Continuing our focus on the Internet (it is, after all, 40 years since the Internet started to exist as the ARPANET): the ICANN recently approved non-Latin web addresses. In layman’s terms, web addresses will no longer be limited to characters within or similar to the English alphabet, or numbers. We’ll probably see website domains in Arabic, Chinese, and Russian scripts.

It’s news that should please the Internet’s non-English users and domain name speculators alike. The former will now enjoy a web that’s no longer limited to English, potentially opening it up to new users. The latter will now have more names …read more

If the Top 20 Nations in Internet Speeds and Costs, according to the ITIF Broadband Rankings, are accurate, then can we assume that the cost for really cheap yet super-fast internet access is a higher cost of living?

Here’s the table ranking the top 10 countries. Thanks to the US-centric tech media, poor America is listed at number 15, with an average connection speed of 4.8Mbps, with an average $3.33 cost for a 1Mbps connection.

Last January, I asked you what your list of first installs on a computer was. We all have our own suite of applications and utilities that enjoy first dibs on a new/reformatted PC, and easily hours are spent locating the apps’ homepages and clicking on their respective download links.

With Ninite however, the process is streamlined. Simply visit ninite.com, choose the applications you want, and the site builds a customized installer for your convenience. And theoretically, it gets even better: if you’re really familiar with slipstreaming additional software onto your Windows installation disc, you can integrate your customized installer into Windows …read more

So, citing an example where $800 in repairs to her Macbook Pro cost her nothing, Apple Gazette’s Lia Espina (AKA the Gadgenista) shares the benefits of getting an Apple Care protection plan. She even shares a very useful tip that makes getting an Apple product and a corresponding Apple Care plan less expensive than it seems:
I hear newbie Mac Users argue that since they paid so much already for an Apple unit, paying for Apple Care is just way too much. But let me remind you that you don’t actually have to buy an Apple Care at the same time …read more

A woman in Tennessee was recently arrested for poking someone else on Facebook. By doing so, Shannon D. Jackson apparently violated a restraining order that prohibited her from Dana M. Hannah. Violating this so-called “order of protection” is a Class A misdemeanor in the state—meaning the potential maximum sentence is “11 months, 29 days”, or barely below a complete year! All for clicking a link on a social networking website.
Technology and law traditionally haven’t meshed well together, as technology’s constant stream of new developments sometimes make the law’s adherence to the letter ludicrous. Stanford fellow Ryan Calo laid out the …read more

During a speech at the CTIA conference, AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega “hinted at an unpleasant way of dealing with… the disproportionate wireless bandwidth usage of iPhone users”. PC World’s Mark Sullivan thinks de la Vega will start throttling bandwidth for iPhone users, who according to Sullivan represent only 3% of AT&T’s smartphone users, yet are responsible for 40 percent of over-the-air (OTA) bandwidth usage. AT&T apparently can’t keep up with the demand, especially since the wireless spectrum in the US is getting more crowded nowadays.

Too Many Customers, Too Little Capacity
The problem with “rationing” OTA bandwidth is of course, …read more

I did recommend that Hotmail users switch to Gmail ASAP, while reporting on 10,000 Hotmail passwords being made available online, but that’s because Gmail’s functionality is a lot better. That doesn’t change the fact that 20,000 more passwords were also made public. It’s not only Hotmail that’s been affected: Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL web mail users were hurt too.
Seems there’s an “industry-wide” attempt to phish passwords from unsuspecting web mail users. As you many know, online email account access is gold for phishers, because they (to paraphrase what I wrote yesterday) the foundation for the online existence of a lot …read more

Can hotmail users confirm this? According to Neowin, someone posted on pastebin a list of ten-thousand hotmail accounts—complete with corresponding passwords. The list is helpfully sorted from A to B, which for some reason according to Neowin, suggests that other lists are stored somewhere online.
Even if this report turns out to be false, it’s still a good reminder to change your web email password now, regardless of what service you’re using. For something that’s literally the foundation of the online existence of millions, it’s amazing how few practice good security and change it on a regular basis. For hotmail users, …read more

The short version: Google Wave is your traditional forum on steroids, with the ability to add extensions to change the way you share stuff with other people. As you’ve probably seen screenshots of Google Wave, I hope the first impressions I share below carry some sense of novelty. Feel free to skip the first section if you’re already familiar with Google Wave.
What is Google Wave?
The layout of Google Wave is similar to Gmail, with the addition of a third column on the right to display the contents of whatever wave is selected on the middle column, and it’s possible to …read more

Samuel Borgese was recently featured on The New York Times, as part of a story that points out how gadget makers in the US seem less inclined to help out owners of stolen who don’t want thieves to profit. Borgese’s brilliant idea? When someone registers a second-hand gadget, the maker should send an email to the original owner, asking them to confirm that they indeed sold the gadget.
This idea probably won’t work for gadgets not tied to a specific service. But for items like Amazon’s Kindle, where users need to be properly registered so that they can buy books for …read more