Online courses can reduce the costly sting of college - washingtonpost.com

Inessa Volkonidina had taken precalculus once and dropped it. She needed to take it again, and quickly, to fulfill a graduation requirement at Long Island University. She went online and found a company with an odd name, StraighterLine, that offered the course on even odder terms: $99 a month.

She thought it might be a scam. But StraighterLine, based in Alexandria, is a serious education company and a force that could disrupt half a millennium of higher-education tradition. The site offers students as many general-education courses as they care to take for a flat monthly fee, plus $39 per course. As college tuitions go, it is more on the scale of a cable bill...

California DMV app helps iPhone users avoid long lines

Mark Tyler, who works for the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), knows better than to wait in the long, congested lines spilling from the agency's field offices. He said he only makes appointments.

But Tyler is also responsible for thrusting the DMV into the world of mobile technology with a new application that can help iPhone owners steer clear of the longest lines.

"Nobody wants to stand in line at the DMV," said Jan Mendoza, public information officer for DMV, adding that she believes the new "DMV Now" iPhone app unveiled this month is the only one of its kind in the country. "We're trying to make it known that we have other options for folks. If you're out and about, you can now go through your iPhone..."

E-lessons might be in session if school's not | Columbus Dispatch Politics

Future snow days might not be quite as much fun for Ohio students. With unusual snowfall forcing several school districts to burn through their five allotted calamity days this year, some state lawmakers are working to make it easier for districts in the future to make up the missed days through online lessons.

Under the bipartisan bill, when a district cancels school, it could immediately post lessons to its Web site for each grade level or class, allowing students to download the material and turn in the work within two weeks...

'Up to' claims for Internet connection speeds next to worthless - latimes.com

When it comes to high-speed Internet access, are you getting what you pay for? Venice resident Mike Mlikotin wanted to know what he was really being offered after Verizon Communications Inc. included a pitch for its broadband service in his most recent phone bill. It said that Mlikotin, 75, could lock in a lifetime rate of as low as $19.99 a month for an online speed of up to 1 megabit per second -- not the fastest clip you'll find on the Net, but plenty fast for most people. At that speed, it would take just a few seconds to download the equivalent of a short novel.

"It seemed like a very good deal," Mlikotin told me. "No more rate increases -- ever. I liked the sound of that."
But when Mlikotin called Verizon about the offer, he wanted a little clarification about that "up to 1 megabit per second" rate. "If that's as much as it can be," he asked, "what's the usual speed?"...

FCC wants broadband public safety network -- mobile broadband -- InformationWeek

The Federal Communication Commission's National Broadband Plan will contain proposals for the creation of a nationwide interoperable wireless broadband network for public safety, according to a briefing Thursday by FCC chairman Julius Genachowski.

Efforts to fix the country's patchwork public safety networks have been advocated since problems in the networks surfaced in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and in Hurricane Katrina...

TV ratings rise, maybe with Internet’s help - NYTimes.com

Remember when the Internet was supposed to kill off television?

That hasn’t been the case lately, judging by the record television ratings for big-ticket events. The Vancouver Olympics are shaping up to be the most-watched foreign Winter Games since 1994. This year’s Super Bowl was the most-watched program in United States history, beating out the final episode of “M*A*S*H” in 1983. Awards shows like the Grammys are attracting their biggest audiences in years...

Germantown teenager creates search engine to help a family member and charities - washingtonpost.com

Sunmee Huh does not want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates. When she created the search engine Good50, her intention was not to strike it rich or create an Internet phenomenon like Facebook, which Zuckerberg founded. Hugh has little interest in pursuing computer science as a career.

All she wanted to do was help her family. The soft-spoken Richard Montgomery High School junior saw the difficulties her 82-year-old grandfather, Sam Auh, a stroke survivor, endured when using the Web...

One third of U.S. lacks broadband -- Broadband -- InformationWeek

A third of U.S. adults, or 80 million people, do not have access to high-speed Internet at home, hampering the nation's ability to compete abroad and to create jobs, the Federal Communications Commission reported.

One of the main reasons for not having broadband is the cost of the monthly fee, installation, and a computer, according to the FCC's National Broadband Plan Consumer Survey, released Tuesday. Another key reason is the households lacked the digital skills to take advantage of the technology...

1 In 4 TVs Internet connected -- Internet TV -- InformationWeek

More than a quarter of all televisions sold in January in the United States were connected to the Internet, an indication of the growing popularity of online video entertainment, a market research firm says.

A survey of 800 consumers found that 27.5% had connected their new TVs to the Web, either through the internal capabilities of their sets or via an external device, such as a digital video box or game console, iSuppli said. The finding shows that people want to view Internet content on their TV, rather than the smaller screen of a desktop or laptop...

Brookings looks at broadband around the world

The Brookings Institute recently released a comparative study of broadband deployment, adoption and policy around the world. The research offers suggestions to the US Government…

The United States should have three goals: 1) raising the household broadband adoption rate to 90 percent by 2020, 2) aiming for 100 Mbps of speed (similar to Australia and Finland) in order to facilitate new applications in education, health care, smart energy grids, public safety, video streaming and high definition television, games, video conferencing, civic engagement, and electronic government, and 3) improving data collection on broadband speeds and availability so consumers know what speeds they are paying for and policymakers have better adoption and availability information on which to base policy decisions...

VeriSign debuts online seal of buying safety - InternetNews.com

How do you know that the site you're visiting isn't infected with malware? VeriSign is trying to make the answer easier for users to know with the introduction of its new VeriSign Trust Seal.

As part of the Trust Seal service, VeriSign will scan a Web site to ensure that it is free from malware and then enable the site's operator to display the Trust Seal as a trust mark for users...

Obama’s speech to the Business Roundtable - Washington Wire - WSJ

President Barack Obama told the Business Roundtable that government and the private sector, Republicans and Democrats must drop the rhetoric and work together. The goal, he said, is “to build an economy where we borrow less and produce more. We need an economy where we generate more jobs here at home and send more products overseas. We need to invest and nurture the industries of the future, and we need to train our workers to compete for those jobs.”

The White House transcript of the president’s speech follows...

Ohio fares well in tracking dangerous nurses, report shows

COLUMBUS, Ohio - While some states have failed to adequately report disciplinary actions against health professionals to a federal database, Ohio is one of 18 that do that and more by providing both free online license verification and free disciplinary documents online, a report by a public interest group says.

In a report by ProPublica, a Web site dedicated to journalism in the pubic interest, that analyzed the different processes states use to investigate and discipline nurses, which ones allow the public to verify a nurse's license or provide Web access to disciplinary documents, Ohio earned high marks for using technology to both inform the public and give it access to public records related to Ohio's approximately 230,000 licensed nurses, and the hundreds who every two months find themselves guilty of one violation or another of state law or administrative rules...

Colleges test Amazon's Kindle e-book reader as study tool - USATODAY.com

Even before Apple announced the iPad, higher-education technologists predicted that e-book readers were on the brink of becoming a common accessory among college students; last fall, two-thirds of campus CIOs said they believed e-readers would become an "important platform for instructional resources" within five years, according to the Campus Computing Project.

Now, as several major universities finish analyzing data from pilot programs involving the latest version of the Amazon Kindle, officials are learning more about what students want out of their e-reader tablets. Generally, the colleges found that students missed some of the old-fashioned note-taking tools they enjoyed before. But they also noted that the shift had some key environmental benefits. Further, a minority of students embraced the Kindle fairly quickly as highly desirable for curricular use...

AT&T calls on House committee to act on regulatory reform bill - Business First of Columbus:

AT&T Ohio President Tom Pelto is antsy over a telecommunications regulatory reform bill that has sat in an Ohio House committee for two months.

AT&T and other local telephone carriers see the legislation – Senate Bill 162 – leveling the competition against less-regulated wireless and cable providers that have snatched away chunks of their customer bases. Approved in a 29-3 vote by the state Senate in mid-December, the legislation continues to undergo review in the House’s Public Utilities Committee...

Over 150 Million Smartbooks by 2015 - InternetNews.com

The smartbooks are coming, the smartbooks are coming.

And boy are they ever. ABI Research is forecasting 163 million smartbooks will ship by 2015, but don't think of this as a whole new category of device spawned by, for example, Apple's forthcoming iPad. The research firm said its smartbook forecast report includes devices across several established categories, including netbooks, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), tablets and e-books...

FCC survey shows need to teach broadband basics - Nation Wire - SunHerald.com

WASHINGTON -- The government's plan to provide fast Internet connections to all Americans will have to include some basic instruction in Web 101, according to a new survey of Internet users and non-users.

The Federal Communications Commission's first-ever survey on Internet usage and attitudes concludes that those who aren't connected today need to be taught how to navigate the Web, find online information that is valuable to them and avoid hazards such as Internet scams...

Wal-Mart banks on Internet-ready TV market by acquiring VUDU - FierceTelecom

Internet-ready TV sets are arguably still in their nascent stage, but Wal-Mart's move to acquire Silicon Valley-based online video provider VUDU could take the service off the PC and into the consumer's living room. Although financial terms of the deal were not revealed, some reports estimate that Wal-Mart shelled out $100 million for VUDU.

The retailer's purchase of VUDU will likely facilitate greater integration of online video capabilities into HDTV sets and other devices it sells. At the same time, VUDU has resonated with some service providers that aren't interested in building out their own IPTV network, but would like to offer entertainment over their existing broadband network connections. Service providers looking to couple their broadband connections with online video could turn to VUDU, which has already done the heavy lifting of establishing agreements with various TV and Hollywood movie studios...

Detroiters press for real renaissance -- online - USATODAY.com

Online social networks have helped organize political demonstrations, inspired "flash mobs" to perform impromptu street acts and reunited long-lost loves. Can they now help save a city?

In a new twist to urban revitalization, a small group of Detroiters is galvanizing residents to help lift the declining city out of its economic funk via a website and Facebook page...

Librarians closing the broadband gap « Blandin on Broadband

Want to know who is at the far end of the digital divide? Visit a public library and see who is there. Ask them why they’re there. Do they have a computer? Do they have broadband? Are there siblings hogging the one computer? Maybe they don’t understand how to fill out an online job (or medicare) application.

The Pioneer Press ran a nice article about librarians . In it, Susan Nemitz Ramsey County library director outline a few steps that we need to take to seriously address the growing gap...

USA.gov: Video Contest Rules

Take a look around USA.gov and then show us in a creative, entertaining and informative 30 to 90 second video how you use the information you find there to make your life better. The creator of the winning video will receive $2,500. Videos can be uploaded to YouTube for judging beginning Feb. 22, 2010. The deadline for submission is 1 p.m. EST on April 2, 2010.

To enter:

* Create your video following the listed requirements and upload it to the USA.gov contest group on YouTube.
* Fill out and submit the online entry form...

Classes, homework slid straight to Internet as snow fell - washingtonpost.com

With the record snowfall this winter, classrooms across the Washington area have spent weeks on hiatus. But when classes have been canceled, some teachers have moved their lessons to the Internet and pressed on -- and they've been pleasantly surprised by the results.

At Albert Einstein High School in Kensington, history teacher Patricia Lynch Carballo looked out the window as the blizzard was about to hit earlier this month and knew she had to do something. Students around the world will take the International Baccalaureate's standardized history exam on the same day in May, and there's no chance for a change. So she told her students to keep doing their reading, posted quizzes online and led an online discussion via a virtual bulletin board. Many other teachers across the Washington area tried similar tactics...

Editorial: Healthy development | The Columbus Dispatch

A federal grant to help build a statewide health-information exchange will help bring the medical-records part of health care into the 21st century.

News that the Ohio Health Information Partnership will receive two grants totaling $43.3 million, matched by about $8 million in state funds, puts the state closer to the day when doctors, hospitals and other medical-care providers will have easy access to the medical histories of the patients in front of them...

Drone pilots have a front-row seat on war, from half a world away - latimes.com

Reporting from Creech Air Force Base, Nev. - From his apartment in Las Vegas, Sam Nelson drove to work through the desert along wind-whipped Highway 95 toward Indian Springs. Along the way, he tuned in to XM radio and tried to put aside the distractions of daily life -- bills, rent, laundry -- and get ready for work.

Nelson, an Air Force captain, was heading for his day shift on a new kind of job, one that could require him to kill another human being 7,500 miles away...

Historical marker info goes mobile | The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio history? There's an app for that.

The Ohio Historical Society is the latest to jump on the iTunes bandwagon by teaming with eTech Ohio and the Ohio Channel to create an application for iPhone users...

Most of broadband stimulus funds went to vendors in first grant round

Before the federal government announced the winners of broadband stimulus awards in December 2009, conventional wisdom suggested government-run projects would capture most of the money. Stimulus applications from vendors, in this scenario, would face lower priority. The awardees were publicized, and all middle-mile and last-mile grants went to small telecommunications companies.

This gave private vendors roughly a $173 million share of the money. Compare that to the $9.7 million governments got for public computing center expansions and broadband adoption programs. Large vendors didn't apply because they found the eligibility requirements too onerous...

Online universities are a great study - BusinessWeek

In an ideal world, with unlimited funds, all students would have access to the best educational systems we could design. But our world is not perfect. And our traditional model for undergraduate education costs too much and delivers too little. Over the past 25 years, higher education costs, at our more modest institutions as well as at elite schools, have been skyrocketing. And many question whether the majority of today’s graduates are well prepared for the world of the future.

The challenge is to create new educational models that provide a high-quality education affordable for as many students as possible. Hybrid or blended learning, combining sophisticated online learning with face-to-face student/faculty interaction, is one promising method. Built on the latest research on how people learn, such "high-tech, high-touch" programs work. A 2009 Education Dept. meta-analysis showed that students learned more in hybrid programs than they did either in those delivered online or in the traditional classroom. And hybrid instruction can be delivered at considerably less cost...

Entrepreneurs use Web to move unsold tickets to plays, concerts, games | The Columbus Dispatch

Airlines and hotels offer last-minute deals at deep discounts. Now theaters and sports venues in Columbus can do it, too.

A new Columbus-based Internet company, TiXiT, is linking sports, music and theater promoters stuck with unsold tickets and consumers who are looking for a last-minute bargain...

Editorial: Telecommute in dispute | The Columbus Dispatch

State Auditor Mary Taylor's routine of working most days from an office in Canton, near her hometown of Green, instead of in Columbus is not by itself reason for criticism.

Because she is in Columbus only one or two days a week, political opponents call Taylor an "absentee auditor." But they are ignoring both the prevalence of telecommuting today and the nature of the state auditor's work...

FCC lets schools receiving federal money for Internet connections give general public access

Schools with fed funds can give public Web access

WASHINGTON — Schools that receive federal funding for their Internet connections may now allow the public to use those connections outside school hours.

The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to let schools that get money from the federal E-Rate program offer community members use of their Internet connections...

Computer jargon baffles users, hinders security - washingtonpost.com

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Computer jargon, a "tick box" culture and unimaginative advertising are discouraging Internet users from learning how to protect themselves online.

Faced with such gobbledegook, many of the world's nearly 2 billion Internet users conclude that security is for "experts" and fail to take responsibility for the security of their own patch of cyberspace -- a potentially costly mistake...

Cloud Leverage offers cheap online storage - InternetNews.com

A new cloud data storage company came out of stealth mode this week, promising enterprise-class online storage a for a nickel a gigabyte per month with no data transfer or bandwidth charges.

Asked how Cloud Leverage can afford to offer enterprise-class cloud storage for so little, company President and CTO Jonathan Hoppe replied, "Great question. I wish more people would ask other providers why they are charging so much..."

Comcast prepping for national 100M rollout

Comcast is on the verge of rolling out faster data speeds based on DOCSIS 3.0 technology across the country.

Plans include offering a 100 Mbps tier, twice the speed of the top tier offered by Verizon with its FiOS service. The company anticipates that the tier will appeal largely to business users...

Grants to rural areas for broadband expansion

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Rural Utilities Service have announced the availability of $4.8 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants and loans for broadband initiatives, the second funding round for the agencies' stimulus act programs.

Ten (10) U.S. states and 1 U.S. territory will soon launch comprehensive broadband mapping and planning initiatives based on ESRI's geographic information system (GIS) technology. They will use BroadbandStat, an application developed by ESRI and Connected Nation, to organize and display broadband service and related data on the Internet...

Los Angeles making progress with Gmail pilot (Video)

The city of Los Angeles' plan to move all its 30,000 employees to Gmail and Google Apps is on schedule for a mid-June rollout. But first the city is partnering with system integrator CSC on a 60-day pilot that began in January with 3,000 participants...

Lawsuit: U.S. school spied on students via laptops - USATODAY.com

PHILADELPHIA — A suburban Philadelphia school district used school-issued laptop webcams to spy on students at home, potentially catching them and their families in compromising situations, a family claims in a federal lawsuit.

Officials at the school district can activate webcams on the computers without students' knowledge or permission, the lawsuit alleges. Plaintiffs Michael and Holly Robbins suspect the cameras captured students and family members as they undressed and in other embarrassing situations, according to the suit...

Time Warner Cable reaches 9 million residential high-speed data customers - MarketWatch

NEW YORK, Feb 16, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Time Warner Cable today announced that it recently reached 9 million residential high-speed data subscribers. Now more than 62% of Time Warner Cable's customers subscribe to its residential high-speed data service. Time Warner Cable ended 2009 as the 3rd largest ISP in the United States in terms of the total number of residential and commercial broadband subscribers.

"This is a great milestone for Time Warner Cable, and it further proves that our customers enjoy the speed and content our HSD products deliver, as well as the value seen when bundling this service with our video and phone offerings," said Landel Hobbs, COO of Time Warner Cable. "High Speed Data continues to be a growing part of our business and we look to keep adding new features and further enhance speeds as we move through 2010..."

Will telework gain traction after record snowfalls? -- Washington Technology

The back-to-back heavy snows of the past week should put a greater commitment to telework on the government’s front burner, to judge from the comments posted to our coverage. However, as much as federal employees favor the idea, many seem to fear that entrenched opposition will cause any push toward telework to fade as soon as the piles of snow melt.

“Wow, I find it amazing that now after a major incident we can ‘talk’ about it,” wrote Mark Arnold in Maryland. “We've been talking about it for years, with the old farts and dinosaurs fighting against ‘virtual teams’ because they are control freaks. We need to move forward with action not talk, because at least 50 percent of the federal government could have done something during the snow storm...”

Ruckus Wireless lays groundwork for IPO - USATODAY.com

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Ruckus Wireless has a history of reinventing itself in a bruising market behind a fearless leader. Yet CEO Selina Lo momentarily pauses when mulling the company's latest iteration.

The 6-year-old Wi-Fi networking company is inching toward filing S-1 regulatory documents that would allow it to go public in the first half of 2011...

Database strategy propels CoStar Group - washingtonpost.com

Not long ago, in what now seems like the technological Dark Ages, data on commercial properties were scattered among guidebooks on sales and leasing activity, myriad public records and real estate listings.

Back in 1986, while a senior economics student at Princeton University, Andrew Florance saw the potential of aggregating Washington-region data for building owners, real estate agents and banks. His software reduced research time from hours to seconds. Over time, his databases expanded to include details on properties in all 50 states, making his company, CoStar Group, the largest commercial real estate information firm in the United States...

Breaking through the noise of social media - latimes.com

Way back in the 20th century, "buzz" was the je ne sais quoi of the marketing world. Every company wanted it, but few presumed to know how to get it. Back then, corporations generally lobbed their products into the marketplace, bombarded consumers with repetitive messages and sat back and prayed that buzz would magically appear.

That, of course, changed as companies learned how to harness the Internet. And, as social media like MySpace and Facebook emerged, marketing became less of a monologue and more of a multiparty conversation. It suddenly wasn't enough for companies and their spokespersons to speak down to consumers from the mountaintop. The new challenge was how to get consumers to say good things about a product to one another...

Wired Woozees? Startup creates Web-enabled toy potential - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

When ToyBots Inc. debuted its toy called the “Woozee” at last fall’s TechCrunch50 emerging technology conference, the reaction was decidedly mixed. Interesting technology, everyone said, with great possibilities.

But the Woozee itself, a sky-blue wombat with a grating voice, was deemed by some to be creepy — a Teddy Ruxpin on steroids. The toy wasn’t the point. For ToyBots founder Shervin Pishevar, it was all about the platform.

Incubated and then spun out from Pishevar’s Social Gaming Network in Palo Alto, ToyBots is seeking to become the “Internet of things.” The company wants to be a platform that connects toys and other objects with 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS so they can be operated via the Internet or mobile devices...

Why do farmers need broadband? « Blandin on Broadband

I was struck by comments to a recent Star Tribune article about getting broadband to rural areas. Many of those commenting couldn’t see why access to broadband in a rural area would matter to them – or probably more to the point why they should invest in broadband to rural areas – especially why their tax dollars should be used.

The 10th Nebraska Agriculture Technologies Association Conference held at the end of January seemed to offer some answers. I’ll start with my favorite...

The YouTube (r)evolution turns 5 - PCWorld

Founded five years ago, YouTube is now a full-fledged grown-up by Internet standards. Its days as an impulsive startup--replete with a cluttered office located between a pizza parlor and a Japanese restaurant--are long gone; and is incredible growth over the past half-decade has changed how we live, play, and do business.

Within a single year, the overachieving startup rocketed from posting the first YouTube video (founder Jawed Karim talking about elephants at the zoo) to becoming an "independent subsidiary" of Google. Today, the site even has a corporate brand channel, which teaches users how to "advertise with YouTube and plan effective campaigns..."

Mobile devices boost blacks' use of the Internet to that of whites | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

Tamara Vaughn spends hours a day on the Web, Googling random facts and updating her Facebook status.

Until recently, though, all of that typing was done not from a computer connected to a broadband network, but from a high-end cell phone. "The phone works with easier access (to the Web)," said Vaughn, 25. "The laptop? Mainly the screen is just bigger..."

Looking for a date? A site says check the data - NYTimes.com

Looking for love on an online dating service? If you’re a man, don’t smile in your profile picture, and don’t look into the camera. If you’re a woman, skip photos that focus on your physical assets and pick one that shows you vacationing in Brazil or strumming a guitar.

Those are some of the insights that OkCupid, a free dating site based in New York, has gleaned by using statistical tools to analyze how the mating game plays out on its site...

PUCO approves Frontier-Verizon merger

COLUMBUS - The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) today approved the application filed by Frontier Communication Corporation, New Communications Holdings, Inc. (NCH) and Verizon Communications, Inc. seeking PUCO approval of a change in ownership.

The Commission approved the merger after reviewing the application, the evidence and the stipulations filed. In reaching its decision, the Commission considered several issues including transactional synergies and financial considerations, in-state presence, quality of service and competition and wholesale operations. The Commission also considered Frontier's broadband commitment...

Ping - Google’s new approach to courting small businesses - NYTimes.com

JASON COWIE, the owner of Kingpinz Skateboard and Snowboard Shop in Houston, has done a pretty good job of getting his business noticed on the Web. Just type “skateboards in Houston” on a search engine, and his store will be among the first listed.

But one of his sure-fire ways to drive Web visitors and foot traffic — buying search ads on Google — got to be pretty expensive. Mr. Cowie, whose shop is just 1,000 square feet, found himself bidding for placement against deep-pocketed national chains, and having to spend $1,500 to $2,000 a month just to keep up.

Now Mr. Cowie is trying something new: for a flat fee of $25 a month, he is making his listings on Google stand out. Whenever his shop comes up in a search page or on a Google map, it is adorned with a bright yellow tag. The tag links to the Kingpinz Web site, but these enhanced listings, as the ads are called, can also link to a coupon, store directions, a photograph or a video of a business, or, in the case of a restaurant, a menu or reservations page...

Sudden Link digital cable bundles | Simple iPod

Suddenlink is one of the top seven cable broadband operators in America with over 1,300,000 million customers, both residential and commercial. The company offers television, internet and telephone services but simplifies the process by distributing these services through the same connection, offering all three services on the same invoice, and offering a comprehensive support service.

Suddenlink Digital cable offers great content in excellent digital quality, bringing images and sound to life. One drawback though, the coverage area is limited to 19 states including West Virginia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Arkansas and North Carolina...

Google plans to build and test superfast Internet service - USATODAY.com

Google on Wednesday vowed to build and test a rocket-fast Internet service to as many as 500,000 people, positioning the search giant as a potential rival to cable and phone companies.

Google said it intends to build in a few trial communities a fiber-optic network that can transmit 1 gigabit of data per second — fast enough to deliver a high-definition movie in five minutes. Typical cable and phone broadband services transmit 5 megabits per second, which can mean hours for such a download...

Wi-fi turns Arizona bus ride into a rolling study hall - NYTimes.com

VAIL, Ariz. — Students endure hundreds of hours on yellow buses each year getting to and from school in this desert exurb of Tucson, and stir-crazy teenagers break the monotony by teasing, texting, flirting, shouting, climbing (over seats) and sometimes punching (seats or seatmates).

But on this chilly morning, as bus No. 92 rolls down a mountain highway just before dawn, high school students are quiet, typing on laptops...

Elyria wants to be part of high-speed Google Web project | Chronicle-Telegram

ELYRIA — Google wants to launch a pilot program to bring ultra-high-speed broadband networks to cities on a trial basis. Mayor Bill Grace would like Elyria to be one of those cities.

“That’s where the world economy is heading, and anything we can do to advance that infrastructure and possibly lead the curve is where we need to be focusing our attention,” he said. “Since the Elyria Plan 2015, we have talked about finding ways to not only increase the information technology capacity in local government but also for the community.”

Grace said he cannot even watch Google’s online promotional video in his office because the city’s information technology network can best be described as subpar. “I’ll watch it at home,” he said...

Triple play services for Insight Communications customers | eLagaan

Triple play services for Insight Communications customers

New York, USA - North American cable operator selects Nokia Siemens Networks to improve capacity and performance of high-speed broadband, digital cable and phone services
Insight Communications customers will soon enjoy increased bandwidth for triple play services. One of North America’s leading cable operators, Insight Communications is upgrading its network using Nokia Siemens Networks’ optical transport and Metro Ethernet technology to deliver better services, improving the overall experience of its customers.

About Insight Communications
Insight Communications is currently the ninth largest cable operator in the United States with approximately 775,700 customer relationships in the three contiguous states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Insight offers bundled, state-of-the-art video, high-speed Internet and voice telephony services to its customers...

OCC: Consumers should benefit from the Frontier-Verizon merger

COLUMBUS, Ohio – February 11, 2010 – More access to broadband and improved service quality are some of the benefits for Ohio residential customers as a result of the merger between Frontier Communications Corp. and Verizon Communications, Inc., according to Consumers’ Counsel, Janine Migden-Ostrander.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) today approved an agreement filed Dec. 8, 2009 among the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC), the staff of the PUCO and the two companies...

PUCO approves Frontier Communications' acquisition of Verizon local wireline operations - MarketWatch

STAMFORD, Conn., Feb 11, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Frontier Communications Corporation reported today that its pending acquisition of Verizon Communications' local wireline operations in Ohio serving residential and small business customers has been unanimously approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO).

Ohio is the fourth state to approve the transaction. The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada and the Public Service Commission of South Carolina unanimously approved the transaction on Oct. 28, 2009 and unanimous approval by the California Public Utilities Commission was granted on Oct. 29, 2009...

Exalt communications arms broadband stimulus Applicants with Round 2 resources and backhaul alternatives | SYS-CON MEDIA

Exalt Communications, the company that is reinventing microwave backhaul, today made available a new resource for local governments, utilities, service providers and others who plan to apply for $4.8 billion in grants and loans available in Round 2 of the U.S. Government Stimulus Program to develop and expand broadband service. Prospective applicants are invited to visit www.exaltcom.com/stimulus to learn about the application process, the selection criteria that the U.S. Government will use in choosing Round 2 award recipients and the alternatives available from Exalt to support middle-mile and last-mile projects. Round 2 applications must be submitted between February 16 and March 15, 2010.

As explained on the Exalt website, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) are accepting applications for middle-mile and last-mile projects from state and local governments, commercial service providers and other entities. NTIA and RUS are encouraging interested entities to form public-private partnerships, and applications that reflect these partnerships and serve multiple community institutions -- such as community centers, libraries and hospitals -- will receive priority in the selection process...

Billing ‘better broadband’

Demand for innovative services and the corresponding spike in broadband traffic and consumption are changing the way operators define the value of what they sell. We talked to policy control specialist Sandvine’s co-founder, Tom Donnelly, on the shifting economic models at play.

What exactly is this idea of “better broadband?”

Tom Donnelly: We're at an interesting point in our industry, where there is clearly a growing demand for a wider and wider range of services, to the point where we don’t know what the next big thing will be. It wasn’t that long ago that I hadn’t heard of peer-to-peer or social networking or the idea of HD streaming media via something called YouTube. Each of these innovations brings increasingly strong demand for a broadband infrastructure that supports what consumers want with an appropriate quality of experience...

Wireless operators seek the residential network

The launch of e-readers, the Apple iPad and other embedded mobile broadband devices is set to transform the way users access the Web and personal content at home, as demand for innovative services transforms the way we consume media. That means the role of wireless carriers must shift as well.

Even when they’re at home, people increasingly like to use their connected devices over Wi-Fi and 3G networks for mobile entertainment. “The traditional services are voice, SMS and data connectivity or transport,” said Kittur Nagesh, director of service provider marketing at Cisco Systems Inc. “Now, that’s shifting to a world of mobile Internet services – video, cloud services, UC, social networking...”

Free airport Wi-Fi takes off - USATODAY.com

You don't have to be that old, or even a frequent traveler, to remember when it was rare to find an airport equipped with wireless Internet access. Free access was rarer still. But then a few small and midsized early adopters, including airports in Colorado Springs and Long Beach, Calif., began following the lead of Lexington, Ky.'s Blue Grass Airport, which began offering free Wi-Fi (way) back in 2001. Slowly but surely, free airport Wi-Fi began to take off.

Today it's unusual to find a U.S. airport without at least one wireless Internet provider. And there is a steadily increasing number of large and hub airports, including Denver, Pittsburgh and Orlando, where the Wi-Fi is free. "It's almost become a required amenity," says Sea-Tac airport spokesperson Perry Cooper, "Passengers expect it now. Especially in places like Seattle where folks are very tech-savvy. In fact, it's been our number one customer service request for years..."

Google makes a push into super-fast broadband access - washingtonpost.com

Google staked a claim on another corner of the technology universe Wednesday, saying it now wants to turbocharge your Internet connection.

The company said it will begin in certain test markets to offer broadband service capable of delivering bits and bytes at speeds 100 times what most Americans now receive from their cable and telephone companies...

Google's display-ad sales should top $1 billion - BusinessWeek

Google CEO Eric Schmidt hinted in July that display advertising would probably be the next of his company's businesses to generate $1 billion in sales. Analysts say 2010 is the year he'll deliver on that prediction.

Display ads are likely to contribute a little more than $1 billion, or about 4% of Google's (GOOG) total sales this year—an increase of as much 40% over last year—say analysts, including Doug Anmuth at Barclays Capital. That marks an important threshold for Mountain View (Calif.)-based Google, which makes most of its sales from ads placed alongside search results and which has been criticized for not getting more revenue from other businesses. Demand for display ads, which include marketing messages in videos and banner ads adorning Web pages, may rise faster this year than for search-related ads, according to eMarketer. "You have to go somewhere else to get the next legs of growth," says Jim Friedland, an analyst at Cowen & Co...

Google to build its own killer app network - 2010-02-10 17:13:00 | Broadcasting & Cable

Google is getting into the broadband network business, at least on a small scale.

The company has been pushing the FCC to require higher baseline speeds as part of the national broadband plan, but has decided to take the do-it-yourself approach...

Google to launch turbo-speed Internet trials - washingtonpost.com

Google, the world's biggest online search engine, wants to turbocharge your Internet connection.

The company said Wednesday it is getting into the broadband service business with trials for fiber networks that will deliver Internet access speeds that are 100 times faster than what most Americans are getting today...

Tech-savvy 'iGeneration' kids multi-task, connect - USATODAY.com

Move over, Millennials. You're not the younger generation anymore. For the past decade, you were the ones to watch. But now, as the eldest among you are fast approaching 30, there's a new group just begging for some attention. They're still kids, and although there's a lot the experts don't yet know about them, one thing they do agree on is that what kids use and expect from their world has changed rapidly.

And it's all because of technology...

Open Government Dashboard to track agency transparency

The White House launched today what it calls its Open Government Dashboard to keep track of how federal agencies are progressing in their mandates to make information better accessible to the public.

Part progress report, part information guide, the online dashboard was announced in a blog by national chief technology officer Aneesh Chopra and chief information officer Vivek Kundra. The officials launched the dashboard in their attempt to make government information transparent and accessible, an endeavor that President Obama said would lead to efficiencies and greater engagement between the public and agencies...

Bill would bring Internet, e-books to low-income students

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a bill today to expand a federal Internet program to bring e-book readers and residential broadband services to students.

Markey was the author of the original e-rate program, a $2.25 billion annual fund used to finance broadband projects for schools. Since the bill passed in 1996 as part of the Telecom Act, schools wired for Web access rose to 95 percent from 12 percent...

Findings - People share news online that inspires awe, researchers find - NYTimes.com

Sociologists have developed elaborate theories of who spreads gossip and news — who tells whom, who matters most in social networks — but they’ve had less success measuring what kind of information travels fastest. Do people prefer to spread good news or bad news? Would we rather scandalize or enlighten? Which stories do social creatures want to share, and why?

Now some answers are emerging thanks to a rich new source of data: you, Dear Reader...

Cellphone and entertainment fees add up for families - NYTimes.com

John Anderson and Sharon Rapoport estimate they spend $400 a month, or close to $5,000 a year, keeping their family of four entertained at home.

There are the $30-a-month data plans on their BlackBerry Tour cellphones. The Roanoke, Va., couple’s teenage sons, Seth and Isaac, each have $50 subscriptions for Xbox Live and send thousands of texts each month on their cellphones, requiring their own data plans.

DirecTV satellite service, high-speed Internet access and Netflix for movie nights add more...

How should you manage business social online identity - Business News - Portfolio.com

Think about these two statements for a moment: "It was a business dinner,” and “I know them socially.”

Business and social are terms we use to classify events and relationships. However, in the universe of social-networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., these worlds begin to blend together. The question we often hear is: How do we keep our professional and social lives separate? However, the better question may be: “Should we, can we, keep them separate?...”

Chicago company Crowdsources creative design work - Industry News - Portfolio.com

Nestled in a second-floor warehouse space amid meatpacking plants and feet from an elevated train track in Chicago's gritty West Loop, an entrepreneurial company that built its business on creating a novel way for businesses to design materials is launching a new initiative—competitive bidding for promotional copy writing.

What the company, crowdSPRING LLC, is attempting to do is akin to creating an eBay for creative work. The firm bills itself as an online marketplace for graphic and industrial designs. When Barilla needed a new pasta shape and LG needed a phone design, they went to crowdSPRING. And the company has helped hundreds of small businesses buy professional designs, in many cases for hundreds instead of thousands of dollars...

Thanks to telecommuting, snow days are no longer fun - USATODAY.com

WASHINGTON — Faster computers, broadband connections and free public Wi-Fi are taking the fun out of snow days.

The federal government was shut down for the second day in a row Tuesday and many offices were empty in the nation's snowbound capital, but work continued — in homes across the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region. It showed just how seamlessly well-equipped workers can soldier on even through disruptions such as heavy snowstorms...

The second digital divide: Closing the gap on broadband « Black Web 2.0

Over the past ten years, Americans have enthusiastically embraced and adopted broadband Internet. Although we have made significant progress, a real digital divide still exists in the African American community. The Obama Administration’s $7 billion stimulus investment in broadband and technologies like web-enabled smart phones are helping to close this divide, but we must continue to do more to ensure that our community gets connected.

Simply put, broadband has become a critical life tool. Whether it’s looking for a job, managing your finances or healthcare, pursuing a higher education, staying connected to friends, family and community, high-speed Internet is the great enabler and equalizer...

Groupon launches in 3 more cities, now at 35 - Chicago Breaking Business

Groupon launched its shopping Web site in three new markets Monday, bringing the number of cities for the Chicago-based company to 35. The company established its Web site in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., Memphis and Louisville.

Subscribers to the free site receive daily e-mails alerting them to daily deals, which only are activated in a minimum number of people agree to participate in them. The company, which said it plans to be in 80 cities by year's end, said its 2 million subscribers have saved nearly $80 million. ..

Internet use cuts depression among senior citizens

Spending time online reduces depression by 20 percent for senior citizens, the Phoenix Center reports in a new Policy Paper released today. In addition to the quality of life benefits, the Policy Paper said reducing the incidence of depression by widespread Internet use among older Americans could trim the nation's health care bill.

"Maintaining relationships with friends and family at a time in life when mobility becomes increasingly limited is challenging for the elderly," says Phoenix Center Visiting Scholar and study co-author Dr. Sherry G. Ford, an Associate Professor of Communications Studies at University of Montevallo in Alabama. "Increased Internet access and use by senior citizens enables them to connect with sources of social support when face-to-face interaction becomes more difficult..."

PBS Kids' teaches biology in an online game - USATODAY.com

Parents and teachers looking for a way to make learning biology fun for kids can find it in an outstanding free online game called Lifeboat to Mars.

Lifeboat to Mars is a simulation game that kids play while connected to the Internet. The game was produced by Red Hill Studios for PBS Kids Go with support by a grant from the National Science Foundation...

Media Cache - Free vs. paid, Murdoch vs. Rusbridger - NYTimes.com

DATELINE — Welcome to the liveliest fight on Fleet Street. In the blue corner, we have Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of News Corp. In the red corner, Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian. Each wants to knock out the other’s vision of the future of journalism.

On paper, it’s no contest. Mr. Murdoch is the heavyweight champion of the media world; an old-fashioned brawler whose prizes include newspapers like The Sun, The Times of London, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post. Mr. Rusbridger is a relative flyweight, a Harry Potter lookalike who runs a single, modest-size publication. But paper is passé. This battle is over cyberspace, which has a way of leveling the odds. And when Mr. Murdoch or his newspapers are involved, Mr. Rusbridger doesn’t pull his punches...

Challenges lie ahead to bring broadband internet access to rural Nebraska « Finance Business Articles

Are the needs of Nebraska's biggest industry -- agriculture -- being met when it comes to broadband Internet connections? That was one of a number of questions posed by a panel Thursday during a presentation at the Nebraska Agricultural Technologies Association Conference and Trade Show at the Midtown Holiday Inn in Grand Island.

What's at stake, according to the panel, is not only the ability to enhance the competitiveness of Nebraska's farmers and ranchers in a globally connected market but also having a key tool for rural revitalization...

A Shelter from the streets | The Columbus Dispatch

Since 1970, Columbus has had a residential center, Huckleberry House, for young runaways. But she couldn't find a place where homeless youths might regroup during the day, coming and going as they please. "I was horrified," said the associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science. "It's the 15th-largest city in the country, and there's no drop-in center for homeless kids?" At that point, she decided to create one.

Justin James Hardy III, 18, has been homeless since a falling-out with his mother around Christmas. The South Side native has been living Downtown at the Faith Mission on E. Long Street and spending most weekdays at the drop-in center.He views the drop-in center as a lifeline. "I wouldn't have nothing else if it weren't for this place," Hardy said. "It's the environment. It's the computer. I can play spades here; I can go in the kitchen and cook..."

Omnicity agrees to acquire Lightspeed in Ohio pushing its subscriber base over 10,000

RUSHVILLE, Ind., Feb. 4, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Omnicity Corp (OTCBB:OMCY), the Midwest's largest fixed Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP), has agreed with Lightspeed Wireless, DNS, Inc., of Berlin, Ohio, to purchase Lightspeed's central Ohio internet service operation.

This asset purchase of Lightspeed's 41 towers and over 3800 predominantly wireless subscribers will be Omnicity's first cross border acquisition in the state of Ohio and is expected to serve as a cornerstone for Omnicity's growing presence in Ohio. This acquisition will push Omnicity's subscriber base over 10,000, an increase of more than 450% in 1 year since its public listing in February 2009...

No dough for Brown County from ARC

GEORGETOWN - Brown County is not currently on the list to request funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission through the Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission. ARC receives state and federal funding to finance economic development projects.

The county did not receive funding last year and this year’s projects were also not deemed high enough priority to be included in this year’s request for funding. The Brown County Caucus of the OVRDC met Monday, Feb. 1...

Rural Columbiana county going wireless - 21 News Now, More Local News for Youngstown, Ohio -

COLUMBIANA COUNTY, Ohio- An agreement with an Indiana-based company will soon make internet access more available in Columbiana county.

The Columbiana Port Authority will work with Omni-city to provide wireless broadband to rural parts of the county. A $4 million, 260-mile fiber optic network is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year...