The US Postal Service's Business Model Is Outdated. Is It Time To Wind It Down Or Privatize It?

Just recently, we discussed whether or not ceasing Saturday delivery was a good idea or not for the USPS. John Potter, the US Postmaster General, recently said that the postal service's business model is as outdated as the newspaper industry's.

Read the rest of this entry »

China again tells Google to obey the law (AFP)

A stand builder fixes a Google logo to a booth at the CeBit 2010 exhibition in Hanover, northern Germany in early March.</p />
</a></p><p class=Read the rest of this entry »

E-Commerce Sites Realizing They're Media Properties Too

We've talked a lot about the fact that adveritisng is content and content is advertising. But, it seems worth mixing a bit of e-commerce into that story as well.

Read the rest of this entry »

Opera Mini 5, Opera Mobile 10 graduate to stable

Operas mobile Web browsers shed their beta status and stand in as the new stable versions.

Originally posted at The Download Blog

Read the rest of this entry »

Is Verizon No Longer Betting On The Future?

Back in 2003, we had written about how Verizon's CEO, Ivan Seidenberg, was betting big on future technologies. It was in response to a Business Week profile that oddly positioned the idea of installing fiber-to-the-home as being a huge risk. Lots of investors were against it, because it was expensive. But if you looked at where the market was really heading, you could see that it would position Verizon way ahead of the competition. Broadband keeps getting faster.

Read the rest of this entry »

China star Zhang takes blame in 'Donationgate' (AFP)

Chinese film starlet Zhang Ziyi has taken the blame for an earthquake donation scandal in her first comments on a flap that sparked a firestorm of Internet criticism and questions about her honesty.</p />
</a></p><p class=Read the rest of this entry »

Twitter working on Chinese registration page (AP)

AP - Twitter is working on a way to allow Chinese users to sign up to the social networking site in their own language, a co-founder of the site said Monday night, but access to the popular site remains blocked in the country.

Just As Netflix Gets In Trouble For Data Release, MySpace Begins Selling Data

So, just last week we noted that Netflix had gotten itself into a bit of hot water for its Netflix prize contest, which used real user data -- which was supposed to be anonymous. Unfortunately, as with most such data, it wasn't really anonymous, and that's illegal -- especially when it comes to movie rental data. Because of all that, Netflix has also canceled plans for a follow-up prize competition.

Read the rest of this entry »

HBO puts "The Pacific" online (Reuters)

Reuters - HBO has put Sunday's first hour of its WWII mega-budget production "The Pacific" on its Web site. Don't get used to it, though, the other nine hours will air only on HBO (until the DVD release, of course).

Ambitious plan seeks to make US a broadband leader (AFP)

People in a Chicago library surf the Internet.</p />
</a></p><p class=Read the rest of this entry »

FCC's National Broadband Plan: What's Next? (PC World)

PC World - When the U.S. Federal Communications Commission officially releases the nation's first national broadband plan Tuesday, the document will be just the start of a long process to extend broadband service to millions [m] of U.S. residents.

Simon Singh Stops Writing His Column To Focus On Fighting 'Bogus' Libel Suit

We've written before about the libel fight that Simon Singh is fighting in the UK, where the British Chiropractic Assocation sued him for libel for saying that some of the things that the BCA claimed chiropractors could do were "bogus." Singh, who has a PhD.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cuba slams US easing of sanctions on Web services (AFP)

A man works on a computer at a technology fair in Havana.</p />
</a></p><p class=Read the rest of this entry »

The Trouble With Twitter's @anywhere Service (PC World)

PC World - Twitter CEO Evan Williams announced Monday that the company plans to introduce a new platform called "@anywhere." The new service will allow Twitter users to connect to their Twitter accounts through third-party Websites such as The New York Times and eBay -- similar to the way Facebook Connect allows Facebook users to sign into other Websites using their Facebook accounts.

Selling 1,000 Portraits And Building A Ton Of Goodwill Not Good Business?

Michel Gondry spoke at SXSW to a packed house; it was fantastic to see one of my favorite directors speak about his creative process. During the talk, he mentioned a project he did where fans could buy portraits of themselves, sketched by Gondry himself, for only $20.

Read the rest of this entry »

Venezuela denies plans to censor Internet (Reuters)

Reuters - Venezuela is not planning to censor the Web or to shut down social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, officials said on Monday, after President Hugo Chavez called for regulation of the Internet.

Broadband plan aims to boost speed, wireless (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. regulators released a blueprint for upgrading Internet access for all Americans, with Internet speeds up to 25 times the current average, expanded coverage and more airwaves for mobile services.

Yahoo loses revenue chief to Web content start-up (Reuters)

A Yahoo! billboard is seen in New York's Time's Square January 25, 2010 file photo.</p />
</a></p><p class=Read the rest of this entry »

Google expects Android to 'flourish' in China: CFO (AFP)

The Google Nexus One smartphone. Google expects its Android mobile operating system to

Read the rest of this entry »

Band 'Releases' New Album Via Chatroulette

By now you've probably heard of the latest internet fad, Chatroulette, which has been pretty much covered to death in the media (though, not us, until now).

Read the rest of this entry »