Federal officials seek a national strategy for getting broadband to every American

The economic stimulus package approved by Congress in February included $7.2 billion to help bring broadband internet access to more citizens. It also required the Federal Communications Commission to create a national broadband plan--an undertaking with important implications for schools.

The stimulus authorized the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to implement the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), which is a $4.7 billion, one-time competitive matching grants program. The funds are intended to expand broadband services to underserved areas, improve broadband access for public safety agencies, stimulate the economy, and create jobs. NTIA is implementing the program along side the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Services, which received $2.5 billion for broadband loans, loan guarantees, and grants...

Deal would shield local Verizon customers | The Columbian

Washington utility regulators have reached a deal with Frontier Communications that safeguards telephone rates and high-speed Internet access for Verizon customers here if the company’s bid for Verizon’s phone lines gets final state and federal approval.

Verizon in May proposed to sell 487,000 Washington phone lines, including its land line business in Camas and Washougal, to Frontier Communications. The deal, which doesn’t include Verizon’s wireless business, is part of an $8.6 billion bid by Frontier to acquire 4.8 million Verizon phone lines in 14 states...

Can Facebook, Capitol Hill be friends? Lawmakers learn social networking. - washingtonpost.com

Inside the headquarters of the National Republican Congressional Committee, 25-year-old Adam Conner -- registered Facebook lobbyist, poster of multiple Obama attaboys and a guy whose Facebook photo is a grizzly bear wielding two chain saws -- sits to teach a course. The subject: How to use Facebook better. His student: Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.).

"If we're going to improve our presence on Facebook and really maximize it, what would you recommend as tangible steps?" Roskam asks, thumbing his BlackBerry...

Online shoppers were more satisfied this season - NYTimes.com

More people than ever shopped online this holiday season, and they were happier to do so.

Customers were more satisfied than ever with e-commerce sites while holiday shopping, according to ForeSee Results’ E-Retail Satisfaction Index, which uses methodology developed at the University of Michigan to study consumer satisfaction. Satisfaction rose 7 percent to 79 out of 100, the highest since the survey began in 2001...

Holiday related online sales grew 15 percent in 2009 - PC World

Shoppers looking to avoid crowded malls -- or shut in by a massive snowstorm on the east coast the Saturday before Christmas -- took to their computers this year, boosting online sales 15.5 percent over last year.

Traditional retail sales, meanwhile, jumped 3.6 percent, according to MasterCard advisors' SpendingPulse, which tracks all forms of payment...

Broadband innovation on the wireless frontier | Berkman Center

18 years ago, Brett Glass -- an electrical engineer, inventor, and technology columnist -- established LARIAT, the first terrestrial wireless Internet service provider (WISP), in Laramie, Wyoming. He did it, initially, not as an entrepreneurial venture (the network started as a nonprofit co-op) but to solve a problem for his community: Laramie had no high speed Internet other than that on the University of Wyoming campus (which at the time had just upgraded from a few T1 lines to an almost unimaginably fast DS-3).

The network made innovative use of early spread spectrum digital radio technology -- the great granddaddy of Wi-Fi -- to provide high speed Internet years before DSL or cable modem service was available, and continues to reach areas where these services do not go...

More bandwidth means less friction means greater usage

A few weeks ago I met Patrick Chung, managing director for SK Telecom Ventures, at Supernova, a terrific conference in San Francisco focused on communications technologies and their ramifications.

SK Telecom Ventures is the venture arm of SK Telecom, one of the leading telecommunications companies in South Korea. Any time I meet someone involved in telecommunications who's connected to South Korea I like to ask the question: So what cool things are happening on fiber over there?...

Money-saver sites you haven’t heard of - PC World

Recession or not, everyone looks for ways to save money without too much compromise. Thankfully, the Web has many deal-hunting tools to help you fulfill your shopping urges without breaking the bank. Beyond the old standbys like Craigslist or FatWallet.com, a few new sites have sprouted up with truly unique ways to help you stretch your budget.

One caveat: These sites require some quality hunting time as well as daily visits, so don't expect to find the perfect deal on your first look...

E-books beat regular books on Xmas -- InformationWeek

Amazon sold more electronic books than physical books on Christmas Day, due to the popularity of the Kindle e-reader, the online retailer reported. It was the first time e-books had led in sales.

In addition, the Kindle has become the most gifted item ever on Amazon, according to the company, which did not release sales numbers...

Online shopping breaks records -- InformationWeek

Even with the country in a recession, online sales continued to be a bright spot for retailers, as categories across the board enjoyed record-breaking results.

An indication that mobile phones had achieved maturity for making online purchases was reported by eBay, which said that 1.5 million sales were recorded by cell phone users in recent weeks. And, some of the purchases were very big: a 1966 Chevrolet Corvette sold for $75,000 and a boat was purchased for $19,000...

Shopping finds a little sparkle this season - NYTimes.com

The nation’s stores appear to have fared better this holiday shopping season than last year, according to early figures reported on Sunday. Major retailing categories had modest sales increases, while others fell slightly but still showed improvement.

Despite that promising news, some consumers interviewed in stores over the weekend said they were exchanging their Christmas presents for everyday necessities and were continuing to curb their spending — suggesting that America’s retailers were still recovering from the deep economic recession...

Media outlets prepare to charge for content online - NYTimes.com

Over more than a decade, consumers became accustomed to the sweet, steady flow of free news, pictures, videos and music on the Internet. Paying was for suckers and old fogeys. Content, like wild horses, wanted to be free.

Now, however, there are growing signs that this free ride is drawing to a close...

Cell phone mania forces scramble for more airwaves (AP) | Daily News Blog

WASHINGTON – Wireless devices such as Apple’s iPhone are transforming the way we go online, making it possible to look up driving directions, find the nearest coffee shop and update Facebook on the go. All this has a price — in airwaves.

As mobile phones become more sophisticated, they transmit and receive more data over the airwaves. But the spectrum of wireless frequencies is finite — and devices like the iPhone are allowed to use only so much of it. TV and radio broadcasts, Wi-Fi networks and other communications services also use the airwaves. Each transmits on certain frequencies to avoid interference with others...

Managing the wireless data deluge : News : Communications - ZDNet Asia

It wasn't so many years ago that U.S. wireless carriers wanted nothing more than to convince their customers to use their phones for more than talking. Having invested billions to bring data applications like Web browsing and video to their networks, carriers saw little interest from consumers.

Of course, that was before the latest generation of smartphones like Apple's iPhone, Motorola's Droid, and Research In Motion's BlackBerry made using wireless data applications so compelling and popular. Now there's a new problem: Networks are starting to groan under the surging demand, causing service to deteriorate for everyone. Helping wireless companies cope with ever-escalating demands for data with software and services is turning into a huge opportunity for companies that service the wireless industry...

Sorry, shoppers, but why can’t Amazon collect more tax? - NYTimes.com

BEFORE settling on Seattle as the home of Amazon.com, the founder, Jeff Bezos, considered placing the company on an Indian reservation near San Francisco. “This way, we could have access to talent without all the tax consequences,” he said in a 1996 interview with Fast Company.

The reservation couldn’t be used as a sales-tax haven, after all, Mr. Bezos said he learned, so he had to look elsewhere. Offering prices free of sales tax to customers in California, the most populous state, would be possible only if the company were placed elsewhere. “You have to charge sales tax to customers who live in any state where you have a business presence,” he said then...

E-books spark battle inside the publishing industry - washingtonpost.com

The evolution of publishing from print to digital has caused a schism in the reading world. There are now two constituencies: readers (and writers) on the one hand, and the publishing world on the other. And they don't want to hear each other.

Readers want books that are plentiful and cheap, publishers want to preserve their profit, and authors want a larger share of revenue. The conflict has created a strident internecine battle inside the publishing industry. At issue are the price and timing of e-books, and who owns the rights to backlist titles. While publishers, agents and Amazon.com bicker, there is little time for conceiving new content that satisfies customer demand. If the book business doesn't tune in to that demand, it could wind up as a transitional source for the e-readers...

Google seeks to help children search better - NYTimes.com

When Benjamin Feshbach was 11 years old, he was given a brainteaser: Which day would the vice president’s birthday fall on the next year?

Benjamin, now 13, said he typed the question directly into the Google search box, to no avail. He then tried Wikipedia, Yahoo, AOL and Ask.com, also without success. “Later someone told me it was a multistep question,” said Benjamin, a seventh grader from North Potomac, Md...

Story of the Year: Newspapers and the Internet - PC World

As the year winds down I've been trying to decide how to summarize it Internet-wise. But it seems to me that the continuing saga of the news business symbolizes yet another year of close-to-terminal, Internet-induced confusion for traditional businesses -- or, maybe, panic.

The anti-Google rhetoric in parts of the news business has been growing in intensity over the last year or so, and most of it seems to be parts of the news business implicitly admitting that it does not have the faintest idea of how to deal with the Internet. This puts it in about the same position as other parts of the copyright business, including movies and music...

Is our data too vulnerable in the cloud? - NYTimes.com

The January issue of Technology Review features an important article discussing whether cloud computing is secure enough for broad public use.

“Security in the Ether,” by David Talbot, brings to light some of the serious technology concerns from cloud based applications including Gmail, Twitter and Facebook. Mr. Talbot interviews security and cloud experts, some who agree that our data and information is too vulnerable in the cloud, and the standards for business and public use are not secure enough. Talbot writes...

Study: US among world's leaders in broadband use - PC World

U.S. residents rank among the world's top in broadband use per month, meaning the broadband picture in the country isn't as bad as some critics might make it, a telecom trade group said Wednesday.

Much of the recent debate about broadband in the U.S. has focused on subscriber numbers and speed, but use should be part of the equation, said Jonathan Banks, USTelecom's senior vice president of law and policy. "There's this argument about whether the broadband networks in the U.S. are good enough," he said. "A lot of people compare network capacity to Europe or Japan. You may have a lot of capacity, but if people don't use it, what does it mean?..."

Year in Review: Mobile broadband news ruled 2009 - FierceBroadbandWireless

Mobile broadband news ruled the industry in 2009.

The first thing that comes to mind is the data deluge that some operators are experiencing--most notably AT&T Mobility's congestion woes--as consumers buy more smartphones and data access plans. The issue will continue to drive headlines in 2010...

Sites find new ways to show off your family photos - USATODAY.com

About 85 billion photos will be taken this year, according to research firm IDC. And that overwhelming and seemingly unmanageable collection shows no sign of getting smaller. In the predigital photography era, it was easy. You dropped film off at the drugstore, picked up your 24 prints, took them home and probably pasted one or two to the refrigerator.

Now, $10 digital memory cards can hold thousands of pictures. We capture images with digital cameras, cellphones and other gadgets. The result: We're filling up our hard drives with more pictures in a few months than our grandparents probably took in their entire lifetimes...

Chip Roberson feels social media is back to the future - Portfolio.com

It feels a lot like 1996 again. At that time, I was working for a telecommunications firm in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a French intern showed me how I could remotely explore his graduate school using a browser.

It was very engaging, but the significance of what he was showing me didn’t sink in right away. However, after a bit of investigation, I realized the way business could communicate with consumers was about to change. As is often the case, technology was the instigator of change...

Recession shifts renewed attention to us call centers -Portfolio.com

The recession is changing what companies want in outsourced customer care.

Retailers, telecom and cable TV companies, and financial-services giants want more than just to save money by sending call-center work overseas. Now they’re asking outsourcing companies to generate revenue by getting callers to upgrade services or buy more of them...

On Web, workshops to create one-of-a-kind gifts - NYTimes.com

Searching for meaning beyond a price tag, more holiday shoppers are giving custom-made gifts this year.

But adding the personal touch doesn’t mean that gift-givers have to break out the knitting needles, haul out the scrapbook supplies or fire up the oven and start baking. A host of Web sites with names like Zazzle, Blurb and TasteBook are helping people quickly create one-of-a-kind products like clothing, books and jewelry. In some cases, making a custom gift can be as easy as uploading a photo or clicking a mouse. In others, the e-commerce tools shorten what would normally have taken hours of work...

Internet sales tax scofflaws cheat state -- latimes.com

On this glorious day before Christmas, I have a message for all you sales tax scofflaws out there: Pay up.

This means you. You, who bought your big-screen TV online from Amazon.com instead of at Best Buy and your fleece-lined parka from L.L. Bean instead of Eddie Bauer because Amazon and Bean don't charge you sales tax and the others do. Guess what. You owe it anyway...

Can AT&T Tame the iHogs? - BusinessWeek

Pity poor AT&T (T). The wireless operator with exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in the U.S. is bashed incessantly for service that rarely lives up to the elegant promise of Apple's (AAPL) sleek device.

Now, when many consumers feel they should be receiving rebates, the company is getting lambasted for hinting it might take measures to rein in the heaviest iPhone users. Some customers even planned to crash the company's wireless network on Dec. 18 in protest...

Christmas Web sales spike after snowstorm - USATODAY.com

Stores in the snow-battered East Coast may have been sparse this weekend, but shoppers kept spending online. Retailers spurred sales with new discounts and shipping offers to make sure gifts arrive by Christmas.

The storm that battered the East Coast, from the Carolinas to New York, may have put at least a $2 billion dent in "Super Saturday," which usually accounts for $15 billion worth of sales nationwide, according to weather research firm Planalytics...

The science of managing search ads - NYTimes.com

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Cyber Monday had gone swimmingly for Tiny Prints.

Despite the economic downturn, customers streamed into the Tiny Prints online store on the Monday after Thanksgiving, called Cyber Monday because it is one of the busiest days of the year for Web retailers. They snapped up the company’s custom holiday cards at roughly twice the rate of a year ago...

Common Pleas court documents available online | The Columbus Dispatch

Court papers and lawsuits that had been filed behind the counters at the Franklin County Common Pleas Court are now available online.

Clerk Maryellen O'Shaughnessy has added document images to her Web site in the office's continuing efforts toward going paperless. Legal briefs filed in most cases since Dec. 1 are now available online at www.franklincountyohio.gov/clerk...

Fewer high school students taking computer science classes - washingtonpost.com

It would be hard to find a student at Stone Bridge High School who has never used the Internet for a research assignment, socialized with Facebook or played a video game. But few know much about how computers and the Web actually work.

About 70 students at the Ashburn school are taking introductory or Advanced Placement courses this year in computer science, getting a glimpse behind the games and Web sites they use all the time...

Virtual visit over the Web may expand access to doctors - NYTimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO — Americans could soon be able to see a doctor without getting out of bed, in a modern-day version of the house call that takes place over the Web.

OptumHealth, a division of UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer, plans to offer NowClinic, a service that connects patients and doctors using video chat, nationwide next year. It is introducing it state by state, starting with Texas, but not without resistance from state medical associations...

New programs aim to lure young into digital jobs - NYTimes.com

Growing up in the ’70s, John Halamka was a bookish child with a penchant for science and electronics. He wore black horn-rimmed glasses and buttoned his shirts up to the collar.

“I was constantly being called a geek or a nerd,” he recalled, chuckling...

Google Goggles, searching by image alone - NYTimes.com

THE world, like the World Wide Web before it, is about to be hyperlinked. Soon, you may be able to find information about almost any physical object with the click of a smartphone.

This vision, once the stuff of science fiction, took a significant step forward this month when Google unveiled a smartphone application called Goggles. It allows users to search the Web, not by typing or by speaking keywords, but by snapping an image with a cellphone and feeding it into Google’s search engine...

Technology becomes friendlier to older generations -- latimes.com

She was the ultimate all-American mom from the 1970s raising six kids on TV, but when it came to learning how to use her cellphone to send text messages, she avoided asking her own tech-savvy children.

"I didn't want to see them rolling their eyes," said Florence Henderson, best known for playing Carol Brady, the sitcom mom on "The Brady Bunch..."

Santa up to speed in online world | The Columbus Dispatch

When Jennifer Dunkle was a kid, she wrote letters to Santa Claus and checked the radio for updates on his whereabouts on Christmas Eve.

But in the new digital age of immediacy, all her two sons have to do is text Santa their wish list and check a Web site to see where he is...

Charities criticize online fund-raising contest by Chase - NYTimes.com

JPMorgan Chase & Company is coming under fire for the way it conducted an online contest to award millions of dollars to 100 charities.

At least three nonprofit groups — Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the Marijuana Policy Project and an anti-abortion group, Justice for All— say they believe that Chase disqualified them over concerns about associating its name with their missions...

Fewer people are sending holiday cards via snail mail in 2009 - washingtonpost.com

It's the middle of December, and Peg Willingham wants to know: Where are all the Christmas cards?

"I've only gotten about four," said the Falls Church mother as she tabulated the meager pile in the little red basket that serves as her card caddy each year. "Normally, I'd have a pretty full basket by now -- at least 15 or 20 cards. I'm trying not to take it too personally..."

Verizon makes new network expansions in Ohio - New cell site deployed in Marathon - Softpedia

Verizon Wireless, the largest telecommunications network in the United States, offering its services to more than 89 million subscribers, recently announced important network enhancements in Ohio. These enhancements will allow customers to enjoy a much clearer reception, better signal quality and, of course, a significant decrease in dropped voice calls. Users will be able to access the Internet, send and receive text, video and picture messages, download games, music, applications and also communicate via e-mail.

According to Verizon, the network expansion was made through the deployment of a new cell site in Marathon, resulting in a better coverage in the town and the surrounding areas. Coverage is also drastically improved along U.S. Highway 68, between Fayetteville South towards Mt. Orab and North between Owensville and Fayetteville...

Telecom overhaul enters last mile at Statehouse - Business First of Columbus:

An overhaul of how Ohio regulates telephone companies is headed for the finish line at the Statehouse, but it has been a rough race for those favoring the changes.

The Senate passed a telecommunications deregulation bill Dec. 15, and the House may do the same after the legislature’s Christmas break. Introduced in August, the legislation has received bipartisan support and backing from Gov. Ted Strickland...

Mobile phones become essential tool to holiday shopping - NYTimes.com

The mobile phone is quickly becoming Santa’s biggest helper.

Powerful software applications for devices like the Apple iPhone are making it easy for bargain-hunting consumers to see if another retailer is offering a better deal on a big-screen HDTV or pair of shoes and to use it to haggle at the cash register...

Online charity’s best day of the year? Dec. 31 - NYTimes.com

For charities that solicit donations online, Dec. 31 is more than New Year’s Eve — it is the most lucrative day of the year.

New data from Convio, a software company, shows that charitable donors that use Convio’s online giving systems made 13.2 times more gifts last Dec. 31 than the daily average for the rest of 2008, and that the charities raised 22.5 times more money than they did on an average day...

$7.4 billion in stimulus projects to extend broadband to poor and rural areas - washingtonpost.com

The Obama administration named 18 projects Thursday that would receive a portion of the $7.4 billion in stimulus funds set aside to bring high-speed Internet to poor and rural areas that have been overlooked by Internet service providers.

Analysts say the first batch of funds suggests the federal government is targeting "middle mile" projects that may not bring lines directly to the home, but could have even greater impact by connecting entire communities that have been off the Internet grid. Bringing pipes into homes aren't always as helpful, some say, if those homes aren't connected to the Internet pipelines that connect their communities to the rest of the nation...

Cleveland's Ward 13 to get free WiFi - cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The city of Cleveland hopes to take a technological leap forward by offering free Wi-Fi to a large portion of the West Side's Old Brooklyn neighborhood.

Cleveland officials on Thursday met with companies interested in building a wireless network throughout the newly configured Ward 13, which belongs to Council Majority Whip Kevin Kelley...

BendBroadband claims fastest mobile broadband in U.S. | Telecompetitor

BendBroadband, a central Oregon based cable MSO, has launched a mobile broadband product that it claims offers the fastest mobile broadband in the U.S. today.

BendBroadband has deployed a 3G HSPA+ wireless network, which they say delivers 15 Mbps under optimal conditions, and average download speeds, depending on customer location, of between 6 and 8 Mbps. Both T-Mobile and AT&T are currently building HSPA+ networks, with limited availability in certain markets...

Chevy brings Wi-Fi to cars | Telecompetitor

Owners of seven new Chevrolet models can drive into dealerships and have their vehicles converted to car Wi-Fi hotspots, thanks to a partnership between the auto manufacturer and Autonet Mobile. Truth be told, it’s really SUV/truck hotspots, but close enough.

Using Autonet Mobile’s TRU technology, dealers install wireless routers that offer download speeds up to 1.5 Mbps by connecting to 3G and 2.5G cellular networks on 95% of roads nationwide, Chevy announced yesterday. The router puts out a signal within and outside the vehicle throughout an area up to 150 feet...

Verizon Wireless inches closer to full WiFi embrace - FierceBroadbandWireless

Verizon Wireless has finally jumped on the bandwagon, offering free WiFi to subscribers, but only those customers that have signed up for Mobile Broadband and Global Access mobile data plans and are using broadband via USB modems, PC cards and netbooks. The plan isn't covering Verizon's WiFi-enabled smartphones such as the Motorola Droid.

Verizon Wireless is reselling hotspot access through its partnership with Boingo Wireless. The company has slowly warmed up to WiFi as many smartphones now include the technology. In July, Verizon's wireline division announced it would provide access to Boingo hotspots to customers of its wired FiOS and high-speed Internet services. Today's announcement brings its mobile broadband customers into the fold...

Net Neutrality: The Internet's Achilles' heel

With the FCC formulating new net neutrality rules, the debate around network management is coming to a head. At this time I think it's important to acknowledge the significance of these issues as in many ways net neutrality is the Internet's Achilles' heel.

I mean this in at least two senses...

AT&T, Sprint, Verizon mull a big wireless data shift : Carriers to embrace usage-based mobile data plans

Settle in for the hangover, folks, because the unlimited mobile data party might well end in 2010. While Americans have been enjoying the giddy, anytime, anywhere use of the Internet, social media, cloud-based picture-sharing and streaming video, revenue per megabyte has been falling for operators. And that means we are likely to soon see the end of flat-rate mobile data pricing, across carriers.

“We believe carriers will increasingly have to manage the usage side of the equation,” said Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, who explains that bandwidth consumption since the introduction of the iPhone has grown by 50-fold, while data revenues have grown by only 250 percent. “Carriers that have not already done so are increasingly likely to adopt usage-based pricing schemes that more fairly match price to usage but which will also inevitably discourage the most profligate kinds of applications...”

For Internet invitations, a new generation of Web sites - NYTimes.com

It’s nigh on New Year’s Eve, and you’ve decided to invite some friends over for Champagne, frivolity and Ryan Seacrest. So you draft an Evite and wait for responses.

Mr. Seacrest seems poised to be the Dick Clark of this century, enjoying a long and ageless tenure over Times Square. Evite, however, does not display similar staying power. It was once both innovative and indispensable, but since being bought by IAC/InterActiveCorp in 2001, Evite has more or less been left to languish...

AT&T Ohio announces expanded availability of high-speed Internet access services in Greene, Clark and Madison counties

As part of its commitment to deliver the benefits of broadband to as many customers as possible, AT&T Ohio today announced expanded availability of AT&T High Speed Internet to more residents and businesses in Bowersville in Greene County; North Hampton and Pitchin in Clark County; and South Solon in Madison County.

Expanding broadband technology to these southwest Ohio communities is part of AT&T Ohio's investment commitment resulting from enactment of Senate Bill 117, which reformed Ohio's video franchising system and encouraged competition and new investment for Ohio. As a result of these reform efforts, the company committed to invest approximately $500 million in Ohio for fiber network upgrades and broadband deployment to its remaining 22 wire centers, primarily in rural areas. When the process is complete, all of AT&T Ohio's 252 wire centers will be DSL-ready...

Online meetings as alternative to business travel

Business travel is coming under closer scrutiny: In Germany alone, companies spend approximately 50 billion euros on business travel every year. To partially offset this expense, many companies are replacing business trips with online meetings.

With this technology, customers and partners are able to communicate with images and audio over the Internet, while special presentation functions reinforce the personal aspects of a meeting. Software licenses, Webcams, and headsets are worth the investments. Companies that use Web meetings discover new methods of collaboration and reduce their own output of greenhouse gases...

McDonald's to offer free Wi-Fi Internet access - PC World Business Center

Beginning in mid-January, McDonald's restaurants will become one of the nation's largest providers of free Wi-Fi Internet access, thanks to a new deal with AT&T.

Free Internet access will be available at 11,000 of the company's 13,000 U.S. locations, making McDonald's an even friendlier spot for Road Warriors in need of connectivity...

Spectrum policy: A matter of life or death - Fortune Brainstorm Tech

I have been active in the wireless industry since the mid 1980s and privileged to witness one of the most transformative periods in the history of modern communications. Wireless technology has advanced in countless ways in recent decades, but there has always been, and will always be, one fundamental truth. Spectrum matters.

There has been a great deal of talk lately about the impact of consumer wireless devices, particularly smart phones, on our mobile networks. Many of us enjoy using wireless data networks to access video and other bandwidth intensive applications as we go about our day...

Ohio Senate passes bill to loosen telephone regulation | Business - cleveland.com - - cleveland.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Landline telephone companies are one step closer to less regulation in Ohio.

The Ohio Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would give telephone providers more freedom when it comes to handling customer service issues, setting rates and marketing new products to low-income customers. The legislation still needs approval from the Ohio House, which is expected to vote on the issue after a holiday break...

Russian Facebook investor adds stake in Zynga - NYTimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO — The Russian firm that invested more than $200 million in Facebook this year is making another bet on the United States Internet industry.

Digital Sky Technologies, or D.S.T., an investment firm with offices in Moscow and London, is leading a group that is buying a $180 million stake in Zynga, a fast-growing San Francisco company whose online games, like FarmVille, Café World and Mafia Wars, are extremely popular on Facebook...

Comcast introduces Xfinity, a streaming TV service - NYTimes.com

Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, said Tuesday that its customers could now watch thousands of television episodes online that were previously unavailable. It said the new service, “Fancast Xfinity TV,” was a major step toward what it calls “anytime, anywhere media.”

With a growing number of people bypassing their cable subscriptions and watching movies and television online, Comcast and other operators have scrambled to set up streaming video sites. Their goal is to ensure that people stay connected to cable programming, even if they watch the programs on their computers. The cable industry initiative is often called “TV Everywhere...”

Sarkozy unveils EUR4.5bn government investment in ultra-high speed broadband: CommsUpdate : TeleGeography Research

The President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, says the government intends to invest EUR4.50 billion (USD6.59 billion) to underpin the deployment of ultra-high speed broadband networks in the country, as well as the development of innovative services, as part of a EUR35 billion bond issue known as the ‘grand emprunt’.

French news daily Les Echos reports that Sarkozy has announced five major priorities for the government: higher education, research, digital, sustainable development and industry...

News website pins its hopes on tweens -- latimes.com

The grand debate over how to save journalism has pondered many big solutions, such as making consumers pay for online news, strong-arming aggregators like Google into sharing ad revenue with newspapers and funding public-interest reporting with charitable donations, big and small.

Legions of commentators and bloggers have raged. Innumerable conferences have been convened. And a select few have taken action -- creating vehicles that promise to reach new audiences while making some money along the way...

How Facebook is making friending obsolete - WSJ.com

Friending wasn't used as a verb until about five years ago, when social networks such as Friendster, MySpace and Facebook burst onto the scene.

Suddenly, our friends were something even better - an audience. If blogging felt like shouting into the void, posting updates on a social network felt more like an intimate conversation among friends at a pub...

Less than Half of African Americans and Hispanics regularly use the Internet | Internet Innovation Alliance

WASHINGTON D.C. – December 10, 2009 – Only 42 percent of African Americans and Hispanics regularly use the Internet, yet they overwhelmingly agree that Internet access is critical to achieving success, according to new findings from a national survey of 900 minority adults conducted by Brilliant Corners Research, led by Pollster Cornell Belcher. The results from this survey will be revealed today in Washington, D.C., at the Internet Innovation Alliance’s (IIA) Symposium, “Universal Broadband: Access for All Americans.”

Featured keynote speaker and highly-regarded Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher will address the poll results and shed light on the lessons that can be extrapolated to accelerate progress in closing the digital divide...

U.S. Web users spent just over 66 hours on the computer in November | Nielsen Wire

December 14, 2009

The Nielsen Company today reported November 2009 data for the Top Parent Companies/Divisions and Top Web Brands, as well as average Internet usage...

How public broadband projects create private opportunities

Too often in broadband policy circles we allow personal biases to cloud our thinking. We let preconceived assumptions get in the way of the truth of what really matters.

One area where this habit is especially egregious is in our perception of so-called municipal or public broadband as being anti-competitive, as being unfair to private enterprise, as government intervening when the market should be left to work alone...

Paramount Pictures to start online service to sell movie clips - NYTimes.com

LOS ANGELES — Paramount Pictures, looking for new ways to turn its old movies into cash, especially as DVD sales continue to decline, is creating an online video clip service that will allow users to search hundreds of feature films on a frame-by-frame basis.

Feeling “the need for speed,” as Tom Cruise put it in “Top Gun”? Log on to ParamountClips.com, search for the exact video snippet you want and press the checkout button. Within minutes — with the price depending on the type of licensing use you have in mind — Paramount will electronically deliver the selection in the format and resolution desired. Most scenes are available in multiple languages...

Stephen R. Covey grants e-book rights to Amazon - NYTimes.com

Ever since electronic books emerged as a major growth market, New York’s largest publishing houses have worried that big-name authors might sign deals directly with e-book retailers or other new ventures, bypassing traditional publishers entirely. Now, one well-known author is doing just that.

Stephen R. Covey, one of the most successful business authors of the last two decades, has moved e-book rights to two of his best-selling books from his print publisher, Simon & Schuster, a division of the CBS Corporation, to a digital publisher that will sell the e-books to Amazon.com for one year...

Broadband stimulus could require OSS standardization

The federal government must require standardization among providers’ OSS platforms and access to APIs for wholesale services.

That’s the plea from EarthLink Inc. (ELNK) and its subsidiary, New Edge Networks, as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) decide which rules will mold the second round of broadband stimulus funding. The agencies have finished taking public comments on potential stipulations and, in all the feedback, only EarthLink and New Edge seem to have pointed out that big problems crop up when back offices don’t work together...

Ohio State Grange supports bill to update Ohio’s telecom grid | Farm and Dairy - The Auction Guide and Rural Marketplace

Editor:
Rural citizens in Ohio are currently faced with a challenge: old and outdated legislation.

The Ohio Modernization Act of 2009, S.B. 162 and H.B. 276, would modernize telecom legislation by preserving current consumer protections and removing costly regulations, which will in turn allow telecom providers to invest more in infrastructure...

How can broadband impact global warming? | Speed Matters – Internet Speed Test

Wondering how to solve the climate crisis and make America energy independent? A big part of the answer is broadband, says the co-author of the recent House climate bill.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) joined FCC Chairman Julian Genachowski for an FCC field hearing Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The topic was “smart grid” – two-way digital technology that enables utilities and consumers to monitor energy use and increase efficiency. Or, as Markey put it, "an electricity Internet..."

Rep. Matsui blogs about Broadband Affordability Act | Speed Matters – Internet Speed Test

Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA), the sponsor of the Broadband Affordability Act (H.R. 3646), promoted the bill in a blog post on December 2.

Matsui, who represents the Sacramento area, described how Internet access has expanded opportunity for her family...

Google touts City of LA's decision to equip 34,000 employees with Google Apps - washingtonpost.com

A big win for Google's cloud-based communication and collaboration suite: the company has announced that the City of Los Angeles has equipped 34,000 employees with Google Apps.

According to Google's blog post, the city ¿ which is replacing its Novell GroupWise system ¿ had evaluated 14 e-mail technology providers for a revamp of the city government's communication and collaboration platform, and ended up picking Google Apps...

Bill Gates fund: libraries need more cash for broadband

The foundation tied to the Microsoft fortune has told the Federal Communications Commission that the government should spend more money on high-speed Internet upgrades for public libraries and schools. The FCC should make it easier to apply, too.

"A growing number of schools and public libraries cannot afford connectivity upgrades because of the inability to pay for one-time only installation, equipment and transport costs," the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation warned the Commission on Wednesday. No big surprise that Gates is active in this area. Microsoft's general focus when it comes to broadband stimulus questions is that resources should go to "anchor institutions"—libraries, schools, and hospitals...

Maryland hospitals brace for e-health data projects - Baltimore Business Journal:

The chief information officer at Greater Baltimore Medical Center loses sleep over it. The CIO of MedStar Health will have two years — not the typical four — to complete it. And the leading tech guru of the University of Maryland Medical System isn’t looking forward to intruding on doctors’ time with it.

It’s the massive, multimillion-dollar project many Greater Baltimore hospitals are undertaking now — the installation of costly electronic medical record systems, known in the industry as EMRs. When complete, hospital executives want their doctors to be able to store all patient information online — part of the larger push by federal and state health care leaders to move to a digital health care record-keeping system...

Mobile broadband drives Leap's 3Q net adds - FierceBroadbandWireless

Leap Wireless said mobile broadband customers are expected to make up a larger share of Leap's overall customer base over time as the flat-rate operator's mobile broadband business grows rapidly.

Leap added 116,000 net new customers in the third quarter, which included 97,000 net broadband subscriber additions. Leap recently introduced a $50 prepaid broadband plan with a data limit of 10 GB and also expanded its distribution efforts into a number of big-box retailers...

States hard on trail of online sales taxes

If you buy Christmas gifts online this year, you may be saving money on your end, but you might also be costing the state treasury its fair share of sales tax revenue.

State revenue departments across the country have complained for years that big online retailers aren't remitting their share of sales taxes. At stake are the hundreds of millions of dollars that Pennsylvania and other states are losing when a shopper buys a CD, book or television online, instead of in a bricks-and-mortar store...

Ohio consumer advocate backs telecom merger

Frontier Communications Corp. and Verizon Communications, Inc., have filed a merger agreement that the state's consumer-utility advocate says should improve residential customers' access to broadband and service quality.

The agreement was filed by the two companies, the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel and the staff of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The approval of the PUCO commissioners is needed...

For viral crooks, social networks are prime targets - NYTimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO — It used to be that computer viruses attacked only your hard drive. Now they attack your dignity.

Malicious programs are rampaging through Web sites like Facebook and Twitter, spreading themselves by taking over people’s accounts and sending out messages to all of their friends and followers. The result is that people are inadvertently telling their co-workers and loved ones how to raise their I.Q.’s or make money instantly, or urging them to watch an awesome new video in which they star...

Budget void means late tax refunds | Columbus Dispatch Politics

The ongoing state budget stalemate will temporarily keep millions of dollars out of the pockets of Ohio taxpayers.

No budget deal means state income-tax booklets can't be printed. Not printing and distributing the forms means that Ohioans filing by paper won't be able to get the refunds due them until weeks later than normal...

Site diverts shopping money to charities - NYTimes.com

A new Web site lets people donate to charity the money they would have spent on, say, that $44.50 Henley sweater from the Gap — or, better yet, the $250,000 his-and-hers ICON aircraft that Neiman Marcus is selling this year.

BRAC USA, the American arm of a Bangladeshi development and aid organization, started the site, www.whatididnotbuy.org, on Thursday...

Authors and publishers argue over digital rights to older books - NYTimes.com

William Styron may have been one of the leading literary lions of recent decades, but his books are not selling much these days. Now his family has a plan to lure digital-age readers with e-book versions of titles like “Sophie’s Choice,” “The Confessions of Nat Turner” and Mr. Styron’s memoir of depression, “Darkness Visible.”

But the question of exactly who owns the electronic rights to such older titles is in dispute, making it a rising source of conflict in one of the publishing industry’s last remaining areas of growth...

Bloggers share their tips for frugal living -- latimes.com

They are the Web's "frugalati" -- bloggers who make cheap look chic. Some have always been thrifty. Others are reformed spendthrifts. We asked them to share key insights and tips for turning it all around...

We should count all bandwidth equally - Up and down

One of my biggest pet peeves in broadband debates is the over-emphasis on download speeds and the lack of sufficient attention being paid to upload speeds.

When talking about bandwidth goals, they're download first, upload second. When providers are advertising the capacity of their networks, it's the download number in big font, with upload hidden elsewhere. Often times this devolves into people referring to broadband only based on its download capacity.

Fewer than half of Blacks and Hispanics say they use the Internet regularly

Fewer than half of African Americans and Hispanics use the Internet regularly, although they believe that Internet access can provide critical information about jobs, health and families. A survey of 900 black and Hispanic adults shows that while the digital divide of the 1990s may have receded, significant differences in usage remain.

The survey results by pollster Cornell Belcher were disclosed Thursday at the Broadband Symposium of the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) in Washington. Belcher, who won national attention for his work on behalf of then-candidate Barack Obama, questioned minority adults nationwide about their views of the Internet. One in five respondents rated Internet speed as more important than free access in expanding access to the Web, a finding that’s good news for David Sutphen, co-chairman of the IIA, which supports universal broadband access to the Web for underserved communities...

Telecom status update: Cautiously optimistic - FierceTelecom

To a corporate executive, there can't be two more comforting words in the English language than "cautiously optimistic." If things turn out well, you get to have retroactive dibs on foresight, and if they turn out poorly, well, you never promised anyone a rose garden.

Perhaps that's why the phrase is used so often. Just within the last few days it described the feelings of major airlines, business leaders in Charlotte, N.C., a number of retailers, the U.N., and a high school girls basketball coach in the Philadelphia area, among many others...

AT&T wrestles with iPhone usage fees - InternetNews.com

AT&T said the company needs to "educate the customer" on data usage, particularly in New York and San Francisco, where just three percent of smartphone users are consuming up to 40 percent of the network capacity, according to Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.

Speaking at a UBS investors conference in New York this week, de la Vega said the most high-bandwidth activity is video and audio streaming. This includes applications on Apple's (NASDAQ: APPL) iPhone that provide nonstop Internet radio...

Britain to go forward with broadband tax - BusinessWeek

A tax to pay for next-generation broadband in the UK is expected to pass into law next year.

The tax, known as the Next Generation Levy, will see every home with a landline charged 50p per month to fund the rollout of superfast broadband...

Tension grows as publishers target Amazon Kindle pricing - USATODAY.com

NEW YORK — E-readers, those thin, portable devices that can hold the texts of hundreds of books and newspapers, were supposed to be a feel-good story for consumers this holiday season.

Amazon(AMZN) dropped the price of its Kindle — which dominates the market — by about $40 to $260 as competitors introduced comparably priced alternatives. There also are Barnes & Noble's Nook, an expanded line of Sony Reader models and others from companies including Irex, Spring Design, Netronix and iRiver...

Looking back on broadband trends in 2009 - FierceBroadbandWireless

Early in 2009 we wrote an article looking at what we thought would be the top wireless trends of 2009. It is time to review our top ten list to see how well our bets were placed.

We think that 2009 has proven to be a particularly formative year...

At long last, court records go online - Business First of Columbus:

A nearly decade-long effort to make court records available to the public over the Internet turned the corner this month when the Franklin County Clerk of Courts office rolled out a system for viewing filings online.

The debut marked another step in an effort that eventually will archive records online to 2003, and will allow lawsuits to be filed over the Web. The system is designed to be integrated with a countywide electronic records network that is expected to enable a range of business with multiple county offices to be conducted online...

Facebook friendship? It’s complicated for judges and lawyers - NYTimes.com

Judges and lawyers in Florida can no longer be Facebook friends.

In a recent opinion, the state’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee decided it was time to set limits on judicial behavior online. When judges “friend” lawyers who may appear before them, the committee said, it creates the appearance of a conflict of interest, since it “reasonably conveys to others the impression that these lawyer ‘friends’ are in a special position to influence the judge...”

Lack of broadband creates digital divide – Part 1 | Internet Provider Directory

For students at Ohio University, high-speed Internet access seems ubiquitous. From the dorms to computer labs and even through wireless access on College Green, students are able to connect wherever and whenever they want.

But in reality, there is a gap — the digital divide — between people who have access to the Internet and people who do not. Just as cell phone service gets spotty as one drives into the hills around Athens, so does Internet access. And without Internet access, people in rural Athens County are isolated not only from the rest of region, but also from educational and business opportunities...

Read it and weep: Ephrata ISP hits 114 Mbps, $45 per month | Seattle Times Newspaper

Grant County's smoking fiber broadband network is once again kicking sand in Seattle's face. Actually in the face of most every ISP in the world.

The public utility district has been tweaking its network to the point average download speeds in Ephrata are now 114.49 megabits per second, giving the town the fastest Internet service in North America and perhaps the world...

Does Apple need to refresh iTunes? Probably | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

Apple’s purchase of streaming music service Lala reportedly represents a shift in the company’s iTunes strategy. The aim: Make iTunes more Web friendly.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is looking to give consumers more ways to access and manage iTunes without a download of the software...

AT&T launches Max Turbo DSL offering 24 Mbps | Telecompetitor

AT&T announced the launch of Max Turbo, their latest and fastest DSL broadband tier. Max Turbo offers 24 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream. The new tier is currently available in AT&T’s Austin, San Antonio and St. Louis markets, with plans to roll it out in others.

The new tier is priced at $65/month. AT&T is obviously responding to its cable competitors who offer faster speeds, significantly so in some markets, than their DSL infrastructure allows...

Putting the OTT video threat into context | Telecompetitor

The over-the-top video threat, in which consumers bypass local video service providers (cable, IPTV, and DBS) for Internet based content, is well documented. Service providers fear their significant investment in broadband networks that deliver subscription based video services is at risk if enough consumers cut the video cord in favor of these ‘free’ Internet content offerings.

When studying this issue, it is important to put it into context. Nielsen recently released some interesting data with their A2/M2™ Three Screen Report. Probably the most glaring finding of this report is that 99% of all video viewing in the U.S. still happens on a traditional television. That finding seems to suggest that subscription video services are far from any immediate danger of bypass...

Bandwidth hogs are real, they're just misunderstood

The term "bandwidth hogs" has been much debated in broadband policy circles over the last couple of years. Most recently, Benoit Felten, someone who I respect tremendously as a clear-thinking industry expert, has raised the question of whether or not bandwidth hogs are actually a myth.

I wanted to take a moment today to make the case that bandwidth hogs do exist, and they in fact represent the heart of the evolutionary transitional period that broadband providers face.

Woods scandal a boon to Internet publications - washingtonpost.com

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Tiger Woods sex scandal has been a boon for online publications, even though it hasn't generated the same amount of Internet traffic as Michael Jackson's death or President Barack Obama's inauguration.

Provocative remarks by Yahoo Inc. CEO Carol Bartz at an investor conference in New York this week illustrate how major Internet channels and niche publications are benefiting from the Woods controversy...

Broadband & gluttony: We’re fat for a reason

As if it isn’t hard enough maintaining the fashionably not-quite-svelte figure that I do (my wine, potato chip and taquito diet being a little-known secret of the stars, you know), now I find out that there’s a new battle of the bulge – the bulging broadband pipe, that is. You see, I might need to go on a content diet. And you, too.

The average American consumes 34 gigabytes of content per day, and that’s growing, according to a new report from the University of California in San Diego. A full 34 GB, in Web, television, gaming, print, radio ... but most of it is multimedia. Print, for its part, only accounts for 8.61 percent...

Report: All anyone wants for 2010 is bandwidth; and companies are prepping for the demand

Sluggish economy be damned: Unprecedented appetites for bandwidth are pushing infrastructure service providers to invest in their networks. But providers are profiting from those investments and will continue to do so if one venture capital firm’s predictions for 2010 come true: that the demand for faster connections, from businesses and from service providers, will continue to soar.

That’s the forecast from M/C Venture Partners in its recent report on the top 10 communications technology trends for next year. M/C predicts that operators will be forced to offer more powerful bandwidth thanks to wireless broadband on smartphones (the “iPhone effect”), ever-higher Internet transmission speeds and fiber-based data services...

Barnes and Noble’s Nook reader fails to live up to promises - NYTimes.com

The holidays are no joyride. Between the stress, the money and the relatives, no wonder so many people contract Seasonal Depression, Financial-Obligation Migraine and Family Drama Disorder.
And in the electronics business, Greed-Borne Insanity is contagious.

That’s when electronics executives, blinded by dollar signs on their corneas, rush a product to market before it’s ready. (See also: BlackBerry Storm, Christmas 2008.) Well, here comes the hotly awaited Nook from Barnes & Noble: an electronic book reader in the style of the Amazon Kindle...

Social media influencing holiday purchases -- InformationWeek

Social media is beginning to have a strong influence on purchases made by online shoppers, according to the latest comScore poll on online holiday spending.

The online measuring firm found that 28% of the responding online shoppers in its latest poll said social media influenced their shopping decisions. comScore said that holiday spending hit $16 billion for the first 36 days of the November-December shopping season. The figure represented a 3% gain over the similar period in 2008...

1 billion mobile Internet devices seen by 2013 -- InformationWeek

The number of mobile devices accessing the Internet worldwide will surpass 1 billion by 2013, as consumers and businesses take advantage of affordable hardware prices and an abundance of information and services, a market research firm said Wednesday.

The explosion in Internet-enabled devices will coincide with an equally dramatic increase in mobile Internet users worldwide, IDC said. The number of users worldwide will more than double by the end of 2013 from 450 million this year...

Facebook solves 'embarrassing photos problem' -- InformationWeek

Facebook now has a solution for members who want to, say, post pictures of their drunken revelry at a New Year's bash but don't want their bosses looking at them.

The social networking site announced Wednesday that it's implementing a number of changes to its privacy settings in an effort to make it easier for members to control who can see which pieces of information...

Apple tablet eyed for March release -- InformationWeek

Apple tablet speculation heated up in Wednesday, sparked by an analyst's report which said that the long-awaited e-book reader and Web browsing device was likely to arrive in the spring of 2010.

In a note to clients, Oppenheimer tech analyst Yair Reiner quoted supply-chain contacts as saying that Apple appeared to be preparing to begin production of as many as 1 million units a month. Assuming there were no production problems, at that rate Apple would have the inventory it needs to launch the device by March or April...

AT&T hits 2M-customer milestone for U-verse

AT&T said today that it would hit the 2 million mark for customers who subscribe to its U-verse video service, and it also announced its fastest DSL tier to date. Over the course of the last year, AT&T has added 1 million customers to its TV service, which is available across 22 states.

And AT&T’s Max Turbo tier has a download speed of up to 24 Mbps and up to 3 Mbps on the upstream . Previously, the top download speed available on U-Verse was 18 Mbps...

AT&T: Tighter control of cell data usage ahead - USATODAY.com

NEW YORK — Wireless data hogs who jam the airwaves by watching video on their iPhones will be put on tighter leashes, an AT&T executive said Wednesday.

The carrier has had trouble keeping up with wireless data usage, leading to dropped connections and long waits for users trying to run programs on their devices. AT&T is upgrading its network to cope, but its head of consumer services, Ralph de la Vega, told investors at a UBS conference in New York that it will also give high-bandwidth users incentives to "reduce or modify their usage..."

Niche sites going after eBay - WSJ.com

A host of Web start-ups are gaining traction based on the premise that they make it easier for people to buy and sell online than the company that invented the idea: eBay Inc.

Second Rotation Inc.'s Gazelle.com site, which offers people a set price to take used gadgets like iPods and laptops off their hands, last month more than doubled the number of products, to 18,000, that it took in compared with a year earlier...

Federal agencies must post data online, White House says - washingtonpost.com

The White House released a series of wide-ranging mandates Tuesday designed to make agencies more transparent and cooperative in the public's requests for information about the inner workings of government.

Among other things, federal agencies have until the end of January to post three "high-value" data sets on Data.gov, the online home of such government information...

60 million people a month use Facebook Connect - washingtonpost.com

Facebook's Director Development Network Ethan Beard took the stage at the Le Web conference in Paris to talk about the status of Facebook Connect.

Beard's talk focused on the notion of identity as defined by connections ¿ to people, things, places, etc. "We aspire to be a technology that people use to connect to things they care about no matter where they are," he says...

Dell proves that Twitter can be profitable - PC World

Not convinced that you can make money from using Twitter? These numbers from Dell might just change your mind. The computer maker says it has pulled in more than $6.5 million in revenue from its Twitter accounts.

That's only a fraction of the more than $60 billion Dell made in revenue last year, but it proves that the micro-blogging social network can be a moneymaking machine -- even though it has a relatively small user base. Twitter's user base can't compete with that of Facebook, which was at 350 million at the last count, but the 18 million-strong Twitter community is looking like a more lucrative market for companies such as Dell.

Digital publications may be a hard sell - PC World

Five of the largest U.S. newspaper and magazine publishers have announced plans to develop a new digital e-reader format that would meld the visual esthetics of print with the rich capabilities of online media, including video, social networking, touch input, and games. A joint venture of publishing powerhouses Time Inc., News Corp., Conde Nast, Hearst Corp., and Meredith Corp., the project will launch next year.

It's designed to offer a superior user experience to current e-readers such as the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook, which are fine for book-reading but ill-equipped to handle video, high-resolution color images, and other media elements that today's Web-browsing readers take for granted...

A Web of classified ad rivals challenges Craigslist - BusinessWeek

Fabrice Grinda is bullish on Brazil and betting big on Internet classified ads in South America's largest country. This year, Grinda's New York-based company OLX opened an office in São Paulo, hired locals to translate the OLX site into Portuguese, asked top real estate brokers and auto dealers to offer low-priced listings, and recruited an executive from eBay (EBAY) in Latin America.

That approach has worked well for OLX in Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Russia, and a handful of other countries. And in September, OLX became the leading classifieds site in Brazil, surpassing local rival QueBerato in visitors, according to researcher comScore (SCOR). Craigslist, which has come to dominate the U.S. and other markets by charging no fees for most ads, is a distant No. 42 in Brazil, according to comScore. "I would like to think we have a chance to become the Craigslist of the rest of the world," Grinda says...

France launches 'Broadband for All' certification - Telecompaper

The French ministry of the economy has launched the 'Haut Debit Pour Tous ('Broadband for All') certification, an initiative intended to help meet the government's Digital France 2012 objectives of making broadband services available to 100 percent of the population by 2012.

Operators providing broadband service, including equipment, for a maximum of EUR 35 per month to all of the residents of a mainland France departement are entitled to use the label. To qualify, the service must deliver at least 512 kbps downloads and 96 kbps uploads, and can be capped at 2 GB of data transfer per month...

Consumers’ Counsel gains consumer benefits through Frontier-Verizon merger agreement

COLUMBUS, Ohio – December 9, 2009 – Improving residential customers’ access to broadband and service quality are benefits contained in an agreement allowing the merger of Frontier Communications Corp. and Verizon Communications, Inc.

The agreement was filed late yesterday by the two companies, the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) and the staff of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). PUCO commissioners still must approve the agreement...

FCC plans to formalize Internet rules on net neutrality draw fire - USATODAY.com

The Internet has long adhered to one basic principle: Nobody's in charge.

That hallmark owes to the Internet's grand design. It's basically a global confederation of unrelated computers, making it impervious to hurricanes, earthquakes and other disasters. Hackers regularly attack, but can't shut it down. Governments, try as they might, also can't control it. That doesn't mean the Internet is meddle-proof...

John Squires on new digital storefront partnership - Portfolio.com

After weeks of speculation, a consortium of publishers including Time Inc., Hearst, Condé Nast, Meredith, and News Corp. officially announced the formation of a digital storefront. (Portfolio.com is owned by American City Business Journals, a division of Advance Publications, which also owns Condé Nast.)

The group is being overseen by Time Inc. executive vice president John Squires, who will be acting as interim managing director of the still-unnamed venture. There is no exact launch date, but Squires told Portfolio.com he thinks the project will be launched in the coming year. Expect a name at the time of the launch. "As we release our first product, we'll have a name in hand," Squires said this morning...

Text messages - Digital lipstick on the collar - NYTimes.com

There is a question that has crossed the mind recently of anyone who has sent a cellphone text message while cheating on a spouse: What was I thinking?

Text messages are the new lipstick on the collar, the mislaid credit card bill. Instantaneous and seemingly casual, they can be confirmation of a clandestine affair, a record of the not-so-discreet who sometimes forget that everything digital leaves a footprint...

Google teams with Post, N.Y. Times to create online tool - washingtonpost.com

Take the engineering mystique of Google, add the prestige of The Washington Post and New York Times, throw in the spice of secret meetings, and what have you got?

A new online tool that, well, isn't exactly going to revolutionize journalism. But those involved in the partnership between the California software giant and two of the nation's top newspapers see it as a first step toward changing the way news is consumed online...

AOL tries to navigate the Web it helped you find - washingtonpost.com

Before it was AOL, it was America Online, and before it was America Online it was Quantum Computer Services, and before that it was Control Video Corp., selling online services for the Atari. Remember the Atari? Pac-Man? In Internet time, that was basically 10,000 years ago.

Compared with the Googles and Yahoos of the world, AOL's business of offering a gateway to online tools such as e-mail and instant messaging feels just as dated as Atari. Now, after a disastrous $164 billion merger with Time Warner nine years ago, AOL is being spun off Wednesday into its own company, and the new executives running the firm -- the head honcho comes from Google -- are once and for all breaking free from the we'll-hold-your-hand model to get online, instead creating content that users can surf to on their own...

Alicia Keys streams new album on Facebook - washingtonpost.com

Alicia Keys fans will have another reason to compulsively check her Facebook fan page today: Keys is releasing her new album The Element of Freedom exclusively through the world's largest social network. Fans will be able to tune in to her Facebook Fan page beginning today, where they'll be able to stream the album free of charge (though they won't be able to download digitial copies).

The album's "real" release date isn't until December 15. This marks the first time a world-famous artist has debuted their album through the site. Keys is using a new Facebook app from Involver, a company that helps brands connect through social media, to power the launch...

Verizon Business can help Texas state and local governments unleash the power of collaboration

AUSTIN, Texas – December 8, 2009 –

Texas public agencies looking to tap the power and efficiencies of the latest collaboration technologies can now turn to one of the most experienced global providers of unified communications and conferencing services.

Under a new award by the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR), Verizon Business is authorized to provide collaboration services to state agencies, cities, counties and school districts. The Texas Technology-Based Conferencing Products and Related Services contract permits Verizon Business to compete for services ranging from audio, Web and conventional video conferencing, to lifelike immersive video...

Verizon: LTE will offer 5-12 Mbps mobile broadband | Telecompetitor

Verizon is disclosing a lot of information on its pending LTE launch through its LTE Innovation Center website. Perhaps of most interest are the speeds they are promising for their upcoming 2010 LTE launch. Per their website, Verizon “…will be supporting average data rates per user of 5-12 Mbps in the forward link, and 2-5 Mbps in the reverse link.” Personally, 5-12 Mbps is a pretty wide range – I’d like to see a little more clarity, but I digress.

Other Verizon LTE promises of note:

* Coverage – Verizon Wireless will cover 25 to 30 markets in 2010, covering approximately 100M people; and extending to cover our current 3G footprint in 2013...

Watch out, consoles: OnLive streaming games let users play anywhere - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

After seven years in stealth mode, a Palo Alto startup emerged last March with potential to disrupt nearly every aspect of the way games are sold and played. If OnLive Inc. lives up to its promise, users won’t need to leave the house to get the latest version of “Call of Duty” or “Halo” — they’ll just log on to their Macs or PCs and play via a browser plug-in, or turn on the television and play with an OnLive controller.

The user’s games will be played in the cloud. The service itself is still in beta and is expected to emerge in a few months...

Rural broadband won't be solved by profit-maximizing means

The foundation of American broadband policy to date has been that the best way to stimulate deployment is to leave it up to the market, to let private, profit-maximizing companies compete to lower prices, improve service, and expand networks.

While this model may be working in some areas--like those with the choice of Verizon FiOS, Comcast DOCSIS 3.0, and a handful of wireless providers--it isn't working in all areas...

Amazon's Kindle to get audible menus, bigger font - USATODAY.com

SEATTLE — Amazon.com will add two features to the Kindle e-book reader to make the gadget more accessible to blind and vision-impaired users.

Monday's announcement comes a month after Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y., and the University of Wisconsin-Madison said they would not consider widely deploying the device until Amazon makes it easier for blind students to use. Both universities bought some Kindles to test this fall...

Gadgets, computers lead online sales - Washington Business Journal:

Consumer electronics and computer hardware are the big online sellers this holiday shopping season, with both categories posting double-digit gains in sales compared with last year.

Reston-based comScore Inc. said the most popular sellers are e-readers, GPS devices, digital cameras, flat-panel TVs and laptops. Total online sales are also running ahead of last year's pace...

Time Inc News Corp and others try to save their industry with supposed game changers - Portfolio.com

Last week, Time Inc. and its partner, the Wonderfactory, released a video on YouTube imagining what a tablet version of Sports Illustrated might look like.

Narrated by Terry McDonell, editor of the Sports Illustrated Group, the video shows a pair of curiously Sims-like hands touch-navigating through a mock-up of a kinetic, interactive magazine full of video, photography, and text. The user is seen flipping through multiple photos, rearranging the order of features (no more "front of the book"), and customizing his reading experience to suit his preferences...

Google is adding live updates to searches - NYTimes.com

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Unveiling significant changes to its dominant search engine on Monday, Google said it would begin supplementing its search results with the updates posted each second to sites like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

As part of its much-anticipated entrance into the field known as real-time search, Google said that over the next few days its users would begin seeing brand-new tweets, blog items, news articles and social networking updates in results for certain topical searches...

Putting a bar code on places, not just products - NYTimes.com

If you walk past the gift shop of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, or Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles, or Cheeseburger Baby in Miami, the chances are that you will see a sticker in the window that has a Google Maps logo and a one-inch-square with a series of pixelated black-and-white cubes called a QR Code.

In the coming weeks, Google plans to send out 100,000 of these stickers, each with their own QR code, to a new demographic of businesses Google is calling “Favorite Places”. These favorites are based on search results from users interacting with local business listings on Google Maps...

Boxee, a start-up, to offer a device to put web video on TV - NYTimes.com

Boxee, a start-up that is trying to bring the boundless selection of Web video to the living-room television, said on Monday that it would put its software into a set-top box that will go on sale next year.

At an event in New York City, the company announced a partnership with D-Link, a Taiwanese manufacturer of networking equipment, which will make a device that will allow people to browse Internet videos on their TVs. The companies hope to keep the price of the device under $200...

Broadband Works for America

We, the undersignees, believe that high speed Internet adds critical jobs and investment in our economy while providing better health care and education opportunities.

If you’re connected, you can apply for a job online, you can pursue educational opportunities, or start a small business. However, many Americans still are not online, and therefore do not have access to these benefits that broadband Internet affords...

P&G releases online-only product - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

Procter & Gamble unveiled Swash today, a line of on-the-go Tide laundry products to be sold exclusively online.

“Our consumers are shopping, working and playing online, leading to the decision to launch Swash online only,” Swash Brand Manager Alejandro Bethlen said in a news release. “As P&G explores new ways to launch products, we feel that Swash is the perfect test through which we can evaluate e-commerce launches.” Swash products are available on Amazon.com and will be made available on Drugstore.com in the near future...

City looking to better track stolen goods at pawn shops - Business First of Columbus:

Columbus City Council is looking to expand a program that helps police electronically track stolen goods at pawn shops and other businesses. Legislation may be introduced Monday night that will authorize spending $48,991 from the city’s law-enforcement drug seizure fund to expand a contract with Leads Online LLC, a Dallas company that’s contracted with the Department of Public Safety for its investigation software. The online tool has let police monitor stolen goods sent to scrap metal yards.

Columbus official since May have been working with the 11-store Lev’s Pawn Shop chain on a pilot program that uses the Leads Online tool to track items instead of the paperwork pawn shops and similar businesses are required by law to file on every transaction. Expanding the program, the city said, will open up the online reporting software to several other pawn shops and 14 Gamestop stores in Columbus. All those stores have agreed to participate...

Old-line companies turn to social media for marketing - Houston Business Journal:

Publicly traded insurance giant HCC Insurance Holding Inc. has turned to social media to market its products to agents and potential customers.

While the insurance company is typically known for sticking to more low-key advertising and marketing channels, HCC Medical Insurance Services LLC, a unit of Houston-based HCC, has posted a tweet on Twitter targeting health insurance sales agents: “CONTEST!! Health agents – Would you like the chance to be rewarded for offering new products?...”

Citysearch and Twitter team up to offer business tools - NYTimes.com

A new partnership between Citysearch and Twitter offers some clues about what Twitter’s long-awaited paid accounts for businesses might look like.

Citysearch announced on Monday that it will provide the businesses on its site a few tools to help them make use of Twitter — and said that more tools would be coming soon, including some that sound a lot like what Twitter has repeatedly said it will offer businesses for a fee...

Private-sale sites bring luxury goods to bargain shoppers - NYTimes.com

Daniela Busciglio still winces at the memory of shivering in line for hours to get into New York sample sales, then shoving her way through throngs of other shoppers looking for deals on designer clothes.

But now the mobs are moving online, to sites like Gilt, Rue La La, One Kings Lane, Ideeli and HauteLook. On the Web, the shopping is just as competitive, but it is no longer a blood sport...

Government offers data to miners - NYTimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO — A big pile of city crime reports is not all that useful. But what if you could combine that data with information on bars, sidewalks and subway stations to find the safest route home after a night out?

DC Bikes, which shows bike paths in the Washington area, and Stumble Safely, which shows the safest way to get home from bars at night there, were both developed using government data. In Washington, a Web site called Stumble Safely makes that possible. It is one example of the kind of creativity that cities are hoping to mobilize by turning over big chunks of data to programmers and the public...

Cincinnati Bell selects Laszlo’s Webtop

SAN MATEO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Laszlo Systems, a global leader in Rich Internet Application (RIA) software and the original developer of OpenLaszlo, announced that it has entered into an agreement with Cincinnati Bell (NYSE: CBB) for the deployment of Webtop. Under the terms of this agreement, Cincinnati Bell will use the Laszlo Webtop Messaging Suite – a web-based desktop using the latest in Web 2.0 technology – to deliver a customized communications dashboard, pre-built calendar, mail and contacts, visual voicemail, and integrated advertising to their subscriber base.

“We are pleased to work with Laszlo Systems as we move forward with new and innovative Rich Internet Applications,” said Brian Duerring, director of in-bound advertising for Cincinnati Bell. “We recognize the critical relationship between the richness of the user experience and the adoption of our services. Laszlo’s Webtop solution will further differentiate our high-speed Internet service...”

MIT wins Defense Department balloon hunt, a test of social networking savvy - washingtonpost.com

On Saturday, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency set out to learn how quickly people could use online social networks to solve a problem of national scope.

The answer: 8 hours 56 minutes, at least when said problem involves $40,000 and a bunch of red balloons...

MAPTechworks: Video lessons for nonprofits « Blandin on Broadband

Last Thursday I attended the official launch of MAPTechworks – a cool web site where nonprofits can share (via video) their tech stories with those in the same boat. It’s a great idea and a great resource for nonprofits and small businesses. Topics include GIS basics, how to design a web site and everything on backing up.

The idea is to get just-in-time answers to tech questions but also to be able to hear stories from organizations like yours as they increase use of technology. Maybe get a cyber mentor to help guide you through long and short terms decisions. You can learn a little more on the video of the intro below...

Ohio success story | The Columbus Dispatch

The state certainly should renew the Third Frontier program, which helps Ohio's fledgling high-tech industry to blossom and bear fruit, but the pertinent question is: How big should the assistance be?

House Democrats want to double the original bond issue to $1 billion over eight years, while Republicans appear to be leaning toward a Third Frontier renewal at $500 million, the amount of the previous bond issue. A compromise can and should be reached by Feb. 3 to allow the measure to go onto the 2010 primary ballot...

Social networks not just for chatting anymore | lancastereaglegazette.com | Lancaster Eagle Gazette

Social-networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter can help community college students become more engaged in their academics, a recent report from the Center for Community College Student Engagement suggests.

Although large numbers of students say they use such tools in their daily lives, many two-year colleges have yet to mine the potential of the technology...

App store is a game changer for Apple and cellphone industry - NYTimes.com

IAN LYNCH SMITH, a shaggy-haired ball of energy in his late 30s, beams as he ticks off some of the games that Freeverse, his little Brooklyn software company, has landed on the iPhone App Store’s coveted (and ever-changing) list of best-selling downloads: Moto Chaser, Flick Fishing, Flick Bowling and Skee-ball.

“There’s never been anything like this experience for mobile software,” Mr. Smith says of the App Store boom. “This is the future of digital distribution for everything: software, games, entertainment, all kinds of content...”

FCC pushes for Internet access on your TV -- latimes.com

Comcast Corp.'s chief executive, Brian Roberts, was gushing last week about his company's impending takeover of NBC Universal, saying the deal would give consumers what they want, "which is access to all different types of content on different platforms and different times."
That's not the half of it -- but it may not be Comcast in the driver's seat.

If federal regulators have their way, the next big thing on the tech horizon will be a brave new world of Internet-ready, work-with-any-network set-top boxes, offering consumers unprecedented multimedia options through their TVs, not just their computers...

Without ready access to computers, students struggle - washingtonpost.com

Julija Pivoriunaite's heart sinks when one of her teachers at Glasgow Middle School announces that students must go online to do a homework assignment. It happens almost every school day.

The 11-year-old's mind whirls with the complicated and stressful options available to get her assignments done, since her family has no reliable Internet service at home. She could work after classes in her Fairfax County school's computer lab, but it is open just two days a week. The library has free computers, but time online is limited if it's busy. Finding rides is tough...

Online tool helps bust thieves | The Columbus Dispatch

A Columbus police detective sorting through a new online reporting tool noticed that one man had been selling lots of silver jewelry to pawnshops.

He tracked down the guy and discovered that he had been slipping pieces into his pocket at his job at a jewelry-supply company...

Online gambling under renewed scrutiny -- InformationWeek

Congress has begun to grapple with the thorny issue of online gambling and Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has indicated he'll push new legislation that will legalize some forms of online gambling while regulating the practices at the same time.

At Frank's House Financial Services Committee hearing Thursday, supporters and opponents of Internet gaming alternately advocated for and condemned online gambling, which is said to add up to $16 billion a year with most of that figure coming from U.S. bettors...

CIGNA launches healthcare podcasts -- InformationWeek

CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits launched a series of health, wellness, and benefits podcasts on iTunes and on its company Web site.

CIEB provides healthcare benefits to expatriates around the world. The new series of podcasts, also available on the company Web site, is designed to help ease the transition to expatriate life, and prepare expatriates for accessing healthcare in other countries. The podcasts contain practical information on getting ready for overseas assignments...

Beware social media snake oil - BusinessWeek

For business, the rising popularity of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media Web sites presents a tantalizing opportunity. As millions of people flock to these online services to chat, flirt, swap photos, and network, companies have the chance to tune in to billions of digital conversations.

They can pitch a product, listen to customer feedback, or ask for ideas. If they work it right, customers might even produce companies' advertising for them and trade the ads with friends for free. Starbucks (SBUX), Dell (DELL), and Ford Motor (F) have all testified to the magic social media can create...

Post video to eSN.TV--earn national recognition

Thanks to our Student Video Network (SVN) initiative at eSN.TV, your students can earn valuable video-production experience--and a shot at national recognition for their efforts.

eSchool News founded the SVN to give students across North America the chance to experience what it's like to be real news anchors and reporters. Now, beginning this month, students can upload their own videos to eSN.TV for consideration...

Misunderstanding NTIA: The good, the bad, and the uncertain

While I've been critical of NTIA over the course of the stimulus to date, I've had limited opportunities to engage in a direct dialog with them, so my criticisms were really about the perception of what NTIA's doing rather than the reality.

In the last few weeks I've had a couple of opportunities to listen to and speak directly with NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling, and I've come to realize that there have been a number of misunderstandings that I've been perpetuating...

Granville will have Reverse 911 ability in January | The Columbus Dispatch

Granville officials will have a quicker means to notify residents of emergencies and inconveniences such as yesterday's power outage once the village rolls out its communitywide notification system in January.

Village Council Clerk Mollie Prasher said the system will allow staff members to notify residents immediately via phone call, e-mail or text message of problems ranging from severe weather and other villagewide emergencies to those as localized as a water-main break. She said implementing the system was one of the council's goals for the year...

At Sony, a plan to link entertainment and devices - NYTimes.com

TOKYO — Sony’s chief executive, Howard Stringer, has a grand idea: an all-in-one online network that pipes Sony’s films, music, games and other content to its TVs, Walkmans and PlayStation game machines. If only this were 1999.

In an interview on Thursday with reporters, Mr. Stringer promised to put the ailing Sony back on the technology map with its anticipated networked universe, the Sony Online Service, which will combine the company’s digital content and hardware...

Advertising - A big name in tech tries a common touch - NYTimes.com

AS the company that makes the plumbing of the Internet, Cisco Systems rakes in the cash, but it is hardly a top technology brand among consumers, in the way of Apple or Microsoft.

While it specializes in corporate equipment, Cisco does, in fact, sell some consumer gear. The problem is that Cisco’s efforts to hawk such products have been lackluster. (Ever heard of Cisco’s home stereos? Exactly...)

Web-TV divide is back in focus with NBC sale - NYTimes.com

As she prepared her daughter for college, Anne Sweeney insisted that a television be among the dorm room accessories.

“Mom, you don’t understand. I don’t need it,” her 19-year-old responded, saying she could watch whatever she wanted on her computer, at no charge...

Spot 10 balloons, win $40,000 - Digits - WSJ

If you look up and see red weather balloons this weekend, take note. You’ve unwittingly entered into a social experiment.

The Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, launched 10 balloons, each eight feet wide, around the country as part of its “Network Challenge.” The first person or team to locate all of them will win $40,000. Darpa says that the contest is meant to look at how “information spreads and propagates and becomes viral...”

Using the Internet for 'Webtribution' - WSJ.com

Imagine this scenario: Every person you know—each family member, friend, co-worker and casual acquaintance—receives an anonymous email from a stranger making terrible accusations about you.
How would you feel?

Renee Holder knows: "Devastated." Several years ago, Ms. Holder discovered that dozens of her MySpace friends had received an anonymous email calling her a tramp and a home-wrecker...

Case study: Broadband & the digital divide: The new role of public libraries « Knight Center Community Connection

In Northeast Ohio, the Cuyahoga County Public Library System (CCPL) has established a new beachhead for bridging the digital divide. After five years of experimenting with ultra-broadband and integrating it into the library’s menu of services, CCPL is now known across the country as a pace-setting library system and an early innovator in ultra- broadband applications for servicing the public.

For communities all over the country, the public library – often the only agency offering free access to Internet-based services – is playing an increasingly relevant role in helping to bridge the digital divide. The opportunities for impact are profound, however the challenges are numerous: Access to funding and bandwidth are critical ingredients for responding to rising public need and demand, and the ability to effectively track impact remains elusive. Yet for populations across the country, having digital access, or not, may also mean: Acquiring new skills or not. Learning English or not. Applying for a job … or not. In these times of national economic stress, the role of public libraries in the digital-divide equation may be more critical than ever...

Bandwidth, wireless lead list of top 10 trends for 2010

Unprecedented bandwidth demand by consumers and enterprises will drive communications services providers to offer more powerful bandwidth solutions in the coming year, according to M/C Venture Partners. But an equally-important trend is wireless, both in the enterprise and consumer user segments.

Among the key bandwidth developments are 4G Long Term Evolution in the wireless space, DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems that will affect the business broadband business, and 10+ Gbps fiber-based data offerings for enterprises, M/C Venture Partners says...

HSPA: Broadband heir apparent

Just as GSM has enabled two-thirds of the world’s people to make voice calls and exchange text messages, HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) is well on its way to bringing mobile broadband to more than one billion people. Within the next two years, HSPA is set to overtake ADSL to become the world’s leading broadband technology and WI forecasts that by 2013 there will be more than one billion HSPA connections worldwide.

Every month, the number of people worldwide using an HSPA device, such as a smartphone or a laptop, rises by nine million, according to the GSM Association’s research service, Wireless Intelligence (WI)...

Connect on the go with cellular broadband - USATODAY.com

The holidays are here and you're probably out and about more than ever. While there are certainly free Wi-Fi connection spots available at certain airports, cafes and hotels, it's hard to beat the convenience of your own portable Internet connection.

Armed with a cellular data plan and air card, you can hop online wherever there's a cellular connection. It's less expensive than ever. You may even decide to ax your home broadband subscription...

Online shoppers either don't know or care about tax | Columbus Dispatch Politics

Commercial painter Antje Zwink buys supplies for her business online because many out-of-state distributors don't charge her tax.

"There's no reason for me to buy things in stores, where I have to pay taxes, when I can just get them tax-free," Zwink, of Columbus, said as she shopped for clothes at Easton Town Center yesterday. Zwink's purchases aren't really tax-free...

McAfee lists Web's riskiest domains - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

Africa’s Cameroon (.cm) has overthrown Hong Kong (.hk) as the Web’s riskiest domain, according to a report Wednesday.

Santa Clara-based security technology company [CompanyWatch allows you to receive email alerts with stories related to your companies of interest.

You can watch up to ten companies at a time.

] McAfee Inc.'s (NYSE:MFE) third annual Mapping the Mal Web report says that at the opposite end, Japan (.jp) is the safest country domain, landing in the top five safest domains for the second year in a row...

Google restricts free reading on pay news sites - NYTimes.com

Amid criticism from media companies that it unfairly profits from news content, Google is closing a loophole that allowed some motivated newshounds to read large numbers of articles on subscription-based sites without paying for them.

The company’s “First Click Free” program, which publishers of pay sites can choose to participate in, is designed to allow readers to get a taste of a site’s content. For example, someone who finds a Wall Street Journal article through Google News can read it free, but if the reader tries to reach other articles from that page, he or she is asked to buy a subscription...

Comcast, Time Warner to let subscribers view some shows online - washingtonpost.com

Customers of Comcast and Time Warner soon will be able to get their TV service in a new way: on their computers. In an unusual coordinated rollout involving many of the biggest competitors, the cable industry is embarking on a project dubbed TV Everywhere aimed at shoring up its franchises in the Internet age.

The basic idea behind the initiative is this: Customers who pay for basic cable subscriptions will get to watch select shows such as "Entourage" and "Mad Men" for free on desktop computers, mobile phones and any other device approved by their cable provider. The online shows will not be available to non-subscribers...

Mental health social network launched -- InformationWeek

Mental Health Social launched a new social network designed to let people with mental health conditions or those interested in those conditions to connect in a comfortable online environment.

MentalHealthSocial.com is designed to allow people to share experiences anonymously, reach out to others with similar problems, and connect caregivers assisting loved ones facing mental health problems, the Naples, Fla., company said. Colin Spencer Wood, the company president and CEO, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1999...

Ask.com reveals top ten questions of 2009 - InternetNews.com

As part of its positioning as the top Web site to find answers, Ask.com unveiled the top questions of 2009 across several categories. Ask.com said that among its more than 50 million monthly visitors, users are three times as likely to perform a search query in the form of a question than at any other search engine.

As a result, "Ask has unique insight into Americans' attitudes about current events and their culture," Doug Leeds, president of Ask.com U.S., said in a statement. If that's the case, health issues were top of mind for many folks visiting the site. The most asked question of 2009 was "How much should I weigh?..."

Facebook tweaks privacy controls, hits 350M users - InternetNews.com

As it passes another major milestone, social networking giant Facebook is moving once again to overhaul its privacy policies in a bid to give users greater control and understanding about how their information is shared.

In a blog post late Tuesday night, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is abandoning its regional networks, the groupings of users devised by where they live, that had guided the company's approach to privacy...

Some e-readers may become obsolete or lack compatibility - WSJ.com

Books are having their iPod moment this holiday season. But buyer beware: It could also turn out to be an eight-track moment.

While e-reading devices were once considered a hobby for early adopters, Justin Timberlake is now pitching one on prime-time TV commercials for Sony Corp. Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle e-reading device has become its top-selling product of any kind. Forrester Research estimates 900,000 e-readers will sell in the U.S. in November and December...

Squeezing Web sites onto cellphones - WSJ.com

When a group of engineers at National Instruments Corp. modified a 1988 Oldsmobile so it could be controlled by an iPhone, the company was quick to share the project on its online forum for customers.

A spouse "might not care about it, but our community eats it up," said Deidre Walsh, community and social media manager for National Instruments, a supplier of automation and computer measurement tools...

Google allows publishers to strengthen `pay walls' - washingtonpost.com

LONDON -- In a move that could help improve relations between Google Inc. and the media industry, the Internet search company is offering publishers a way to build more solid "pay walls" around their online stories while still appearing in search results.

In an official blog post Tuesday, Google said it will let publishers limit the number of restricted articles that readers can see for free through its search engine...

More shoppers search for coupons online - USATODAY.com

The wobbly economy is contributing to a rush by millions of online shoppers to a decidedly low-tech business: coupons.

The number of people scouring the Internet in search of coupons that they can print and present to retailers, or codes that provide them with discounts on retail sites such as Amazon.com, is up sharply...

Pentagon puts on contest to find 10 red balloons across U.S. - NYTimes.com

The prize is $40,000, and it goes to the first person or group to determine the locations of 10 red balloons that can be anywhere in the continental United States.

The apparent frivolity of the challenge is only on the surface. This is not a game invented by some eccentric Web Midas. The contest, which takes place on Dec. 5, is being sponsored by Darpa, the Pentagon’s research agency...

FCC acts to limit local zoning authority

An FCC ruling on wireless siting applications significantly intrudes upon local zoning authority and could have implications for even further FCC pre-emption over local government authority.

The ruling, issued Nov. 18 on a petition filed by CTIA - The Wireless Association, sets “shot clocks” for local action on wireless siting applications. It requires that counties take no more than 90 days to act on a wireless co-location application or no more than 150 days for all other wireless siting requests...

WiMax: Comcast to add 4G wireless service in Chicago -- chicagotribune.com

Comcast Corp. is expected to launch WiMax wireless service Tuesday in Chicago, joining a lineup of technology heavyweights offering ultrafast broadband speeds.

WiMax is a fourth-generation, or 4G, wireless technology that delivers a faster and more reliable connection than is available through 3G networks. Clearwire Corp., a company created in 2008 by merging the wireless broadband units of Clearwire and Sprint Nextel Corp., set up the WiMax network in Chicago and launched it a month ago. Clearwire and Sprint offer separate services using the same network...

Why the Nook is worth waiting for - PC World Business Center

Amid the back and forth over whether an e-reader is or is not this year's perfect gift, let me settle things once and for all: Just order a Nook and give the recipient another small present with the Nook holiday certificate attached. Yes, the Nook e-reader is the perfect gift for your book-reading friends.

Barnes & Noble says Nooks ($259) ordered now will arrive January 11. Think of it not as a delay, but as a way to extend the joy of Christmas into 2010. Even two weeks late, you will be giving the hottest gift of 2009 that isn't a robotic toy hamster...

FCC Chairman: Broadband supports the troops, creates jobs | Speed Matters – Internet Speed Test

While visiting CentComm in the Middle East, FCC Chairman Julian Genachowski was told, "nothing is improving the morale of our troops as much as broadband access to its benefits."

During remarks at Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, Genachowski used the anecdote to describe all the ways that servicemen and women are benefitting from broadband...

NTCA Survey: rural broadband gaining ground | Speed Matters – Internet Speed Test

Competitive high speed internet access is on the rise in rural communities according to a National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA) survey.

The survey of telecommunications members and small rural communications providers revealed that:

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of rural telco respondents with a fiber deployment strategy intend to offer FTTN (fiber to the node) to more than 75% of their customer base by 2011. Fifty-five percent plan to offer FTTH (fiber to the home) to more than half their customers in that same time frame--more than doubled from just 26% last year...

Ohio AG warns of swine flu computer virus | The Columbus Dispatch

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray warns that a scam playing of fears of the swine flu virus is spreading a computer virus that could lead to identify theft.

Cordray said Tuesday that Ohioans need to beware of bogus e-mails that appear to come from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announcing the launch of a state vaccination program for swine flu...

Broadband teaching gets boost in Idaho schools | Local News | Idaho Statesman

Carol Phillips, a senior at Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, is taking Calculus 2 for both high school and college credit. Her instructor, David Gural, is eight miles away at Eagle High School.

She and three other students gather in a classroom with an aide to watch Gural on a large screen as he teaches the 40 students in his Eagle High class. If Phillips has a question, she can raise her hand and Gural will see it. If he wants to know what his Rocky Mountain students are thinking, he need only ask.

Student-teacher interactions like these - via video conferences over a dedicated broadband network - may become a big part of education in Idaho...

Airspan receives FCC certification for upper "unrestricted" 25 MHz of FCC 3.65 GHz

Airspan Networks Inc. (PINKSHEETS: AIRO), a leading provider of broadband wireless access networks, announced today that it has received FCC Certification for its WiMAX Products to operate over the full 50 MHz of the FCC 3.65 GHz lightly licensed frequency band.

Airspan has received this industry-first FCC certification, allowing U.S. 3.65 GHz operators the use of the upper "unrestricted" 25 MHz, affording them additional capacity, range, flexibility and deployment options...

Mediacom promises ‘Nation’s fastest broadband’ | Telecompetitor

Mediacom has selected Waterloo, Iowa as its launch market for a new DOCSIS 3.0 (D3) powered 105 Mbps broadband service. “That will make it the fastest Internet service in North America,” Lee Grassley, Mediacom’s senior manager of government relations tells WCFCourier.com.

The ‘Ultra 105’ broadband tier will offer 10 Mbps in upload speed. Mediacom also offers a D3 powered 50 Mbps down/5 Mbps up broadband tier. The new tiers are scheduled to be available in late December. No word on pricing yet. Mediacom currently offers a 20 Mbps tier for $59.95/month...

NTCA reports strong broadband activity among telco members | Telecompetitor

NTCA members continue to deploy high speed broadband in their service areas and offer customers an increasingly broad range of telecommunications services, according to the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association’s “2009 Broadband/Internet Availability Survey Report“.

The expanding reach of providers’ fiber networks has translated into greater broadband penetration and customer uptake of broadband services among NTCA’s more than 500 member companies– 53% of survey respondents’ customers are now able to receive broadband service of between 3 and 6 Mbps compared to 46% last year; 39% can receive service in excess of 6 Mbps compared to 25% a year ago. The average customer take rate among respondents was 37%, according to the survey report...

Record traffic expected for 'Cyber Monday' - washingtonpost.com

The post-Thanksgiving shopping marathon continued Monday with nearly 100 million shoppers expected to troll online retailers for bargains on what has become known as Cyber Monday, helping to make the sector one of retailing's few bright spots.

About 700 e-commerce sites offered bargains on Monday in partnership with Shop.org, a trade group that coined the term several years ago after noticing a spike in online sales as Americans returned to the office -- and its high-speed Internet connections -- after the Black Friday weekend. The group said it anticipated 96.5 million shoppers to log on Monday, which would be a record...