Case Western Reserve University kicks off project to bring ultra high-speed Internet access to thousands of nearby homes | cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Case Western Reserve University on Thursday kicked off a project that aims to bring free ultra-high-speed Internet access to thousands of homes in or near University Circle.

The project is an experiment that aims to find out how local communities can benefit from access to Internet speeds about 250 times faster than the average speed currently found in the United States...

Colorado Piloting Health, Education Telepresence -- Cisco -- InformationWeek

The state of Colorado has launched a series of pilot programs to create smart buildings and to implement distance learning and remote healthcare with the aid of telepresence, announced the state and Cisco Systems last week.

One pilot focuses on energy efficiency in towns and cities on the west slope of Colorado's Rocky Mountains, such as Grand Junction, where Cisco will work with Colorado to integrate power, lighting, HVAC, and computer networks across multiple buildings...

Yes, internet bandwidth IS a key driver of economic growth - Trends in the Living Networks

A commenter on my last blog post The latest country comparisons in that key economic driver: broadband speed questioned whether bandwidth does drive economic growth.

While it is easy to take that for granted, there are in fact many studies that have demonstrated this fact. One of the more interesting is a Booz & Co study that compared labor productivity growth over 5 years with bandwidth, titled Digital Highways: The Role of Government in 21st-Century Infrastructure...

In Spain, Internet piracy is part of the culture - latimes.com

Picasso and bullfighting are cultural touchstones in Spain. Now add Internet piracy.

The unauthorized downloading and streaming of movies and television shows from the Web is a growing problem for the entertainment industry around the world. In a few key countries such as Spain, however, it has become an epidemic that is forcing movie studios to consider no longer selling DVDs in the country.

A cavalier attitude toward piracy has made it mainstream behavior in Spain...

Portland Launches Annual Apps Competition

The apps contest craze has officially blazed into Portland, Ore.

Following in the trail of cities including Washington, D.C., and New York City, Portland has launched an open source design contest where innovators use data sets to create applications that address civic issues and benefit the greater Portland community. Developers of the best ideas and apps can win prizes totaling more than $10,000...

Pay stubs for some federal workers going electronic - washingtonpost.com

The federal government will start transmitting pay information for executive branch employees electronically, the Office of Management and Budget announced Monday.

The New Orleans-based National Finance Center, which processes payroll statements for more than 140 offices across the three branches of government, plans to start sending leave and earnings statements to workers electronically, although workers can choose to still receive paper versions, OMB said. The change will save taxpayers about $4 million annually. Workers at the Department of Homeland Security will be the first to see the changes in the coming weeks, followed later by employees at other executive branch departments, including Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs...

Internet and E-Commerce Experienced Massive Growth | Speed Matters – Internet Speed Test

More than 80 million dot-coms and 200 million Web sites have been registered since 1985, according to a report from Speedmatters' partner the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

The report coincides with the 25th anniversary of the first dot-com registration, symbolics.com, on March 18, 1985 and the FCC's release of the National Broadband Plan...

Massillon deploys Motorola’s fiber deep

Massillon Cable will install Motorola’s optical platform, including its SG4000 nodes along with its GX2 optical headend platform.

Masillon’s aim is to reduce the size of subscriber serving areas and drive fiber deeper into the network. The resulting extended capacity will provide the opportunity to expand services, including more high-definition television (HDTV), video on demand and faster Internet speeds, according to the vendor...

AT&T wraps broadband upgrade

AT&T said it now has its 24 Mbps Max Turbo broadband tier available in all 120 of its U-verse TV markets. The company began providing the tier in Austin, San Antonio, and St. Louis in December.

AT&T is charging residential customers $65 a month for the tier when taken in a bundle with AT&T U-verse TV . AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet Max Turbo is available to eligible small business customers for $95 a month...

Wright State to showcase new tech center - Dayton Business Journal:

Wright State University plans to unveil its latest Ohio Center of Excellence next month.

State officials recently recognized the school as a center for Knowledge-Enabled Computing, which revolves around giving meaning to data. Also known as Kno.e.sis, the center is expected to generate $13 million in research in five years.

On April 12, Wright State will hold an invitation-only panel discussion and ceremony that will include officials from LexisNexis, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and the state of Ohio...

ODOT Unveils New Online Technology - News Story - WHIO Dayton

The Ohio Department of Transportation unveiled Friday morning the latest technology that will be available to motorists online.

Officials at ODOT said Dayton motorists will now be able to access current speeds of traffic on I-75, I-70, I-675, US 35, SR 4 and SR49 at www.buckeyetraffic.org...

Libraries offer technology opportunities « Blandin on Broadband

Thanks to Mary Ann Van Cura for sending me the US IMPACT Public Library Study, which studies the use and results of this use in libraries throughout the nation. In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m a former librarian. So I’m predisposed to think they’re great – but now I have a study to back me up. Or as the study reports…

In a world increasingly defined by technology, the public library is one of the widest bridges to the Internet and computers, not only for those who cannot afford their own connection, but for those who find the library is an easier, faster, friendlier, or more effective way to use these tools. In 1996 only 28 percent of libraries had public Internet access, now, thanks in large part to public policy, almost all libraries offer Internet access to patrons.

Who’s online at the library?...

Verizon winds down expensive FiOS expansion - USATODAY.com

NEW YORK — If Verizon Communications hasn't already started wiring your city or town with its FiOS fiber-optic TV and broadband service, chances are you won't get it.

Where it's available, FiOS usually provides the only competition for cable TV apart from satellite service. Studies have shown that its entry into an area leads to lower cable prices, though FiOS itself has not been undercutting cable TV prices substantially...

New York Partners With Microsoft for Free Technology Training

New York announced Friday, March 26, its participation in a nationwide program from Microsoft that gives job seekers and citizens free access to technology skills training, digital literacy education and vouchers for certification exams.

New York is the 14th state to join Microsoft's Elevate America program...

High-Tech Weather Sensors Improve Roadway Safety, Save Taxpayers

After months of harsh winter weather, Missouri transportation officials found a silver lining in the form of the state's 13 new high-tech weather sensors dotting Interstate 44.

For the past few months, the sensors have been providing road crews with instant access to weather conditions so they can better manage their time and make the roads safer for motorists. The sensors, installed roadside, provide data on air and subsurface temperatures, wind speed and direction, precipitation type and intensity, visibility, relative humidity and barometric pressure...

Reputations at stake, companies try to alter word of mouth online - washingtonpost.com

It didn't take long for Julie Liu -- late 20s, smartphone-addicted, constant Googler -- to get hooked on the online review site Yelp. Where to eat Friday night? Read some reviews by random anonymous diners. Oh, that looks good. Book a table online, show up, eat.

But after Liu and her sister opened Scion restaurant in Dupont Circle, they saw Yelp from a different angle. Liu said Yelp's salespeople phoned repeatedly, telling her that if she advertised on the site, negative reviews would move lower on Scion's page and positive reviews would move up...

Passover story goes digital - latimes.com

Thousands of years after Moses led his people out of Egypt, the Passover story is going digital.

At Monday's Seder meal, dozens of families will be reading the traditional tableside ceremony from a Haggadah, a text guiding the Seder, that they have personalized by uploading family photos to replace stock illustrations of Pharaoh and the slaves...

E-Reader Buyer's Guide -- E-Book Readers -- InformationWeek

In case you hadn't noticed, there's a new "next big thing": the e-reader. We know, you're barely over Netbooks and technology is now stuffing some new, shiny bauble in front of your eyes, hoping to hook you by the wallet. Well, that's the way it works.

We first saw e-readers on Star Trek, the original series. Whenever Yeoman Janice Rand handed Captain Kirk something that needed his attention or approval, it wasn't a piece of paper or a clipboard. It was an electronic "slate" with a touchscreen. Kirk read the manifest, communiqué, or top secret correspondence sent by Starfleet, and signed off on it. No muss, no fuss, no paper...

Google's Plan for Super-fast Networks Draws Big Response - PCWorld Business Center

Local governments and residents have until tonight to nominate their communities for consideration in Google's plan to build "ultra-high-speed" fiber networks in some places in the U.S.

Since opening up the nomination process on Feb. 10, Google has received suggestions from more than 600 municipalities and from more than 190,000 individuals, the company said Friday...

Rebates going fast | The Columbus Dispatch

Walter McMasters logged on to Ohio's appliance-rebate Web site at 12:01 a.m. yesterday to reserve a rebate to buy a new dishwasher for his Westerville home. When that didn't work, he tried again at 8:01 a.m. McMasters kept refreshing the Web site page until finally, at 9:30 a.m., he'd gotten his rebate reservation number.

"All I heard was him shouting downstairs to me, 'I got through, I got through,'" his wife, Rita McMasters, said with a laugh as the couple completed their purchase at the Easton area Lowe's. "We came shopping as soon as he got the reservation so we could avoid all the crowds we know are going to be shopping for appliances this weekend..."

Portable Real Estate Listings — but With a Difference - NYTimes.com

Open the mobile phone application offered by a French real estate agency and point your phone at a building along the Champs-Élysées or some other street in Paris. Within seconds, you will see the property’s value per square meter, superimposed over a live image of the building streamed through the phone’s camera.

It depends whom you ask...

Study: Targeted ads worth at least twice as much

ehaviorally-targeted advertising secured an average of 2.68 times as much revenue per ad as non-targeted “run of network” advertising. When consumers click, 6.8 percent of those who click on targeted ads end up buying what’s advertised, compared to 2.8 percent for run-of-network ads.

The study comes out just as Google’s AdWords unit is being reported to be providing new retargeting tools to members of Google’s ad network. Retargeting is a refinement of behavioral advertising in which consumer behavior is tracked, and ads are served based on that behavior, which is to say, based on the sites a consumer visits...

Apple iPad To Come With 30k Free E-books, Report Says - PCWorld

Over 30,000 classic book titles will be available for free in Apple's iBookstore when the iPad arrives on April 3, according to a report from AppAdvice. The e-books will come from Project Gutenberg's free digital library, alongside paid titles from most major publishers.

The volunteer-supported Project Gutenberg, which digitizes literature in the public domain (out of copyright), will bring its library to the iPad for free, according to a photo showing Apple's iBookstore. The e-books will be DRM-free, while paid titles will be wrapped in Apple's FairPlay DRM, as previously reported...

Census Web Site Tracks Participation -- Government IT -- InformationWeek

Though it's not yet possible to send the government census information online, U.S. residents are now able to track participation in the census and find assistance centers through a new site launched by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Through use of the site -- called the "Take 10 Map" the bureau aims to encourage residents of the U.S. to "take 10 minutes" to fill out their census information and mail it in. According to the site, 20 percent of U.S. residents have participated in the census so far...

Cellphone firms see big opportunity in wireless Internet - USATODAY.com

LAS VEGAS — Wireless phone providers are about to broaden the reach of their broadband services and give them a big bump in speed as they salivate over opportunities to connect everything from multimedia smartphones to dog collars.

"You'll see new categories of (mobile Internet) entertainment and multimedia devices that aren't (conventional) phones," Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse said at the CTIA Wireless convention here. "It will change the way we think of wireless..."

No bars at home? AT&T to offer $150 fix - USATODAY.com

NEW YORK — AT&T Inc. wireless subscribers who have poor reception at home will soon be able fix that, for $150.

The carrier said Wednesday that it is rolling out "femtocells," little boxes that work much like Wi-Fi routers, except that they send out cellular signals. When connected to the home's broadband modem, they pick up signals from the cellphones in the home and relay them through the Internet connection. In essence, they're small cell towers for the home...

Google-eyed cities go all-out to win project | The Columbus Dispatch

Cities across the country have gone gaga for Google with crazy glasses, shark tanks and glow sticks.

Today is the deadline for residents and cities to nominate their communities for a free Google test program that would install broadband fiber systems, increasing average residential Internet speeds 100-fold...

Study finds Facebook, Twitter users 'obsessed' - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

About half of Facebook and Twitter users say they check the social networks after they go to bed at night or first thing in the morning, a new report says.

The Retrevo Gadgetology Report titled "Is social media an addiction?" found that about 16 percent of users of these services say it's how they get their "morning news," but that rate rose to 23 percent among owners of Apple Inc.'s iPhone...

U.S. Wireless Carriers Take Different Routes Toward Fast 4G Service - PCWorld

CTIA 2010, Las Vegas--The buzz over new, super-fast 4G networks is louder than ever here at the CTIA 2010 show. Everybody from handset makers to network infrastructure makers to app developers to network testing companies is talking about what they are doing to prepare for or participate in the movement of the entire ecosystem of wireless companies toward fast 4G service.

4G technology differs from 3G service in that it handles all services -- voice, internet access, etc. -- in the same way, as packets of data. 4G also uses different, and better, wireless spectrum than 3G service does, and is capable of providing far better speeds to far more people at the same time...

Telecom giant challenges FCC role in broadband - washingtonpost.com

One of the nation's biggest telecommunications providers urged the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday not to assert its authority over Internet services, a challenge that comes as the agency embarks on a 10-year effort to greatly expand broadband access across the country.

Verizon Communications said that the FCC's power over high-speed Internet services is "at best murky" and offered recommendations to Congress that could take away much of the agency's power...

YouTube your way to college - latimes.com

I say this every year around this time, and here I go again: I'm glad it was more than two decades ago that I applied to college. There are far fewer of us Gen-Xers than there are of the cohort that's now awaiting admissions letters (or e-mails or texts or however the youngsters do it now).

That means that a lot people my age got into colleges that probably wouldn't so much as accept our Facebook friend request today. Moreover, the application package (transcript, test scores, essay, references, $50 fee) was pretty much limited to whatever version of ourselves we could stuff into a 9-by-12 envelope...

Online Social Networks Bridge Gaps for Chronically Ill - NYTimes.com

A former model who is now chronically ill and struggles just to shower says the people she has met online have become her family. A quadriplegic man uses the Web to share tips on which places have the best wheelchair access, and a woman with multiple sclerosis says her regular Friday night online chats are her lifeline.

For many people, social networks are a place for idle chatter about what they made for dinner or sharing cute pictures of their pets. But for people living with chronic diseases or disabilities, they play a more vital role...

Verizon planning customer LTE trials this summer - FierceWireless

LAS VEGAS--Verizon Wireless plans to commence friendly user trials of its LTE network this summer in advance of rolling out commercial services at some point this year, according to Verizon Wireless CTO Tony Melone.

Speaking at FierceWireless' co-located CITA event, The Path to 4G, Melone reiterated the operator's plans to roll out LTE services to 25 to 30 markets in 2010, covering one-third of the U.S. with LTE...

Joe Davidson - Telework cuts federal government's losses during D.C. area snowstorms - washingtonpost.com

If there was a silver lining to the heavy clouds that dumped record amounts of snow on the Washington area this winter, it was the boost the storms gave telework as a way to keep the government running under difficult circumstances.

That boost reverberated Wednesday when a House panel advanced, with a voice vote, legislation that is likely to result in more federal employees getting permission to work at home. Although the bill was around long before the winter storms -- it was introduced a year ago Thursday -- the snows that closed D.C. area federal offices gave the legislation a greater sense of urgency...

Verizon, AT&T, Google Partake of Broadband Speed Race - BusinessWeek

The race to provide ultrafast broadband is on. In May, Cleveland will become a test bed for a service, spearheaded by Case Western Reserve University, that lets residents of more than 100 homes download data at about 1 gigabit per second. In February, Google (GOOG) said it plans an ultra-high-speed broadband network covering as many as 500,000 users.

"The purpose of this project is to experiment and learn," Google said in a blog introducing the idea. "Network providers are making real progress to expand and improve high-speed Internet access, but there's still more to be done." The U.S. government's National Broadband Plan, released on Mar. 16, also urges that speedier broadband be more extensively deployed...

Electronic Files Could Save Paper, Thousands of Dollars in Fayette County, Ky.

In Fayette County, Ky., the days when assistant prosecutors had to lug paper documents through courthouse halls are fading fast. Now, lawyers carry laptops and can access case files immediately and electronically as part of a new paperless project by the county attorney's office, an effort which could save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, according to Fayette County Attorney Larry Roberts.

"We pay 11 cents a page every time we Xerox a piece of paper," Roberts said. "With 300 cases going on at one time every day, there's a lot of paper being printed and thrown out immediately..."

Utah, Los Angeles Share Cloud Computing Tips

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- For government agencies, cloud computing isn't just intriguing; it also should be strongly considered, according to two public-sector decision-makers who recently made the leap, speaking at the Managing Technology conference Wednesday, March 17.

Utah CIO Steve Fletcher and Kevin Crawford, assistant general manager of Los Angeles' Information Technology Agency, answered questions from the public and private sector related to cloud-hosted e-mail and Web applications. With nearly all states grappling with budget cuts, more are looking at using IT differently to save money...

Chicago Streamlines Online Services with $1.8 Million Web Site Makeover

For the past nine years, Chicago residents had to deal with a city Web site that was sluggish and clunky, leaving users with more questions than answers.

But, city officials promised, the new Web site unveiled March 12 will make it easier for residents to pay their city bills and parking tickets online, apply for city licenses, use social media tools and find services even if they don't know which city department offers them...

Chiquita launches online ‘salad tracker’ - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

Buyers of Chiquita Brands International’s Fresh Express salads now will be able to track the origins of the veggies and how they traveled to store shelves, the company said Wednesday.

Fresh Express, Chiquita’s packaged salads unit, launched “Your Salad Story,” a micro-site located here. By entering the “Leaf Locator” code on the outside of the salad package, the customer can find out the region where the seeds were developed and the salad was grown, where it was processed and how it was distributed...

CT Communications Selects Allied Telesis to Deliver Ethernet Broadband Services to Ohio Communities -- SAN JOSE, Calif., March 24 /PRNewswire/ --

Allied Telesis, a global provider of next-generation Ethernet platforms and a leader in the deployment of converged multi-play networks, has been selected by CT Communications, one of Ohio's leading independent telecommunications companies to deploy the next generation broadband network. CT Communications' vision of the future will allow each subscriber the benefit of 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) high-speed access to content such as high-definition video and streaming entertainment from the Internet. The flexibility and scalability of the Allied Telesis iMAP (Intelligent Multiservice Access Platform) Active Ethernet product line allows CT Communications to create custom service bundles and subscriber packages now and in the future.

CT Communications' decision for ultra-high bandwidth Active Ethernet technology comes in advance of comments by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski indicating the new National Broadband Policy will have a goal of 100 Mbps "squared" bandwidth enabling next-generation broadband Internet services. CT communications joins a number of service providers worldwide offering enhanced IP multi-play services using Allied Telesis advanced Ethernet access and fiber gateway products. Allied Telesis currently has more than 275,000 Active Ethernet ports in service...

Sprint Nextel introduces first 4G phone - Kansas City Business Journal:

Sprint Nextel Corp. finally has unveiled the first U.S. phone designed to work with a fourth-generation, or 4G, wireless Internet network.

While presenting at the CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday, the Overland Park-based company (NYSE: S) introduced the long-awaited HTC EVO 4G, an Android-equipped smartphone that can use both Sprint’s existing 3G wireless network and the 4G WiMAX-enabled network it is rolling out across the country in partnership with Clearwire Corp. (Nasdaq: CLWR), based in Kirkland, Wash...

Bill calls for e-book versions of textbooks | Columbus Dispatch Politics

Saying it could save more than 50 percent on the cost of textbooks, some House Democrats want to give Ohio college students the chance to trade in their piles of expensive books for laptops or other electronic readers.

Supporters and the Ohio Board of Regents say the key to such a plan is convincing university faculty members that digital textbooks can work as well as the paper versions. Individual professors are responsible for choosing the textbooks used in their classes...

Sacramento City Council Receives Agendas on Kindles and Netbooks

Distributing meeting agendas to Sacramento City Council members has become less expensive and greener now that members receive agendas electronically on Amazon Kindle e-book readers and netbooks.

Before the switch, the city consumed one ream of paper per day for each council member for all necessary documents, according to Sacramento City Clerk Shirley Concolino. That amount of paper cost $1,500 per year, per council member. In October 2009, Concolino persuaded the Council to mandate that the city work toward becoming 80 percent paperless over the next several years. Concolino said she knew employee satisfaction with the user experience of electronic documents would determine compliance. In January 2010, she purchased a few Kindles and netbooks and offered demonstrations to Council members and their staffers. Enthusiasm for devices grew quickly, she said...

Time Warner Cable serves up customer care via Twitter

Time Warner Cable officially launched a new Online Customer Care Team that uses Twitter and other forms of social media to answer customer service related problems.

Time Warner Cable’s Online Customer Care Team has engaged more than 1,500 customers on Twitter since its soft launch on Feb. 19...

Sprint to bring 4G network to Cleveland, six other cities - Crain's Cleveland Business

Wireless company Sprint said it will expand its fourth-generation network this year to Cleveland and six other markets as part of a strategy to bring what it called a “turbo-charged” mobile Internet experience to customers.

The new markets that will see Sprint 4G this year are Cleveland, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Miami, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City and St. Louis. Earlier this year, Sprint said it planned to launch 4G in Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Houston, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., in 2010...

Illinois launches electronic birth records - Chicago Breaking News

SPRINGFIELD -- Birth records will now be handled electronically in Illinois.

Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Damon Arnold announced Monday the launch of the state's Electronic Birth Registration System within the Division of Vital Records. The department says hospitals will now handle birth records electronically instead of filing paper certificates.

Clearwire upgrades network for faster broadband - Chicago Breaking Business

Clearwire Corp., the telecommunications company that launched 4G mobile broadband service in Chicago last year, said it has started upgrading its network and expects to increase potential speeds by about 20 to 30 percent.

Chicago is one of 27 markets where Clearwire operates its 4G network. Current speeds are comparable to a DSL connection, Clearwire said in a press release, with average mobile download speeds coming in between 3 and 6 megabits per second. Clearwire's network is designed to deliver residential broadband-like speeds even when consumers are accessing the Web from a mobile device and moving around the city. Sprint and Comcast also offer 4G service under their own brands and using Clearwire's network.

DePaul study finds Wi-Fi services boost buses - Chicago Breaking Business

The availability of technology such as WiFi is boosting the growth of low-cost bus services between regional cities, according to a new study by DePaul University's Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development.

"Over the past three years...bus companies -- particularly 'curbside' operators that do not operate from conventional bus stations and typically sell tickets only over the Internet -- have pushed themselves to the forefront of the wireless Internet movement," researchers said in the study...

Digital Domain - Paperless Post Joins Rivals to Evite - NYTimes.com

EVEN before Google became a verb, Evite became a noun.

For Evite’s challengers — and there are many — the most difficult task isn’t surpassing its list of features, but overcoming the entrenched place of “evite” in everyday language. One doesn’t send “online invitations”; one sends evites. And the company says it sends more than 720,000 a day...

Know what's online and in databases about you - USATODAY.com

Ever wonder just how much information about you is contained in corporate databases and on the Internet? Here's a hint. It's much more than you think.

If your telephone number is published, a simple Google search can turn up your home address, phone number and a map to your front door. Everyone knows that. But there are other databases and sites that contain intimate details of your life...

Blog of Rights - Pew Research Center

Last week, in very large numbers, bloggers focused on a subject near and dear to their hearts -- access to the internet.

From March 8-12, the top story in the blogosphere was a BBC survey of more than 27,000 adults worldwide in which four out of five people consider internet access a "fundamental right." Fully 43% of links in blogs were about this story and a related information graphic that mapped the spread of internet access around the world...

How the FCC's new national broadband plan is expected to affect consumers - washingtonpost.com

Among the dozens of policy recommendations in the Federal Communications Commission's national broadband plan, the impact on consumers varies. The following are answers to some of the top questions we've been asked about how the broadband manifesto affects individuals...

Westerville plans 'community data center'

Business leaders packed Westerville City Council chambers last week to hear plans for a national first.

The project, called the Business & Education Innovation Center, will combine a community data center and a business incubator at 60 Collegeview Road. "The biggest challenge is, it's the first community data center in the country," said city Information Systems Director Todd Jackson, who presented the plans at the council work session March 9...

Businesses Still Cool to Telecommuting - InternetNews.com

Despite high costs for maintaining acres of office cubicles and the attendant facilities expenses, many U.S. companies are still skeptical that employees can be as productive working from home as from a regulated office environment, according to a new study.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) commissioned the online survey (available here as PDF), which found a sizable disparity between workers' and managers' viewpoints...

Ohio House passes new version of a bill to partially deregulate the telephone industry | cleveland.com

The Ohio House on Tuesday passed its own version of a bill that would loosen state regulations on landline telephone service. While consumer advocates say the bill offers more benefits for telephone customers than a Senate version passed in December, they still say the legislation would weaken many regulations designed to ensure affordable prices and decent phone service.

Phone companies argue the legislation is needed to create a more level playing field between them and cable and Internet phone providers, which don't face the same state regulations despite offering a nearly identical service...

FCC chairman's broadband goals, in his own words

WASHINGTON (AP) – Since Julius Genachowski became chairman of the Federal Communications Commission last year, his main priority has been overhauling the government's strategy for expanding high-speed Internet access.

Genachowski, who has been an executive and investor in technology companies, argues that people who lack fast Internet connectivity have fewer economic opportunities. He also says the entire nation needs faster access in order to remain competitive with other countries for digital-age jobs and investment...

FCC's broadband plan opens shining new opportunities for Americans | eBay Main Street - Public Policy and Breaking Ecommerce News

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- People the world over love the Internet - and no wonder. It creates opportunities, which in turn creates jobs and wealth.

In the United States alone, technology and communications businesses represent millions of jobs and 13 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. Globally, U.S. companies are the leaders in Internet content and services, computer and communications hardware and software, and the network equipment upon which the entire system runs...

FCC plan would greatly expand broadband Internet connections - washingtonpost.com

The Federal Communications Commission announced on Monday its long-awaited plan to bring broadband Internet connections to every home and business in the United States, part of an ambitious, multibillion-dollar attempt to create a new digital infrastructure for the nation's economy.

The national broadband plan outlines dozens of policy recommendations aimed at raising the portion of people with high-speed Internet connections to 90 percent, from the current 65 percent, over the next decade and significantly increasing the connection speeds of homes with such service...

AT&T wants to give muni-WiFi network back to Riverside, Calif. - FierceBroadbandWireless

AT&T has asked the city of Riverside, Calif., to take back the muni-WiFi network the company, along with MetroWiFi, deployed in May 2007.

The city council must make a decision on the request on March 16. While AT&T wants to give the network back without any compensation, the city must pay for the cost of maintaining the network, which provides free service to the city's residents. The city has been hit hard by the economic crisis and is facing severe budget constraints...

Advertising - Instant Ads Set the Pace on the Web - NYTimes.com

Advertisers have been able to direct online messages based on demographics, income and even location, but one element has been largely missing until recently: immediacy.

Advertisers booked slots in advance, and could not make on-the-fly decisions about what ads to show based on what people were doing on the Web...

Find legitimate work-from-home opportunities online - USATODAY.com

Carol is the proud new mommy of a baby boy. She isn't ready to return to her customer service job, but she needs the income.

Dave is a project manager for an outsourcing company. His company is planning layoffs. He suspects he will soon be unemployed. I hear stories like these every day. Many people are ready to take control of their careers and work independently...

'Dispatch' available on Sony's e-reader | The Columbus Dispatch

The Dispatch and 20 other newspapers and magazines are now being offered for wireless download on the Sony Reader Daily Edition.

The digital content, also available on computers via Sony's Reader Library software, includes significant portions of The Dispatch's content, as well as that of The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, PC Magazine, Foreign Affairs, The Denver Post and San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News...

States Bring Purpose-Driven Social Networking Tools to Schools

Michigan's forthcoming Web-based platform that will help students and their families make college and career connections might initially sound like another Facebook knockoff.

But the state, which purchased the portal for $1.15 million, insists that the Michigan College Access Portal (MiCAP) is not a clone of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or any other popular social media sites. In fact, ConnectEDU, the Boston-based company building the portal, refuses to even call it a social network..

Business Courier of Cincinnati: P&G rolls out laptop experiment

Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Co. is experimenting with a system that allows workers to use their personal laptop computers for work, according to a report in Computerworld.com, a tech news site.

P&G made the decision, according to the report, because many of its younger workers prefer using their own machines...

FCC Plan May Seek Free Broadband -- Broadband -- InformationWeek

The Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan, scheduled to be publically presented to Congress next week, may have something for everyone, but a new intriguing bauble is the suggestion by the FCC that Congress will be asked to "consider use of spectrum for a free or very low cost wireless broadband service."

The comment touched off a wave of speculation. Where will the spectrum come from? Who would be eligible for free broadband? Given that Congress shot down an earlier proposal for free spectrum, what will Congress do with the new proposal?

Google opens Web store for business applications - Chicago Breaking Business

Google Inc. will sell the online services of other business software makers in an effort to fill its own product gaps and persuade more companies to rely on applications piped over the Internet.

The online store that was announced late Tuesday marks another step in Google's crusade to convert the world to "cloud computing," the idea of running applications in Web browsers instead of installing them on individual hard drives. The information entered in the programs also is stored in data centers run by third parties such as Google.
More than 50 software makers have agreed to sell their Internet programs through Google, which will keep 20 percent of the sales. The prices are expected to range from $50 annually to several hundred dollars annually per user...

Franklin County, Ohio Uses Address Verification Software to Collect Millions in Unpaid Taxes

Mailing 435,000 property tax bills is a big enough task with a staff of eight. But two years ago when Phyllis Roberts noticed nearly 14,000 returned bills, the Franklin County (Ohio) Treasurer's Office customer service supervisor knew the department could be more diligent.

"Ultimately it's our job to get that bill to the taxpayer," said Roberts, who blamed most of the returned mail issues on clerical errors and an aging real-estate computer system. "We could type in Timbuktu and it didn't care. If it was a new ZIP code, it wouldn't recognize it..."

Using Computing Might, Google Improves Translation Tool - NYTimes.com

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — In a meeting at Google in 2004, the discussion turned to an e-mail message the company had received from a fan in South Korea. Sergey Brin, a Google founder, ran the message through an automatic translation service that the company had licensed.

The message said Google was a favorite search engine, but the result read: “The sliced raw fish shoes it wishes. Google green onion thing!...”

Wide Web of diversions gets laptops evicted from lecture halls - washingtonpost.com

On a windy morning in downtown Washington, a hundred Georgetown Law students gathered in a hall for David Cole's lecture on democracy and coercion. The desks were cluttered with books, Thermoses and half-eaten muffins.

Another item was noticeable in its absence: laptop computers. They were packed away under chairs, tucked into backpacks, powered down and forgotten.

Cole has banned laptops from his classes, compelling students to take notes the way their parents did: on paper...

Google Debuts Public Data Explorer -- InformationWeek

Google on Monday unveiled a new Google Labs experiment that turns public data sets into interactive charts that can be embedded in Web pages.

Google Public Data Explorer relies on the visualization technology that Google obtained when it acquired Trendalyzer in 2007.

The technology is also used to power Google Chart Tools, an umbrella name for the Google Chart API and the Google Visualization API, which can be used to add charts and graphs to Web sites...

At universities, is better learning a click away? - washingtonpost.com

BOULDER, Colo. -- The students in Michael Dubson's physics class at the University of Colorado fell silent as a multiple choice question flashed on a screen, sending them scrambling for small white devices on their desks.

Within seconds, a monitor on Dubson's desk told him that 92 percent of the class had correctly answered the question on kinetic energy, a sign that they grasped the concept...

Foreclosure prevention program revamps Web site - Dayton Business Journal:

The state’s foreclosure prevention program has given a makeover to its Web site in an effort to easily connect homeowners, lawyers and others with more information.

The revamped Web site for the state’s Save the Dream program at savethedream.ohio.gov groups information specific to a variety of site visitors, including homeowners, renters, attorneys and the media. The site also features a downloadable workbook with information on the foreclosure process, available here...

How Pandora Avoided the Junkyard, and Found Success - NYTimes.com

OAKLAND, Calif. — Tim Westergren recently sat in a Las Vegas penthouse suite, a glass of red wine in one hand and a truffle-infused Kobe beef burger in the other, courtesy of the investment bankers who were throwing a party to court him.

It was a surreal moment for Mr. Westergren, who founded Pandora, the Internet radio station. For most of its 10 years, it has been on the verge of death, struggling to find investors and battling record labels over royalties...

Second Life's virtual money can become real-life cash - washingtonpost.com

Dana Moore sells rain. He sells a lot of it, for about a buck per reusable storm.

"I don't know why people love buying rainstorms," he said, watching his product drizzle last week, "but they do seem to like them a lot..."

The poor don't care about broadband? Of course they do

By now most Ars readers have been saturated with statistical data about broadband adoption in the United States: who has access, who doesn't, where, why, and how we compare with the rest of the world. One of the conundrums with which all these surveys grapple is that allegedly stubborn portion of the population—mostly poor, rural, and older—who don't use the Internet at all, because they supposedly don't care to do so.

But a new study suggests that this community of broadband outsiders is rapidly disappearing from the landscape, particularly among low income Americans...

What's in a 'Broadband,' Anyway? - PCWorld

The National Broadband Plan is due to reach Congress in two weeks, but there is still some mystery about how the plan will define the term "broadband."

The plan's chief author, Blair Levin, said in an interview Wednesday that the plan will set specific minimum speeds for Internet service providers to qualify for funds from the Federal Communication Commission's Universal Service Fund. But Levin revealed few details because the plan is undergoing more refinements before it is sent to Congress on March 17...

Interactive: America's Most Wired Cities - Forbes.com

As the U.S. formulates a national broadband plan designed to connect the entire country to fast, affordable Internet, it's worth mapping out which cities have the greatest access to and usage of broadband. Here, a look at the 20 ''most wired'' U.S. cities. Roll over any city for more information...

FCC to propose revamping Universal Service Fund - 21 News Now, More Local News for Youngstown, Ohio -

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators trying to bring high-speed Internet connections to all Americans will propose tapping the government program that now subsidizes telephone service in poor and rural areas.

The Federal Communications Commission will include a proposal to revamp the Universal Service Fund as part of a national broadband plan due to Congress on March 17. Although the proposal itself has been expected for months, Friday's announcement offered the first solid details...

Mike Musgrove - At Play: Kickstarter is a Web site for the starving artist - washingtonpost.com

Baltimore-based director Matt Porterfield was overjoyed to find out that his latest film was accepted by the Berlin Film Festival. But there was one not-so-trivial problem: He didn't have any money to finish the editing and sound work.

Even a plane ticket to Germany would have been out of the question for Porterfield. He had maxed out his credit cards to make "Putty Hill," a beautifully shot and largely improvised story about a group of Baltimore kids who come together to attend the funeral of a friend who died of a drug overdose...

Digital Domain - Facebook Is Getting Older Without Getting Old - NYTimes.com

FACEBOOK now has more than 400 million active users, up from only 50 million as recently as 2007. If social networking still resembled a young, hip downtown nightclub scene — one day a site is hot, the next it’s not — we might expect the crowds to decamp soon. Facebook would become another Friendster, still around but ghostly, forgotten by most.

Facebook, however, isn’t likely to have such a fate. For one thing, it has attracted many “olds,” and they tend to stay put. (Consider AOL.) More than 50 percent of Facebook’s members in the United States are 35 or older, and only 26.8 percent are 24 or under, according to an analysis of December visitors by comScore Media Metrix...

Broadband deal will miss some

According to information released by the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, Frontier Communications will only be required to provide broadband internet access to 85 percent of their customers by 2013.

Frontier is finalizing a deal to purchase the land based telephone communications infrastructure currently owned by Verizon in Ohio and 13 other states. As part of their licensing agreement in Ohio, Frontier will need to meet several requirements laid out by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and the OCC...

County wants to join Google fiber optic test | ThisWeek Community Newspapers

Local government officials want Delaware County to have a fiber optic Internet network that would operate up to 100 times faster than current systems and blanket the county from border to border.

Internet search engine Google announced last month that it is seeking a community of 50,000 to 500,000 Internet users for its foray into becoming an Internet service provider. Google would create a fiber optic network that would transmit information, images and audio-visual materials at a speed of 1 gigabyte per second, officials said.

Even if Google rejects the local request, fiber optics are a must-have for Delaware County, officials said March 4...

These doctors make video calls | The Columbus Dispatch

Donald Harding sat in an exam room inside the Pickaway Correctional Institution last month with a nurse at his side.

The 59-year-old inmate waited as Dr. Charles Hardebeck went through some paperwork on the Ohio State University campus. Hardebeck, a cardiologist, looked up and began speaking to Harding through a videoconferencing system.

The nurse told Hardebeck that Harding's lungs were clear and his heart rate was normal. Hardebeck asked his patient about his medications and any side effects, just as he would during any face-to-face appointment...

Innovation city's niche Intelligent Community Forum founder says

You can read about an intelligent community on paper, but there's nothing like coming in for a visit, even if the weather isn't as conducive to travel as would be ideal, Intelligent Community Forum co-founder and evaluator Lou Zacharilla noted after a business roundtable in the Dublin Community Recreation Center Friday, Feb. 27.

Dublin was recently named as one of the top seven Intelligent Communities of the Year by the ICF, and is a finalist for the Intelligent Community of the Year award...

New FCC study explores consumer reasons for not using broadband | Finley Telecom Blog

A new study released by the Federal Communications Commission says cost is the biggest reason more people do not use broadband at home.

Thirty-six percent of non-adopters surveyed pointed to affordability issues. That includes 15% who said they do not have broadband because the monthly fee is too expensive, 10% who said they cannot afford the installation fee or a computer and 9% who said they do not want to enter into a long-term service contract. According to survey respondents, their average monthly broadband bill is $41...

La Plata's plans for free wireless Internet move forward - washingtonpost.com

La Plata and Charles County Public Library officials are expected to sign an agreement soon to put on the fast track plans to make free wireless Internet service available in many locations.

The La Plata Town Council signed a resolution Feb. 23 that authorizes Town Manager Daniel Mears to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the La Plata library to begin the necessary work to provide wireless Internet service at as-yet unselected locations in town. The wireless Internet accessibility will make it easy for businesses, residents and tourists to gain access to information about the town and library services, Mayor Roy G. Hale said...

Michigan Includes Geo-Location in New State Web Portal

Less than a year after revamping Michigan.gov, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and state CIO Ken Theis announced on Thursday, March 4, another redesign of the state Web portal, along with a raft of new features.

According to the Michigan Department of Information Technology, Michigan.gov averaged nearly 50 million page views a month in 2009, providing more than 320 online services and 240,000 files...

AT&T Investment in Ohio Network Aimed at Enhancing Mobile Broadband Service Across the State - Yahoo! Finance

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T* today unveiled its Ohio wireless network investment plans for 2010, which include the addition of more than 30 new cell sites and the upgrade of nearly 240 additional cell sites to 3G throughout the state.

The planned wireless network enhancement strategy is part of AT&T's 2010 wireline and wireless capital investment, which is expected to be in the $18 billion to $19 billion range companywide, an increase of between 5 and 10 percent over 2009. This planned amount also includes an increase of about $2 billion in capital expenditures for wireless and backhaul related to AT&T's wireless network. This planned level of investment is framed by the expectation that regulatory and legislative decisions relating to the telecom sector will continue to be sensitive to investment...

AT&T unveils wireless network investment plans in Ohio for 2010 - Crain's Cleveland Business

AT&T has announced plans to bring 240 of its Ohio cell sites up to 3G speeds in 2010, more than quadrupling the number of towers upgraded in 2009.

The Dallas-based phone giant also plans to install 30 new sites that immediately will offer 3G coverage, which amounts to faster Internet access for mobile phones...

South-central part of county to get connected | coshoctontribune.com | Coshocton Tribune

COSHOCTON -- Equipment was installed on a communications tower this week that has the potential to bring hundreds of more customers wireless broadband.

As part of the Coshocton County Board of Commissioners' agreement with LightSpeed Wireless, a privately owned tower near Newcomerstown will provide access to customers along U.S. 36, Ohio 751 and County Road 9 west into West Lafayette, possibly as far as Canal Lewisville.

"What this will do is open service up to businesses in the U.S. 36 corridor," Commissioner Gary Fischer said...

San Francisco Promotes Intergovernmental Collaboration via New Web Site

"We can't rely on Washington to solve all our problems." It's a familiar adage, but for San Francisco it's a catalyst for innovation and self-reliance.

Instead of depending on the federal government, San Francisco officials are using the Web to share popular policies and make collaboration easier with other communities. Mayor Gavin Newsom announced this week the launch of PolicySF.org, a site that showcases some of the city's groundbreaking efforts in one space...

Seattle Announces Open Data Web Site

Following the open data trend popularized by San Francisco, New York City, the District of Columbia and other local governments, Seattle recently announced the deployment of Data.Seattle.gov, a Web site offering city data sets to citizen programmers who want to build citizen-facing applications.

The data sets include information on crime statistics, alternative schools, public toilets, public art and numerous other metrics on Seattle life...

Americans Prefer Online News After TV, Report Finds - PCWorld

New insight into how Americans get news shows most of us are not loyal to one news organization and consume information from a myriad of platforms, be it TV, the Internet, local newspapers, radio, or national newspapers.

According to the authors of the study, Pew Research Center's Pew Internet & American Life Project, the Internet is now the third most popular news platform, behind local television news and national television news...

Survey: 26% of Americans get news via phone - USATODAY.com

NEW YORK — Just over a quarter of American adults now read news on their cellphones, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

The survey results being released by the group Monday offer another sign of how people are changing they way they get information. Technology has been reshaping the news business and the way consumers relate to it for more than a decade. The latest shift is being driven by the exploding popularity of phones that can easily access the Internet...

Powerline Networks to Get Bandwidth Boost - PCWorld Business Center

Netgear has introduced products for powerline-based home networking at up to 500M bps (bits per second).

The products are based on the forthcoming IEEE P1901 powerline standard. The increased speed -- up from the 200M bps offered today -- should allow users to send simultaneous 1080p HD video to multiple TVs throughout the home, according to Netgear. Also, powerline-based networks can offer "whole-home coverage" in homes that measure up to 5,000 square feet, Netgear said...

Pioneer of online job search starts over again - USATODAY.com

WASHINGTON — Bill Warren founded an early online job board in the 1990s, helped kick-start an industry and was president of Monster.com, one of the leading Internet career sites. But these days he's not very happy with the results.

So he's taking another crack at it, going after Monster, CareerBuilder and similar commercial job sites. Warren is starting a nonprofit job listing system that could lower the costs that employers pay to list positions and make the process easier and more fruitful for applicants...

Tsunami alerts help save lives - USATODAY.com

Three hours after an earthquake struck Chile, a sensor on the ocean floor 205 miles from the epicenter registered the first inkling that a tsunami was traveling across the Pacific toward Hawaii.

As data poured into the Pacific Warning Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), scientists calculated how far the tsunami would travel and how powerful it would be when it arrived at the world's coastlines, ultimately issuing a warning for Hawaii and an advisory for the U.S. West Coast...

Unused Television Spectrum Could Deliver New Broadband Services

In September 2008, Wilmington, N.C., became the first major market to switch from analog to digital TV. Now the city is continuing the grand tradition, this time serving as a digital guinea pig for the nation's first "smart city."

Cameras, sensors and other devices have been installed throughout New Hanover County as part of a test that began in February and will last for several months. These devices will transmit real-time data for the city to analyze. Information travels through a new wireless network that utilizes unused broadcast television spectrum, called "white spaces" created by 2008's digital TV conversion. Because digital TV uses spectrum more efficiently, it's possible to use the leftover spectrum to provide broadband services...

California CIO Issues Use Policy for Facebook, YouTube, Other Social Media

California doesn't want to force its agencies into using social media to better communicate and interact with the public -- it wants to encourage them. And that it's doing with the adoption of a social media policy that outlines the do's and don'ts of online communication tools.

The state officially adopted the use of social media tools Friday, Feb. 26, to promote communication and transparency if agencies choose to use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other sites. The policy, which participating agencies must comply with by July 1, 2010, requires that only authorized users who have been trained regarding their roles, responsibilities and security risks, have access to social media sites while at work as a state employee...

BBC News - Online 'more popular than newspapers' in US

Reading newspapers has become less popular in the US and UK

Online news has become more popular than reading newspapers in the US, according to a survey.

It is the third most popular form of news, behind local and national TV stations, the Pew Research Center said.

"News awareness is becoming an anytime, anywhere, any device activity for those who want to stay informed," it said.

Online jobs company hits Tweet spot, lands big clients - Charlotte Business Journal:

Gary Zukowski thought he had a good idea when he used Twitter.com to post a job opening at his Charlotte information-technology business in late 2008.

Did he ever.

From that first tweet, Zukowski has built a company that uses Twitter to connect employers with job seekers. The need for jobs and Twitter’s rapid rise to online prominence have combined to make his company, TweetMyJobs.com, an overnight hit...

Calamity day solutions need to look to future | chillicothegazette.com | Chillicothe Gazette

Many school employees and parents are complaining about the state's move to drastically reduce or eliminate calamity days in the future.

With many districts in the area at or above the allotted five days already, parents point to safety concerns for students and teachers and say fewer calamity days will make superintendents less likely to cancel school. Rural districts, in particular, are concerned since roads in those districts can be some of the last to be cleared of snow and ice in winter...

Unboxed - Rethinking the Protection of Online Privacy - NYTimes.com

ON the Internet, things get old fast. One prime candidate for the digital dustbin, it seems, is the current approach to protecting privacy on the Internet.

It is an artifact of the 1990s, intended as a light-touch policy to nurture innovation in an emerging industry. And its central concept is “notice and choice,” in which Web sites post notices of their privacy policies and users can then make choices about sites they frequent and the levels of privacy they prefer...

Roundup: Spy Agencies On The Web -- Government Technology -- InformationWeek

U.S. intelligence agencies face a different world than they did a generation ago. It's one characterized by rapidly moving and often highly technical threats, data that comes in faster and in greater volume than ever before, and a public that expects information at its fingertips.

These trends are forcing the intelligence community to work in new ways, including how they engage the public and share information on the Web...

Online skills added to curriculum | The Columbus Dispatch

Students are getting their own school-based e-mail accounts in some central Ohio school districts as educators put e-mail, blogging and other online social networking to work in the classroom.

Lancaster students in grades three through 12 are starting to use their accounts this school year...

Mike McConnell on how to win the cyber-war we're losing - washingtonpost.com

The United States is fighting a cyber-war today, and we are losing. It's that simple. As the most wired nation on Earth, we offer the most targets of significance, yet our cyber-defenses are woefully lacking.

The problem is not one of resources; even in our current fiscal straits, we can afford to upgrade our defenses. The problem is that we lack a cohesive strategy to meet this challenge...