Forecast 2009 to 2014," by Shar VanBoskirk...

China's Internet users outnumber U.S. population - Business Center - PC World

China's Internet users have surpassed the U.S. population in number, and more Chinese than ever are using e-commerce and accessing the Web through mobile phones, according to official statistics.

China had 338 million Internet users at the end of last month, the most in any country, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) said late Thursday...

PC infections often spread to Web sites

Most people are familiar with the notion that a computer virus can be passed from PC to PC, but many folks would probably be surprised to learn that a sick PC can often pass its infection on to Web sites, too.

Some of the most pervasive malicious software circulating today (e.g., Virut) includes spreading capabilities that hark back to the file-infecting methods of the earliest viruses, which spread by making copies of themselves, or by inserting their code into other files on the host system...

UnitedHealth unveils details of ‘telehealth’ network - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

UnitedHealth Group Inc. announced Wednesday it has partnered with Cisco Systems Inc. to launch a “telehealth” network, which will use video technology to facilitate remote doctor-patient visits.

The company first revealed plans to launch such a network last week, but held off on releasing some details until it held a press conference in Washington, D.C. Wednesday...

Web’s anonymity makes cyberattack hard to trace - NYTimes.com

It is an axiom that “on the Internet nobody knows that you are a dog.”

By the same token, it is all but impossible to know whether you are from North Korea or South Korea...

L.A. weighs plan to replace computer software with Google service - Los Angeles Times

Frustrated by a slow and antiquated computer system, the city of Los Angeles is weighing a plan to replace its e-mail and records retention software with a service provided by Google, a move that could allow the Internet giant to retain sensitive records transmitted by the police and other municipal agencies.

If approved by the City Council, responsibility for protecting the internal data and public records would be shifted from the city to Google, according to a report submitted this week to a council committee that will weigh the proposed $7.25-million contract...

Google Reader goes social -- InformationWeek

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) on Wednesday continued its move toward social computing with the addition of Twitter-flavored sharing features to Google Reader, the company's online feed aggregation service.

The four new features aim to provide users with greater control over the content they share and to help users find content shared by others...

Opportunity Online grants will help public libraries improve quality of free computer access used by millions of Americans

SEATTLE (OBSNews.com) – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today $6.5 million in grants to help public libraries in 11 states increase and sustain free, quality public access to computers for their patrons. These Opportunity Online hardware grants will help libraries upgrade and add public computer workstations for patrons in communities with high concentrations of poverty and where a library’s public computers are at risk of becoming outdated with limited capacity for users.

Despite the fact that most libraries (73 percent) are typically the only provider of free Internet access in their communities, many do not have adequate funding to maintain quality computer and Internet services, and to meet growing community demand for these technology tools...

How much does it really cost to own a smartphone? - PC World

Concerned about the long-term expense of owning a smartphone? You should be. But we found that, among the most popular smartphones on the market today, there isn't a big difference in the total cost of ownership (device, service contract, and so on) over two years--they all come in at around $3,800.

If you're looking for a less expensive smartphone, however, you might consider a lower-priced newcomer such as the Palm Pre or the HTC G1, which end up costing hundreds less than the more popular BlackBerry and iPhone models at the end of two years...

Ohio hospitals make magazine’s Most Wired list

Several Ohio hospitals made Hospitals and Health Networks magazine’s Health Care’s Most Wired 2009 list.

Akron General Medical Center, Dublin Methodist Hospital, MedCentral-Mansfield Hospital, MedCentral-Shelby Hospital and ProMedica Health System in Toledo all made the list of the 100 most wired hospitals in the country...

Downloads to boost your productivity - washingtonpost.com

When it's time to get work done, you need productivity tools--office suites, text editors, e-mail software, personal information managers, and other programs. Productivity applications can cost a pretty penny, even hundreds of dollars, but we've rounded up 10 pieces of productivity software that don't cost anything. Check them out, and save a bundle...

Contract to connect 13 southern counties, hospitals almost done | chillicothegazette.com | Chillicothe Gazette

Plans for a regional fiber optic network worth about $30 million are well under way in 13 southern Ohio counties, with two local companies leading the way.
Advertisement

Horizon Telecom reported its progress at an economic development breakfast Wednesday. It is in the process of finalizing a contract that will connect a fiber optic network among 13 southern Ohio counties to create the Health Care Network of Southern Ohio. Local partner Adena Regional Medical Center said it will be able to connect with other local hospitals and provide overall better care...

Phoenix Center releases 'Broadband Adoption Index'

WASHINGTON, July 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Establishing appropriate targets for broadband deployment and adoption requires a sophisticated and analytical framework for evaluating the complete value to society of broadband connections by technology. Today, the Phoenix Center released a comprehensive methodology called the Broadband Adoption Index or "BAI" for establishing those targets and comparing the effectiveness of broadband policy between societies.

"Making sure that all Americans have access to broadband is serious business, and measuring broadband's economic and social impact requires serious tools of analysis," said Phoenix Center President and co-author Lawrence J. Spiwak. "Broadband access is important to society because it is believed to spur economic growth and development, but different methods of access provide different impacts to economic and social activity. The approach we outline today is the first attempt to analyze the full social value of different methods of broadband access and place them into one index..."

A virtual game to teach children languages - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

The star video game developer behind Age of Empires has turned his gaming talents to something new: teaching children languages.

Wiz World Online, developed by 8D World, a start-up based in Shanghai, China, and Woburn, Mass., was built by Rick Goodman, who developed the popular games Age of Empires and Empire Earth. In his latest virtual world, instead of re-enacting historical battles, Chinese children can learn English...

Telecoms hustle to maintain capacity - RocNow.com

Your phone lets you surf the Web, snap and e-mail photos to Mom and get real-time driving directions. Your laptop can get Internet access almost anywhere via PC cards or Wi-Fi networks.

Consumers’ growing demand for mobile connectivity to broadband is carrying an increasing cost for the local telecommunications industry — either in millions of dollars being spent to create or upgrade wireless networks or in lost business as customers migrate from traditional land lines...

Fortune 500 firms hoping free site will boost employment -- chicagotribune.com

With the unemployment rate at 9.5 percent and companies seeking to reduce recruiting costs, technology company QuietAgent is hoping to provide an antidote for the ailing economy: a free job database sponsored by Fortune 500 companies, including Chicago-area heavyweights Sears, Allstate, Hyatt and Hewitt.

"We believe that if we can break those [cost barriers] down, it may stimulate an employer to hire now instead of waiting six months," said Jason Kerr, founder of QuietAgent, which is powering the site called United We Work. The site, at UnitedWeWork.org, won't compete directly with online job board giants CareerBuilder and Monster. And job seekers don't search and apply for specific positions; rather they complete a standard résumé...

Cleveland rocks & other wireless news

Last week, the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously cleared a bill requiring the FCC and the Commerce Department to conduct annual audits of our wireless airwaves. The goal is to create a better, more efficient use of the nation's radio spectrum.

If you want to know why Congress desperately needs to pass this legislation, take a look at Cleveland, Ohio. Yes, Cleveland...

Road Runner high speed internet gets PowerBoost in Ohio | Broadband News | BroadBandInfo.com

Time Warner Cable announced earlier this month the launch of its PowerBoost technology in parts of Ohio, allowing Road Runner high speed internet customers there to get temporary bursts of speed to help with downloading.

PowerBoost gives customers added juice - up to 19Mbps for Road Runner Turbo - when downloading files or gaming, at no additional cost. PowerBoost activates automatically when bandwidth is available, the company said...

Study: Broadband access translates to $32 billion in benefits for consumers - Dayton Business Journal:

Broadband Internet access delivered more than $32 billion in benefits to American consumers last year, according to a new study released Tuesday.

The study, which was conducted by Jonathan Orszag, Robert Willig and Mark Dutz, revealed that a broadband connection is now considered a necessity by many Americans...

Facebook now has 250 million users - Dayton Business Journal:

Facebook Inc. now has 250 million users, company founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog posting today.

The Palo Alto social networking giant passed the milestone just a month after it officially passed MySpace as the most visited social site in the United States. Facebook already had more traffic internationally...

Nearly 70 million households now use online banking - Dayton Business Journal:

More than two million American households adopted online banking and bill payment during the past year, raising the total to nearly 70 million, according to a new survey from financial services technology firm Fiserv Inc.

Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV) said Tuesday that 69.7 million households, representing four out of five households with Internet access, now use online banking services. They are primarily accessing balance and account history and transferring money between accounts. In addition, 64.4 million households pay at least one bill online, either at a bank Web site or directly through a company Web site...

Comcast online video trial grows to 23 networks - USATODAY.com

PHILADELPHIA — Seventeen more cable TV networks said Tuesday they are joining an online video trial by Comcast, a move that tacitly acknowledges advertising isn't enough to support shows streamed over the Internet.

The networks join a growing roster of content providers — including CBS, HBO, Cinemax, TBS, TNT and Starz — that have agreed to participate in Comcast's test, bringing the total to 23 programmers since the initiative was announced in June...

How to stop e-mail from ruining your summer vacation - Business Center - PC World

Does your summer vacation checklist include sifting through hundreds of e-mails the day before you return to the office? Will your BlackBerry be as essential as your swimsuit? Do you fear your "staycation" will turn into writing e-mails each day?

It's hard to cut the e-mail dependency when we take a vacation. Half of the workforce checks business e-mail on weekends and 34 percent while on vacation. Work overload-before, during and after vacation-can deter many from even taking their allotted days off. In fact, 56 percent of Americans fail to take all their vacation days...

Xobni releases premium version of Outlook add-on - Business Center - PC World

Startup Xobni on Wednesday announced Xobni Plus, the first in a series of premium versions of its Microsoft Outlook plug-in.

Xobni's software is aimed at making Outlook easier to use and navigate. It lets users search for e-mails, threads conversations and pulls in data about contacts from third-party social-networking sources like Facebook...

Obama announces $12 billion community college initiative - washingtonpost.com

WARREN, Mich., July 14 -- President Obama came to this economically struggling state Tuesday with a sobering message about its vanishing jobs and a promise of renewal through a new federal investment in community colleges.

Obama's new higher-education initiative includes $2.5 billion for construction and renovation at the nation's community colleges, $500 million to develop new online courses and $9 billion for "challenge grants" aimed at spurring innovation at the colleges...

Dell sees U.S. PC market finding its low point - USATODAY.com

SEATTLE — Dell said Tuesday that the U.S. personal computer market has reached its low point but that the timing of a global turnaround in the technology industry remains anyone's guess.

Investors sent shares plummeting $1, or 7.7%, to $12.02 in midday trading...

With new Google Voice, 1 number rings all your phones - USATODAY.com

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Mike Caulfield became the most popular guy in his inner circle last week. He got one of the hotly coveted Google Voice phone numbers, and his pals didn't.

"There was a lot of jealousy from my friends, who've been waiting for their number," says Caulfield, an instructional designer at Keene State College in New Hampshire...

Cosmetic surgery company settles case of faked reviews - NYTimes.com

Lifestyle Lift, a cosmetic surgery company, has reached a settlement with the State of New York over its attempts to fake positive consumer reviews on the Web, the New York attorney general’s office said Tuesday.

The company had ordered employees to pretend they were satisfied customers and write glowing reviews of its face-lift procedure on Web sites, according to the attorney general’s statement. Lifestyle Lift also created its own sites of face-lift reviews to appear as an independent sources...

New interfaith coalition launches to promote media justice

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Leading off its "Bring Betty Broadband" campaign to promote equal high-speed-internet access for all, a diverse gathering of religious groups has launched So We Might See, a national interfaith coalition for media justice.

The coalition includes diverse religious representation, including the National Council of Churches, U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, the Islamic Society of North America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Church of Christ, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Mennonite Media, United Methodist Communications, and more.

On July 14, the coalition will launch its first joint campaign "Bring Betty Broadband" to bring increased public attention on those who still lack access to high-speed internet services. The coalition also is planning campaigns this year on internet freedom/neutrality, violence in the media, and over-commercialization...

Chamber hears about rural broadband service

POMEROY — The rural landscape of Meigs County can be beautiful but a hindrance when it comes to access of broadband Internet services.

At yesterday’s Meigs County Chamber of Commerce’s Business-Minded Luncheon, David Hannum of New Era Broadband, spoke about his company’s plans to offer broadband, high-speed Internet service to residents who live in rural areas of Meigs County.

Apple's App Store passes 1.5 billion downloads -- Apple Apps Store -- InformationWeek

Apple's App Store has eclipsed its rivals in terms of volume; its users have downloaded more than 1.5 billion applications in about a year.

The over-the-air program store has been a hit with consumers, and this has made the platform attractive to mobile developers. Apple said the store now has more than 65,000 apps, and more than 10,000 content creators are in its iPhone Developer Program. The store is filled with programs that range from fake beer pouring apps to enterprise-grade programs from Oracle and Salesforce (NYSE: CRM).

CBS Joins HBO, Cinemax In Comcast's 'TV Everywhere' -- Comcast -- InformationWeek

CBS on Tuesday said it would offer TV shows through Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA)'s online service, joining Home Box Office and Cinemax in the cable TV provider's "TV Everywhere" initiative.

Comcast plans to begin testing its on-demand service with about 5,000 U.S. customers in the coming weeks. The streaming movie and TV service will only be available to Comcast subscribers...

Best Buy offers 99-cent netbooks with Sprint service - Triangle Business Journal:

Best Buy stores are offering netbooks for 99 cents with Sprint Nextel Corp. service agreements.

The netbooks, similar to laptops but designed specifically for Internet use with embedded mobile broadband, are available for that price this week with a two-year Sprint (NYSE: S) service contract, according to the Best Buy Web site. The same Compaq Mini 110c-1040DX netbook is available through Best Buy for $199.99 with two-year service agreements with AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) or Verizon Wireless. Without a contract, it costs $389.99...

Netbooks selling even better than projected - InternetNews.com

Netbooks may already be selling like hotcakes, but they're showing much greater strength than some earlier predictions, according to new findings from retail analyst firm NPD Group's DisplaySearch unit.

The company expects shipments netbooks to reach almost 33 million units in 2009 as penetration of these products into the notebook PC market grows to 20 percent worldwide. At the same time, DisplaySearch expects the market for "traditional" notebooks to be flat year-over-year for the first time...

Survey finds one in six consumers act on spam - Business Center - PC World

About one in six consumers have at some time acted on a spam message, affirming the economic incentive for spammers to keep churning out millions of obnoxious pitches per day, according to a new survey.

Due to be released Wednesday, the survey was sponsored by the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG), an industrywide security think tank composed of service providers and network operators dedicated to fighting spam and malicious software...

Facebook rules in time spent online - InternetNews.com

Facebook may be ranked sixth in unique visitors, but it reigns supreme in the amount of time users spend there -- topping Google, Yahoo, AOL and eBay.

The social networking site checks in at a bit over 4.5 hours per person, on average, for the month of June, according to Nielsen Online's June 2009 report...

Broadband adoption, benefits on the rise

Home broadband adoption increased more than six-fold between 2001 and 2008, and while gaps in adoption still exist, gaps in valuation no longer do, according to a study released today by the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA). The report found that with $32 billion gains in 2008, consumers received more than $30 billion in benefits annually from using broadband at home.

According to the study, “The Substantial Consumer Benefits of Broadband Connectivity for U.S. Households,” approximately 66.6 million households used broadband in 2008, up from 10.4 million in 2001. Of these, the number of dial-up users has decreased from 44.2 million households in 2001 to 10.5 million in 2008, and households with no access at all fell from 53.6 million in 2001 to 39.7 million last year...

Poor IT job market may fuel online crime: Cisco - washingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The ever-weakening job market could well lead to an increase in online crime as laid-off workers, especially those with computer skills, turn to scams to support themselves, Cisco Systems Inc said in a mid-year security report to be released on Tuesday.

Disgruntled employees may target their former employers, and Cisco warned that insiders "can be especially damaging for an organization because insiders know security weaknesses..."

Fliers get advice on Internet etiquette - USATODAY.com

Now that it has become the first major airline to outfit its entire fleet with wireless Internet service, AirTran Airways is offering passengers a few do's and don't's.

Tip #134. "The lavatory is not your personal conference room..."

Blockbuster to stream video rentals on Samsung TVs - USATODAY.com

SAN FRANCISCO — Having been a step behind in the race to pipe entertainment from the Internet to television screens, struggling video rental-chain Blockbuster is counting on a new partnership with Samsung Electronics America to regain ground on rival Netflix Inc.

In an alliance announced Tuesday, Samsung's next generation of high-definition TVs will include a built-in feature that will enable people to rent the latest DVD releases from Blockbuster with the press of a button on the remote control...

Bing delivers credibility to Microsoft - NYTimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO — In late May, Microsoft unveiled Bing, its new Internet search engine, in front of an audience of skeptics: technology executives and other digerati who had gathered near San Diego for an industry conference.

To that crowd, Microsoft’s efforts to take on Google and Yahoo in the search business had become something of a laughingstock, and for good reason. Microsoft’s repeated efforts to build a credible search engine had fallen flat, and the company’s market share was near its low...

Online gaming up 22 percent in past year - Dayton Business Journal:

Online gaming traffic in the U.S. grew in the past year, attracting 87 million visitors in May, up 22 percent from a year ago, according to ComScore, the Web traffic measurement firm.

Yahoo Games ranked number one in the category with 19.4 million visitors in May, a 6-percent increase over the past year, followed by EA Online with 18 million visitors, Nickelodeon Casual Games with 14.8 million visitors, WildTangent Network with 13.8 million. One company, GSN Games Networks, increased its traffic 563 percent to 6 million visitors, due primarily to the additions of entities such as WorldWinner.com and CrazyMonkeyGames.com...

Would you pay $1 a month for Pandora? - Digits - WSJ

Pandora has finally emerged from a two-year battle with the Copyright Royalty Board over royalty payments for the artists of songs streamed online. And for the first time in its history, the popular streaming-music service will charge its heaviest listeners a fee for using it.

Webcasters reached an agreement last week with Sound Exchange, the nonprofit organization designated by the U.S. Copyright Office to negotiate on behalf of performing artists, which says that large webcasters like Pandora earning more than $125 million a year will pay a quarter of gross revenues in royalties, or about 0.09 cents per song, whichever is higher. The rate increases each year and will hit 0.14 cents per song in 2015...

Check Twitter for bargains - WSJ.com

Businesses from your preferred airline to your favorite cafe are using Twitter to trumpet last-minute discounts and giveaways. You, too, can get looped in to these immediate and often exclusive deals.

Users of the social network (Twitter.com) can sign up to "follow" stores or clubs they like. Messages, or "tweets," from businesses, like those from individual users, are limited to 140 characters...

Sprint embraces WiFi in smartphones - FierceBroadbandWireless

Sprint Nextel is requiring its smartphone suppliers to add WiFi capability to their devices for the carrier going forward, and the operator announced it will release an updated version of the BlackBerry Tour next year that will include WiFi.

"Sprint is embracing WiFi in all its major devices going forward," Jeff Clemow, the carrier's director of business product marketing, told FierceWireless...

Sprint helps 2010 census go wireless - Business Center - PC World

When the government conducts its census next year, Sprint will be providing wireless equipment, coverage and secure connections to workers out in the field.

Managing telecommunications for the census is no simple task, of course. The company estimates that it will need to provide census-takers at Harris Corporation with 500 MPLS sites, 150,000 active telemetry wireless devices and about 1,500 managed devices and mobile broadband connection cards. Bill White, Sprint's vice president of federal programs, says that the 150,000 telemetry devices were custom-built by HTC and were wirelessly connected by Sprint to help tie together the 450 local census offices that Harris is operating...

Howcast, a video start-up, charges into the ‘How-to’ Web - NYTimes.com

IN their star turns in James Bond movies, Ursula Andress and Halle Berry perfected the art of emerging from an ocean swim and walking onto the beach in a dripping-wet bikini.

For everyone else? Not so easy. But there are some tricks for aspiring Bond girls, and they involve, among other things, waterproof mascara, Vaseline and double-sided tape. There are some finer points, too, to pull off such a feat, and words can’t quite convey their subtleties...

The pennies add up at Swoopo.com - washingtonpost.com

Imagine for a second that you've set out to come up with an online shopping site that would take advantage of everything we know about consumer behavior.

Your goal is to separate people from their money as efficiently as possible. What would you do? You'd probably try to draw buyers in with bargain prices. You'd pit them against one another in an auction. You'd ask them to make snap decisions without taking much time to figure out just how much money they're spending. On top of that, you'd ask for only very small amounts of money at any one time, letting payments of a few cents build to hundreds of dollars...

Online backups could use Google’s expertise - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

It’s all well and good that Google has promised a speedy, secure operating system designed for a Webby world. But why can’t the company — which buys so many darned hard drives — tackle a smaller project first and give consumers something they really want and need: easy-to-use, cheap data backup?

A so-called GDrive has been rumored for years. According to the speculation, this would be a service that lets people manage all of their files online – not just e-mail, photos and documents – and gives people access to their data from any computer with a network pulse...

For ManiaTV, a second attempt to be the next Viacom - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

As we get further into the deep recession, there is particular sort of deal we’re going to see more of: baby buybacks. That’s when an entrepreneur who sells all or part of his company buys it back after the new owners abandon hope.

This happened several times in the last dot-com crash, and it’s happening again. The founders of StumbleUpon have purchased it back from eBay, and the creators of Skype are said to be thinking of doing the same...

Online banking via mobile devices growing -- Mobile Banking -- InformationWeek

Access to mobile banking is growing so rapidly that a substantial percentage of users are accessing their mobile accounts from home on their smartphones and handsets rather than their PCs at home, according to a report from comScore Inc.

In its inaugural report on the Mobile Financial Services Market released Thursday, the market research firm said respondents to its survey examining the use of mobile banking access on mobile phones and 3G service, found that 31% accessed financial accounts on mobile phones at home. The next largest percentage -- 25% -- accessed accounts while running errands. Other times and places from which respondents accessed their bank accounts were: while commuting, 15%; at work, 11%; on vacation, 9%; and business travel, 8%...

Amazon's Kindle to sell law books - WSJ.com

A nonprofit group that provides continuing education for lawyers is making its books available for sale on Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle, underscoring the widening appeal of the digital reader.

The discounts off print prices for digital works from the Practising Law Institute will be much smaller than those typical of Kindle best-sellers...

Does Google know too much about you? - PC World

Do you trust Google? If you use its multitude of online services on a daily basis you might, but is that assumption wise? For some, Google is a wonderful company with a broad selection of useful online tools that make life easier, but for others Google is a looming, unregulated monster just waiting for the moment to drop the ‘don't' from the company's unofficial motto, "Don't be evil..."

Google's 'My Location' tracks your PC's location on Google Maps - PC World

Google is making it easier for you to find out where you are, with the introduction of My Location for the desktop. First introduced in late 2007 as a tool for Google Maps for mobile, My Location offered directions by triangulating your position based on surrounding cell towers.

My Location for the desktop uses Wi-Fi access point information instead of cell towers, but just like the mobile version, My Location on the desktop drops a little blue dot onto your approximate location in Google Maps...

ZulaWorld combines science, fun for kids - USATODAY.com

Exploring virtual worlds is a hot craze for kids. In most you become a character who goes on adventures or fights his or her way to glory. In ZulaWorld.com, kids become aliens and explore a world full of scientific challenges.

Based on the world created in the The Zula Patrol television series, which airs on NBC on Saturday mornings and PBS at other times of the week, kids enter this outer space world only after their parents agree via e-mail consent. Targeted at kids ages 6 to 9, this virtual world is free to play, but much of the more robust content is available only with a VIP membership,which costs $5.99 for one month or $29.99 for six months...

Strategies: Advertise your business for free - USATODAY.com

Wouldn't you like to get some free advertising for your business? And not just any advertising — but advertising that's in front of people exactly when they're looking for what you have to offer?

Then it's time for you to check out Google's Local Business Center. Just about every business will want to take advantage of this free advertising opportunity. Even if you don't have a website. Even if you aren't web savvy...

Netflix, Sony in streaming partnership - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

Online movie rental service Netflix Inc. on Thursday announced a streaming partnership with Sony Electronics.

Los Gatos-based Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) said subscribers will be able to instantly watch movies streamed from Netflix on Sony's Bravia Internet Video-capable HDTVs and on earlier models compatible with Sony's Bravia Internet video link module...

Amazon lowers price of Kindle electronic reader to $299 from $359 -- chicagotribune.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon.com Inc. cut the price of its Kindle electronic reading device to $299 on Wednesday in an effort to attract more bookworms and make the gadget a mainstream hit.

The new price is $60 below the tag the Kindle has had since May 2008. The product originally debuted at $399 in 2007...

AT&T stresses need for wireline home phone | Telecompetitor

Using emergency 911 calling as a backdrop, AT&T is stressing the need for families to maintain at least one corded wireline phone in their home. “At home, a landline phone can serve as their reliable ‘home base’ in an emergency, and it can give consumers added peace of mind at an affordable price,” said Joey Schultz, AT&T vice president consumer marketing in a company statement.

AT&T is partnering with the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) to raise the awareness of the ‘safety’ of corded wireline phones . They both conducted a survey on the use of 911 and emergency planning among families. “The more choices you have to reach 9-1-1 in an emergency, the better, and a corded landline phone should be one of those options,” says one of survey result’s assertions. They’ve built an entire AT&T E911/ emergency planning PR campaign around the project...

Netbooks seen helping Google take on Windows - InternetNews.com

Low-cost netbooks could provide the fertile ground Google needs to make its free PC operating system a success as it prepares to take on Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) dominant Windows juggernaut, industry observers say.

Google's new Chrome Linux-based operating system will be free-of-charge, in stark contrast to Windows, which analysts say costs anywhere from $20 for the older XP system to at least $150 for the current Vista system...

Social network ad spending seen cooling - Dayton Business Journal:

The days of hot growth in advertising on social networking sites may be over, according to a forecast issued Thursday, despite strong gains at Facebook Inc.

The prediction by research firm eMarketer is a sharp reversal from one it made in December when it projected growth of 10.2 percent for 2009 to $1.3 billion...

The U.S.-South Korea cyberattack: How did it happen? - PC World

It sounds like an advanced operation: Hackers hit dozens of high-profile Web sites, knocking the Federal Trade Commission and other government groups completely offline. Days later, South Korea gets a wave of the same treatment.

The description may seem shocking, but a recent series of attacks on U.S. and South Korean Web sites was actually far less sophisticated than one might think. Security researchers are gaining a better understanding of what exactly happened, and why it caused so many major sites to go down...

AT&T's designs for the wireless market - BusinessWeek

In one wing of AT&T (T)'s sprawling corporate campus just outside Atlanta's upscale Buckhead neighborhood, a cadre of wireless employees is doing business in a way that's anything but usual for the telecom behemoth.

The newly assembled team, led by about a dozen executives, operates more like a startup than a part of the 132-year-old AT&T. And with good reason: Their mission is to come up with innovative ways for people to use AT&T's wireless network. The idea is to go beyond cell phones and hook up all manner of electronics to the Internet—from digital cameras and navigation devices to parking meters—to change the way people live and work...

Freddie Mac turns to YouTube to help delinquent borrowers - Washington Business Journal:

With so many homes headed to foreclosure Freddie Mac has posted a new video on YouTube to show late-paying borrowers how to speed their efforts to get their mortgage loans modified.

The video, which runs two minutes, shows borrowers which documents they need to make more effective calls to loan servicers...

Bing, the imitator, often goes Google one better - News Analysis - NYTimes.com

For the last 15 years, Microsoft’s master business plan seems to have been, “Wait until somebody else has a hit. Then copy it.”

I know that sounds mean, but come on — the list of commercial hits/Microsoft knockoffs is as long as your arm. PalmPilot/PocketPC. Netscape Navigator/Internet Explorer. Mac OS X/Windows Vista. Apple iPod/Microsoft Zune...

Government Accountability Office joins social media revolution -- Social Media -- InformationWeek

The Government Accountability Office is getting a bit more accountable, beginning to inform the public about its reports and mission via public-facing social media sites YouTube and Twitter.

"While we've made extensive use of the Internet for some time, posting material on YouTube and Twitter offers new possibilities to inform people about our efforts to promote accountability and transparency in federal programs and operations," Gene Dodaro, acting comptroller general for the United States, said in a statement Tuesday...

Clearwire to launch in Vegas on 21st - Telecom News Analysis

Clearwire LLC (Nasdaq: CLWR) has made it official: Its third mobile WiMax market will be Sin City, going commercial on July 21.

The company has been selling wireless services online to Las Vegas residents since June. It took that "soft launch" approach in Atlanta, too, which went live in June. (See Clearwire Goes Soft in Vegas and Clearwire Goes Live in Atlanta.) Portland, Ore., rounds out Clearwire's trio of mobile WiMax markets...

New York's MTA eyes WiFi on trains - Telecom News Analysis

New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is seriously examining how it could deploy wireless Internet on some of its commuter trains.

Unstrung has seen a Request For Expressions of Interest (RFEI) document, issued by the MTA on July 1, that asks for input from potential bidders on the wireless technologies available, and "to determine whether there is a business case for proceeding with wide-scale deployment."
The transport authority wants responses to the RFEI by September 1. It will review the comments and then consider an initial trial of equipment...

Fighting porn addiction…online? - Digits - WSJ

Online porn addicts might consider turning to the very thing that got them hooked — the Internet.

One recovering addict is using a free program called X3watch that runs in the background of his Web surfing and keeps a running log of questionable sites he visits. The program then emails the log to to a self-appointed “accountability partner,” in his case a long-time friend, who then proceeds to give him a talking-to. A $19 pro version allows for more reports and accountability partners...

Nielsen: Kids spending more time online - USATODAY.com

NEW YORK — Young kids are getting online at a faster rate than their parents and older siblings.
A new study from Nielsen Online found that nearly 16 million U.S. children ages 2 to 11 were online in May. They made up about 9.5% of Internet users.

The youngest of the set — 2, 3, and 4-year-olds — probably aren't yet updating their Twitter accounts with 140-character messages, or posting quiz results to Facebook. Rather, they are sitting in a parent's lap in front of a computer, being exposed to the Internet that way, said Peter Grunwald, president of Grunwald Associates LLC, which specializes in researching kids and technology...

Government Web sites targeted by attack - washingtonpost.com

A widespread and coordinated cyberattack during the past few days has targeted Web sites operated by major government agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security and Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, according to several computer security researchers.

The attack involved thousands of computers around the globe infected with rogue software that told them to repeatedly attempt to access the targeted sites, a tactic aimed at driving up traffic beyond the sites' normal capacity and denying access to legitimate users, according to the researchers, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are helping with the investigation...

'Virtual assistants' find demand for services in tight labor market - washingtonpost.com

Michael Hanik used to have 12 employees, a warehouse and trucks to run his medical devices catalogue company.

But four years ago, he turned to the Internet to look for ways to reduce overhead costs for his Rockville-based Total Medical Systems. He now has just three employees on the company payroll but as many as 50 contractors working for him, some of them known as "virtual assistants...

Spammers shorten their URLs - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Shortened URLs are great for character-conscious Tweeters, marketers who want to track Web site visitors, and even perhaps an opportunity for venture capitalists who are investing in companies such as Bit.ly.

But they are also providing a boon to spammers...

Eater LA's Must uproar puts blogger ethics in spotlight - Los Angeles Times

They say all press is good press, but when restaurateurs Rachel Thomas and Coly Den Haan read a nasty blind item about their downtown Los Angeles wine bar the Must on local food blog Eater LA, they were furious.

"I was flabbergasted," Den Haan says. "I wanted to pass out. I didn't know what to do. I think freaking out is a pretty good word to describe it..."

Broadband to reach 640 million households by 2013 -- Broadband -- InformationWeek

Demand for high bandwidth broadband will drive the number of worldwide households with the high-speed technology to more than 640 million by 2013, according to a report released Tuesday by Parks Associates.

The analyst firm said that the number of broadband households worldwide grew by over 18% in 2008 to exceed 400 million.

Internet radio stations reach deal to head off crippling increase in copyright royalty rates -- chicagotribune.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The future of Internet radio appears more secure after a handful of online stations reached an agreement Tuesday to head off a potentially crippling increase in copyright royalty rates.

The deal is the product of two years of negotiations between webcasters and copyright holders. In March 2007, a ruling by the federal Copyright Royalty Board dramatically raised the rates that Internet radio stations must pay artists and recording labels — leading many online radio stations to warn that the new rates would put them out of business by eating up as much as 70 percent of revenue...

Cincinnati council in snit over Twitter - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

A fleet of tweets has Cincinnati City Council member Leslie Ghiz catching heat.

Some unkind tweets from Ghiz about fellow councilmember Laketa Cole have resulted in calls to ban council members from communicating on the networking site during council meetings...

Dedicated Web host, Internet America, appoints former Texas governor

Provider of Broadband Internet services, Internet America, Inc., has appointed former Texas Governor, Mark White in the role of Counsel on Rural Broadband Development, whose duties will include the development of public private partnerships to bring broadband internet to rural areas.

Uutilizing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the initiative includes the allocation of $7.2 billion to provide broadband access to rural and underserved areas throughout the United States. He will join Internet America as a salaried employee with possible additional compensation, including stock options, based on the Company’s success in establishing alliances for beneficiaries of stimulus funds...

Embarq, CenturyTel complete $11.6B deal - Kansas City Business Journal:

Embarq Corp. has officially left Overland Park.

Buyer CenturyTel Inc. (NYSE: CTL) completed its $11.6 billion stock and debt purchase of Embarq (NYSE: EQ), the companies announced early Wednesday. The combined company, CenturyLink Inc., will be based in Monroe, La., and potentially have $8 billion in annual revenue. It has more than 2.1 million broadband customers, 440,000 video subscribers and 7.5 million access lines in 33 states...

Third tower project online

WARSAW, Ohio - The third tower in the county broadband wireless Internet project is online and available for service connections. The W.O.S.U. Tower at River View High School went in service July 2 and Lightspeed officials stated that they have more than 80 requests for service that may be served by this tower.

Plans are to install equipment on the Hydrologic Station Water Tower in White Eyes Township next while structural surveys on being completed on the Marcs Tower at Conesville...

Office 2010's free Web versions fend off Google Docs - PC World

Choosing to risk cannibalizing its own sales rather than let competitors such as Google Inc. eat away at them, Microsoft Corp. will give consumers and corporate users free access to the upcoming Web version of Microsoft Office.

Microsoft announced Monday that its Office Web service will be available to members of its free Windows Live online service, of which there are about 400 million active users worldwide today, says Chris Capossela, senior vice-president of the information worker product management group at Microsoft...

Young workers push employers for wider Web access - USATODAY.com

CHICAGO — Ryan Tracy thought he'd entered the Dark Ages when he graduated college and arrived in the working world.

His employer blocked access to Facebook, Gmail and other popular Internet sites. He had no wireless access for his laptop and often ran to a nearby cafe on work time so he could use its Wi-Fi connection to send large files...

Tastecasting finds blogging pairs well with food - Business First of Columbus:

Word of mouth for some restaurants has become word of fingers.

The rapid integration of electronic social networking into the world of business has yet another outlet: Columbus-based Tastecasting.com, a Web site gaining traction nationally as a social event for participants and a promotional tool for restaurants...

Webinars bring seminars, branding to customers’ desktops - South Florida Business Journal:

Janis Ehlers was in Philadelphia this spring, speaking on “high-tech, high-touch” marketing, when she found an entrée into social media marketing. She and two other presenters were to go onstage and speak to a room full of people. Then, one presenter took out her hand-held Flip video camera to record the seminar to post to her Web site.

That prompted the presenters to think: What if the presentation was online, delivered to dozens of executives anywhere in the country – or world? A webinar would open their lecture to the masses...

Telemedicine becoming new way to see patients - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

Since there aren’t enough primary care physicians or nurse practitioners to get to all of the patients, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is bringing the patients to them.

The organization, which provides health care to about 70,000 men and women a year at 28 clinics across the state, has begun investing in telemedicine, a high-tech way for the patient and clinician to communicate via video phone.

“This allows for far easier access and we can read a patient’s body language to see what is really upsetting them,” said Katharine Burnett, vice president of patient services for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin...

400,000 BWA/WiMAX subscribers added in Q1 2009

Approximately 400,000 BWA/WiMAX subscribers and 50 million new active 3G subscribers were added in Q1 2009, according to the latest quarterly report published by Maravedis as part of its leading 4GCounts subscription service (www.4gcounts.com...)

Approval by a blogger may please a sponsor - NYTimes.com

Colleen Padilla, a 33-year-old mother of two who lives in suburban Philadelphia, has reviewed nearly 1,500 products, including baby clothes, microwave dinners and the Nintendo Wii, on her popular Web site Classymommy.com. Her site attracts 60,000 unique visitors every month, and Ms. Padilla attracts something else: free items from companies eager to promote their products to her readers.

Marketing companies are keen to get their products into the hands of so-called influencers who have loyal online followings because the opinions of such consumers help products stand out amid the clutter, particularly in social media...

Four privacy protections the online ad industry left out - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Last week, the Internet advertising industry announced what it described as tough new standards for how it collects and uses data about the behavior of Internet users.
Privacy

As best as I can tell, the proposal largely codifies the practices engaged in today. The groups, led by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, decided not to endorse any of the ideas that have been actively discussed recently that might give users more meaningful information and control over how their behavior is being tracked...

Is Facebook past its prime? - PC World

Is Facebook on its last legs? Is it going to pull a MySpace on us? Will Facebook be the Internet's hip site du jour one day, then suddenly lose the love and affection of most of its followers the next? We hope not. But various irritations associated with the site could contribute to its eventual demise.

Already, in the first quarter of this year, the "bounce rate"--the percentage of visits to Facebook.com that consist of a single page view and then a quick exit--has grown by 19 percent, according to Internet traffic research firm Alexa. Though that statistic hardly qualifies as conclusive proof of Facebook's imminent demise, it does raise the possibility that a large number of Facebookers are surfing over to the site, finding little there of interest, and promptly leaving...

China works to save its adolescents from Internet addiction | Dangerous Intersection

What do you do with a teenager that spends 10 hours a day playing online games. What if a teenager is unable to pull herself away from her Facebook account? The Chinese government is taking this ramped up usage of the Internet seriously, according to an article in the June 26, 2009 edition of Science (available online only to subscribers)...

CompuServe shuttered by AOL -- Internet Service Providers -- InformationWeek

CompuServe, the first major online commercial service, has been shut down by AOL.

The announcement that the Internet service, which has had several iterations and name changes since its earliest origins in 1969, was closed brought a wave of nostalgic messages from users of the once-dominant service. Many of its subscribers are planning to cling to the service...

US broadband stimulus package shores up net neutrality

Telecom hopefuls looking to grab a slice of the Obama administration’s $7.2 billion broadband stimulus package will have to wrangle with net neutrality clauses baked into the grant guidelines released last Wednesday.

The grant guidelines include the FCC’s internet policy statement drafted last year in response to Comcast Corporation’s clandestine program to derail customers using the BitTorrent protocol. The policy statement specifically prohibits companies from deliberately blocking or slowing Internet traffic on their network...

Telemedicine key to health care reform | Speed Matters – Internet Speed Test

The role of broadband in the United States policy is not just limited to issues of speed, availability and adoption. Medical experts recently released a white paper that touts telemedicine as a core component of health care reform in the United States.

Telemedicine will control cost inflation and provide additional benefits that "greatly exceed the costs," according to the white paper...

Electronic outreach tests house rules - WSJ.com

WASHINGTON -- House members are spending millions in taxpayer funds on email and other electronic outreach to voters, often in ways that avoid their traditional rules on constituent communications.

During the nine months ended March 31, which included the run-up to the last election, House members spent about $3.5 million from their office accounts on electronic outreach, according to a Wall Street Journal review of expense records...