Researchers looked at 69 major metropolitan areas
LiveScience Dec 29, 07 6:25 AM CST
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New York may be the US city with the most literary pretensions, but the nation's most literate city it's not, a new survey finds. Minneapolis takes the honors as most literate large metropolitan area in a Central Connecticut State University survey reported in LiveScience. The nine runners-up are, in order: Seattle, St. Paul, Denver, Washington, DC, St. Louis, San Francisco, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Boston.
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Law include full ban for convicts who used computers to aid crimes
Star-Ledger Dec 28, 07 7:56 PM CST
(Newser)
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Acting New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey yesterday approved legislation limiting access to computers and the internet for convicted sex offenders—even if they didn't use them for their crimes, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. Sex offenders on parole must now alert the state parole board regarding their access to computers, as well as submit to unannounced inspections and continuous monitoring of web use.
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Service provider throwing weight behind Mozilla, Firefox
CNET Dec 28, 07 7:14 PM CST
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AOL today announced that it will discontinue support and development of its Netscape Navigator browser, a program that first introduced many to the Internet when it launched 13 years ago. But, CNET's Stephen Shankland writes, Microsoft's Internet Explorer ate into market share for Netscape, which was bought by AOL—which in turn spun off the Mozilla Foundation and its popular Firefox browser.
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Internet phenomenon scores big in 2007
ABC News Dec 27, 07 2:54 PM CST
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With small-screen stars ranging from ditzy beauty queens to potty-mouthed pint-sized landlords, Americans increasingly gathered around the YouTube watercooler in 2007. They racked up 100 billion views on various video sites, ABC News reports. Cultural commentators liken the phenomenon to cavemen swapping tall tales around campfires, but 78% of us do it at work.
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Will aim to wire entire cities in Middle East, China, India from Bangalore HQ
Financial Times (UK) Dec 26, 07 10:10 PM CST
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Dozens of new cities are to be built in China, India, and the Middle East in the coming decade and Cisco Systems wants to network them top-to-bottom, the Financial Times reports. The networking equipment giant is setting up a new business center in Bangalore, India, as part of its push to expand in the developing world.
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'Volunteer Computing' creates quick – and cheap – supercomputers for science
Chicago Tribune Dec 25, 07 2:44 PM CST
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While you sleep, your home PC can forge new worlds in science. More researchers across the nation are embracing the concept of volunteer computing—in which they harness the power of otherwise sleeping computers to speed up the mathematical grunt work of their projects, the Chicago Tribune reports. The concept originated about eight years ago, and now hundreds of thousands of PCs are used this way.
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Online greeting cards rising in popularity; paper still preferred
USA Today Dec 24, 07 7:44 PM CST
(Newser)
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Online greeting cards are all the rage this holiday season. They're mostly free, and can feature funny, interactive subjects ranging from elf tossing to reindeer arm wrestling. E-cards are also delivered instantly, an advantage for the forgetful around Christmas. But traditional cards are still the preferred way to spread holiday cheer, with 20 paper cards sent out for every e-card, claims the Greeting Card Association.
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Chemistry.com slams eHarmony over lack of gay matching services
New York Times Dec 24, 07 12:46 PM CST
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Dating site Chemistry.com is again blasting rival eHarmony in an ad campaign, this time for its lack of gay matching services and links to evangelical Christian values, the New York Times reports. The ads show “eHarmony is out of sync with what is happening in America,” Chemistry.com’s GM said. Chemistry.com wants to catch up to the online giant, whose 17 million customers easily bests Chemistry.com's 3.7 million.
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Crammed together passengers may not like neighbor's browsing material
Associated Press Dec 24, 07 12:26 PM CST
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Airlines getting ready to offer Internet access are grappling with how to enforce netiquette at 33K feet. "We think decency and good sense and normal behavior will prevail," said the CEO of one service. If it's not porn or violent images, its annoying ringtones and loud conversations that can get in the way of a polite flying experience.
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NBC hopes made-for-web show can defy so-so traffic numbers
New York Times Dec 24, 07 9:47 AM CST
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YouTube buzz is tough to manufacture, and so far NBC’s “Quarterlife,” the network's experiment in TV-quality production for the web, hasn’t managed. The last dozen episodes have each drawn around 100,000 views between MySpace and YouTube combined, which isn’t many eyeballs in the TV world. Regardless, NBC will complete its web-to-TV play by broadcasting the series in February, the New York Times reports.
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New ratings system Down Under
Ars Technica Dec 23, 07 11:20 PM CST
(Newser)
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Australian Internet users are getting wary about new regulations meant to keep minors away from mature content, Ars Technica reports. A stringent new ratings system to be introduced in January is meant to stop kids from accessing adult-oriented content, but critics say it will be child's play to get around, and means adults will have to surrender some privacy.
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W3C brokered 'browser wars' but now seen as roadblock to change
Wired Dec 20, 07 11:56 PM CST
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The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has been the Web's governing body since the "Wild West" days of the mid-90s. It helped end the Netscape/Explorer "browser wars", but Web designers today are worried that the body's standards management process has slowed the pace of change down to dial-up speed, Wired reports.
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Net-loving teens use plain old telephone service the most
USA Today Dec 20, 07 7:39 PM CST
(Newser)
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Internet use among teenagers continues to rise—93% of teens have some sort of access, and 64% contribute some kind of content on a regular basis. But, despite the proliferation of cell phones and a myriad of bleeding-edge choices, the No.1 communications tool for teens remains the land line, USA Today reports, citing a Pew Internet Project study.
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Physics professor creates rainbows, has Net-happy acolytes in India and China
New York Times Dec 19, 07 8:11 PM CST
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The latest Net sensation doesn’t defend Britney Spears or mimic the history of dance; instead he explains electrostatics, pendulums, and the conservation of energy. Walter Lewin, a 71-year-old MIT physics professor, is one of the first academic superstars of the Internet, bringing educational showmanship—say, demonstrating rockets by riding a tricycle propelled by a fire extinguisher—to a global classroom, the New York Times reports.
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