internet

Content passes communication in recent internet use study

With the rise of social-networking sites galore, interactive web 2.0 features being incorporated into just about every enterprise and blogs becoming ubiquitous for the young and old, you'd think that internet usage would be moving away from content consumption and towards interactivity, but a recent study by the Center for Media Research shows otherwise.According to the Online Publishers Association, Internet users are spending nearly half their online time visiting content, a 37% increase in share of time from four years ago. The Internet Activity Index, conducted by Nielsen//NetRatings, shows that communications accounted for 46% of consumers' time online in 2003. A dramatic shift has taken place since then, with consumers now spending 47% of their time with content and only 33% with communication.… Read more

Future Implications: Has the Internet become as important as water?

All of this talk about reworking the Internet and IPv6 has me thinking: has the Internet become as important as water? Some would surely say that I'm off my rocker on this one and say that, of course water is more important than the Internet. And while I agree that without water we can't survive, and without the Internet we can, this is not meant to be a discussion on biology. The truth of the matter is that we, as a world, have become so reliant on the Internet that it's quickly becoming just as important as … Read more

MoanMyIP does exactly what you think it does

Every once in a while, I come across a site that makes me do a double-take. A few weeks ago it was the unfortunate Chef Boyardee marketing site, and this week the clear winner in my book is MoanMyIP, which is a sister site (almost literally) to HearMyIP.com. Both services do just what you'd think--identifying your IP address and reading it back to you. The only difference of course is that HearMyIP uses the classic text-to-speech computer voice whereas MoanMyIP uses a female voice that announces your IP address in about as close to a not-safe-for-work/family manner … Read more

My browser can beat up your browser

Last week's post about Living with Windows XP generated a virtual storm of comments. Most readers echoed my own personal notion of sticking with XP for the near future instead of upgrading to Windows Vista.

It's not surprising that a discussion about operating systems can arouse empassioned responses. After all, it's the most essential software many of us run. The only other current candidate for king of software apps is the mighty Web browser.

I've been thinking about browsers lately, as well as my allegiance to Mozilla Firefox as my personal surfing weapon of choice. With the amount of customization and third-party add-ons, the open-source browser is extremely tough to beat.… Read more

Spam sucks

Monty Python couldn't have come up with a more annoying routine than the infamous spam sketch. But way back in the psychedelic 70s, the comedy troupe couldn't possibly have imagined the disgust and frustration the word "spam" would elicit today, especially among IT professionals.

I managed to defeat hordes of telemarketers by signing up for the national do-not-call registry. But when it comes to spam, I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm ready to throw in the towel and become a computerless monk. I feel like less of a man because I couldn't protect my family from this deadly menace.

Maybe 2% of my emails are actually addressed to me personally. The rest are garbage: spams and scams of every shape, size, and flavor. They run the gamut from those offering me supposedly hot stock picks, loans, and drugs, to others concerned with the size and effectiveness of my manhood.… Read more

Clean your Internet tracks with Ad-Aware 2007

The free spyware-removal software Ad-Aware 2007 helps protect your system from browser hijackers, data miners, and other malware, but it can also wipe your Web surfing tracks for Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera with just one click. Rich DeMuro shows you how it's done.

Software glitch silences Skype service

Skype users got a proverbial dead line when trying to dial out, or receive, a call on Thursday because of a software glitch with the VoIP service, according to a notice on Skype's Web site.

The notice begins: "Some of you may be having problems logging into Skype." So it's not yet entirely clear how many users are being denied service. The engineering staff at the Internet phone company expects to have the problem resolved within the next 12 to 24 hours, which would put a fix in place sometime Thursday or as late as Friday … Read more

Opera patches a critical JavaScript flaw

Security vendor Secunia on Wednesday reported a highly critical JavaScript flaw in Opera 9.22 and earlier. Fortunately, Opera already knew about the problem and on Wednesday released a more secure version of Opera, version 9.23. How did it know? The Norwegian browser company said it used a tool that was released during this year's Black Hat USA by rival Mozilla, the makers of the Firefox browser.

According to Secunia, the Opera vulnerability is the result of an unspecified error when processing JavaScript code. The error can produce a virtual function call using an invalid pointer. This can … Read more

Cable still best for video on demand

Editors note: This story incorrectly reported that Stage6 operates on an H.264 codec. Stage6 runs on the DivX codec.

The Internet was supposed to be the primo way to distribute movies, but the past week has seen the sector take some body blows.

Google told customers on Friday that it's getting out of the video-on-demand business. Earlier in the week, five of the top motion-picture studios unloaded Movielink when they sold the online VOD service to Blockbuster for around $20 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The cost to develop the service: $100 million.

Even good news … Read more