Archive for the 'Internet' Category
Dot-Com: ‘Three Letters and a Punctuation Mark’ That Changed the World
March 16th, 2010Reuters – “Twenty five years ago, on March 15, 1985, the first commercial dot-com domain name – Symbolics.com – was born. It was one of only six dot-com domain names registered that year (Among the 15 oldest are Northrop.com, Xerox.com, HP.com, IBM.com, Sun.com, Intel.com, TI.com and ATT.com.)”
U.S. human rights report hits China, Iran
March 11th, 2010Reuters – “China and Iran have stepped up their abuses of human rights, targeting both anti-government activists and the free flow of information over the Internet, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday. In its annual survey of human rights in 194 countries, the State Department also criticized Cuba, Myanmar, North Korea and Russia, which [...]
Four in five believe Web access a fundamental right
March 8th, 2010Reuters – “A poll of 27,000 adults in 26 countries for the BBC World Service showed 78 percent of Internet users believed the Web gave them greater freedom, while nine in 10 said it was a good place to learn. Respondents in the United States were above the average in believing the Internet was a [...]
Internet Use in the United States: 2009
February 18th, 2010US Census Bureau – “Tables with national- and state-level data showing who is accessing the Internet, cross-tabulated by age, sex, race, Hispanic-origin, educational attainment and employment status. State data show Internet usage at home versus use at other locations. Also included is whether people are using broadband or dial-up for Internet access. Commissioned by the [...]
Why the web has gone sour
February 14th, 2010Sydney Morning Herald – “It was when his “inner troll” started getting out of hand that Jaron Lanier felt the first stirrings of unease. A “troll” in internet slang is someone who tries to disrupt online discussions with inflammatory or abusive comments, generally anonymously. “When I started to notice myself getting mean online I thought, [...]
Battling the Information Barbarians
January 30th, 2010WSJ – “China often views the ideas of foreigners, from missionaries in the 17th century to 21st-century Internet entrepreneurs, as subversive imports. The tumultuous history behind the clash with Google.”
Helping Children Find What They Need on the Internet
December 26th, 2009NYT – “Benjamin is one of 83 children, ages 7, 9 and 11, who participated in a study on children and keyword searching. Sponsored by Google and developed by the University of Maryland and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, the research was aimed at discerning the differences between how children and adults search and identify [...]
Fighting Internet Censorship in Australia
December 24th, 2009EFF – “Our fellow Internet freedom advocates at Electronic Frontiers Australia are gearing up for an important fight in the new year as the Australian government proposes mandatory national Internet filters with a secret blacklist.”
More here from SMH.
The Battle to Access Information Online
December 11th, 2009Save The Internet – “There is a silent battle occurring in Washington, D.C., over our ability to freely access and exchange information through our last unbiased medium, the Internet. The telecom industry is feverishly buying up policy-makers in an attempt to block new, unanimously approved FCC regulations on Internet service providers.”
Booksellers: Law shielding kids goes too far
October 20th, 2009AP – “The Ohio Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday in a case that pits defenders of online child protection against advocates of free speech. It is one of the longest running cases in the country that grapples with how states protect minors from pornography and predators on the Internet without stepping on the rights of [...]
Drink, drug and porn users logged at library
October 14th, 2009What a headline.
Here’s more
“One sleeping man was so hard to move that three police community support officers had to be called out to remove him.
Discarded needles, porn-surfing PC users and unusual outbreaks of flea bites were also recorded. And the toilets were regularly the scene of problems.
One report states: “Cubicle littered with cigarette [...]
Sorry About the /’s
October 14th, 2009Tim Berners-Lee apologies.
I think we forgive him.
Youth ‘cannot live’ without web
October 13th, 2009Duh
US ‘to loosen’ grip on internet
September 29th, 2009BBC – “The “affirmation of commitments” will reportedly give Icann autonomy to run its own affairs for the first time.”
Update from the BBC US relaxes grip on the internet
Content still king on the Net
September 17th, 2009CNET – “The Internet offers everything from searching to shopping to social networking, but Net users still spend most of their time on plain old content sites, according to a survey from the Online Publishers Association. In the latest installment from its monthly Internet Activity Index, the OPA reported that Internet users are now spending [...]
China Web Sites Seeking Users’ Names
September 5th, 2009NYTimes – “News Web sites in China, complying with secret government orders, are requiring that new users log on under their true identities to post comments, a shift in policy that the country’s Internet users and media have fiercely opposed in the past.”
Clinic for internet addicts opens in US
September 5th, 2009Guardian – “If you have to take a quick break from reading this article to check your Blackberry, send a text or reboot your Xbox 360 before you reach the end of this paragraph, then the good news is that help is at hand. reSTART has been opened outside Seattle, the rain-soaked north-western town where [...]
Broadband stimulus deadline extended
August 13th, 2009USATODAY – “Applications for the first of three rounds of funding are due Friday, August 14. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), overseeing the broadband stimulus project with the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), today announced a limited, one-week extension for some applicants.”
Netscape Founder Backs New Browser
August 13th, 2009NYTimes – “It has been 15 years since Marc Andreessen first developed the Netscape Internet browser that introduced millions of people to the Internet.”
Online News Sources Top All Other Outlets
June 17th, 2009Zogby International – “As broadcast television network newscasts continue to lose viewers by the month, a new online survey by Zogby Interactive shows that the Internet is by far the preferred source for information, and that it is considered the most reliable source as well.”
How is the Computer Age Changing Libraries
May 24th, 2009Gant Daily – “Michael Furlough, assistant dean for Scholarly Communications at the Libraries, sees today's students collaborating more than their predecessors. Able to do solitary research from anywhere, students increasingly take advantage of the social aspects of the library, such as open study spaces and group meeting rooms. Recent studies suggest that digital media, far [...]
Why Young People Should Care About Internet Policy
May 8th, 2009Save the Internet Blog – “Ask an Internet entrepreneur about the current state of our country’s broadband Internet, and you’ll probably get an animated response about the battle between content producers and service providers; a Sparta-esque fight led by the embattled masses rising up against discriminatory practices that threaten the freedom of the Internet. It’s [...]
Reading Offline, Reading Online
November 23rd, 2008lis.dom – “I spend a lot of time on the internet, and I don’t think I’m any stupider than I was before.”
Local librarian declares epic fail.
September 22nd, 2008the strange librarian – “How am i supposed to keep my staff up to date when the stuff i want to send them isn’t online? My staff is spread out throughout the state and i can’t just pass around a print journal for them to take a gander at. I need links, people!”
Harvard professor sees answers to nagging Web-youth issues
September 16th, 2008CNET News – “John Palfrey, one of Harvard’s leading thinkers on the Internet, has recently finished a study on kids raised in the digital age. He now has a few tips to share about Web porn, online piracy, and Sen. John McCain’s lack of tech know-how.”
Public libraries struggle with internet demands
September 16th, 2008eSchool News – “Libraries are reaching more students through services such as online homework help–but challenges remain”
Lawmakers Introduce New Net Neutrality Bil
May 8th, 2008New York Times: – “Two Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a bill that would subject broadband providers to antitrust violations if they block or slow Internet traffic.”
Internet vs. old-school libraries
March 8th, 2008Avenue Square – “Libraries have been very helpful before the internet age. But, since cyberspace started, people tend to do research using the internet. The reason? According to a most recent survey, the internet is more reliable and convenient; just one click at the comfort of your own home and you can find all the [...]
Internet forum headed for Boston
February 23rd, 2008AP – “Internet users should be free to surf where they want and download what they please. But shouldn’t the owners of the networks that make the Internet possible also have rights?”
IMLS Announces Public Access Study
January 11th, 2008IMLS Press Release – “The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced that it has entered into a cooperative agreement with the University of Washington to conduct a national study on the social, economic, personal, and professional value of free access to computers at public libraries.”
