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Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome are the three most popular browsers, and we have trouble finding a compelling reason to try other browsers when these three--particularly Chrome--do what they do so well. That doesn't stop people from developing alternatives, though, and thus we find ourselves with SunDance Web Browser. This browser's maker openly admits that it's based on Internet Explorer, but nothing about it seems to be an improvement over IE.

The interface is plain and typical for browsers, so we can at least say that it's intuitive. It's somewhat dated-looking, though, without the sleekness … Read more

Google green-lights crowdsourced film project

Sometimes Google takes a break from its mission of organizing all the world's information and decides to embark upon an artsy project that encapsulates...organizing all the world's information.

Late on Tuesday, the search giant posted an entry to the Official Google Blog announcing the creation of "Life In A Day," a film project that solicits video submissions from YouTube users around the world--the criteria is that they must capture some kind of moment filmed on July 24.

It's legit. "Touching The Void" director Kevin Macdonald will edit "the most compelling footage&… Read more

Bill Gates spotted table-dancing at Sundance party?

Somehow, recently, Bill Gates turned into Mr. Awesome. He's tweeting and blogging, and now, according to the New York Post, he was spotted "dancing, Paris (Hilton) style, on a banquette" at a Microsoft-sponsored party at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

"He gyrated in a VIP booth until 2 AM," a "spy" told the Post's Page Six--a gossip item, so take it with a grain of salt. "Everybody was snapping photos of him until his security rushed him out the back door after he tipped a waitress $500." … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1149: Secretary of State Clinton plans to free the Internet

We had the pleasure of chatting with Jared Cohen, Senior Adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today. He gave us some more insight into Secretary Clinton's speech about the freedom on the Internet, specifically relating to China. We also clarify that Verizon is not booting people off the Internet--but apparently Cox is. So take all that stuff we wrote yesterday about Verizon and just put Cox in there.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1149

Joining us is Jared Cohen, Senior Advisor to Secretary of State Clinton’… Read more

YouTube gets rentals, starting with Sundance films

YouTube on Wednesday announced that it will soon be offering video rentals on its service, beginning first with five films from the 2009 and 2010 Sundance film festivals.

The rental feature, which goes live this Friday, will apply to the five Sundance films until the end of January. YouTube says that other films and programs will be made available for rental in the near future, but has not yet named which partners will be involved outside of mentioning that the health and education industries will be included.

Going forward, YouTube is inviting what it calls a "small group" of partners that will be able to apply the new rental model to videos they have hosted on the service. And similar to what YouTube did with paid video downloads around this same time last year, owners of these videos will be able to set their own pricing, as well as duration of how long that rental can be accessed.

In order to rent videos, users must have a Google Checkout account. The company has not said whether it will allow other payment platforms, such as PayPal, to be used as as a payment option.

YouTube has long been expected to get into the video-on-demand business, especially since Google removed video content purchases from its (now-defunct) Google Video service at the end of 2007. Also, late last year, reports surfaced that YouTube was in talks with a number of film studios in an attempt to warm them to the idea of renting their films on the service. Notably, Sony Pictures went on the record as having talked with Google about such an offering, although at the time it was looking for a way to boost the brand image of its Crackle video streaming site.… Read more

Internet documentary among the Sundance winners

We Live in Public, a sort of cautionary story about the Web's impact on our lives, grabbed one of the Sundance Film Festival's top honors Saturday, the Grand Jury Prize for documentary films.

The film was directed by Ondi Timoner, who gave CNET an inside look last week at the life of a filmmaker about to screen her work to an audience for the very first time. It covers a tumultuous decade in the life of Josh Harris, whom Timoner refers to as "the greatest Internet pioneer you've never heard of."

During the 1990s dot-com … Read more

A day in the life of a Sundance filmmaker

PARK CITY, Utah--The Sundance Film Festival is all about film buzz. Word spreads quickly about the biggest tearjerkers, the most overhyped films, the pleasant surprises, and the ones mostly likely to make their way to the cineplex.

What you don't hear, however, is what it's like for the makers of such films as they anticipate showing their work to the world for the very first time. What is their range of emotions as they prepare for what could be a standing ovation or a mass exodus before the credits even roll?

Ondi Timoner, who's here competing with … Read more

Sundance screens eco-films, movie tech

roundup This year, the renowned film festival is showcasing the environment, as well as artists who use technology to tell stories in new ways.

A day in the life of a Sundance filmmaker Ondi Timoner gives CNET News a chance to see what it's like from the inside of the festival, and her film just happens to be all about the Internet.(Posted in Digital Media by Michelle Meyers) January 21, 2009 4:00 AM PST

Finding the next Scorsese...on YouTube One of the short films being shown to industry insiders at this year's Sundance Film Festival … Read more

Finding the next Scorsese...on YouTube?

This post was updated at 5:12 p.m. PST to fix an inconsistency in the spelling of Fede's name and clarify the filmmakers' contributions.

PARK CITY, Utah--It could be one of the quickest known ascents to fame for a filmmaking team.

Four months ago, Blake Edwards and Erin Fede met as new cubiclemates at a Charlotte, N.C.-based religious TV network. Today, they're here at the Sundance Film Festival with a short film Edwards directed and Fede wrote and acted in.

They took a different path to Park City than the 96 other filmmakers screening short films at the festival. … Read more

Sundance--from the comfort of your home

PARK CITY, Utah--Sure, you can venture out to this snowy resort town, pay for overpriced housing, squeeze into crowded shuttle buses, deal with lots of Hollywood attitude (these, of course, the glass-half-full observations), or you can do a little Sundancing from the comfort of your own home.

With access to Apple's iTunes, you get a little taste of the Sundance Film Festival's indie works by downloading up to 10 short films for free during the 10 days of the festival, which means you have until January 25.

Sundance got a record 5,600 submissions this year for its shorts program, … Read more