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At least five cities have already said they are interested in taking up Google's offer to build broadband networks running at a staggering 1 Gigabit per second (1Gbps). The comments come as analysts try to figure out what Google gains from the ... scheme. The firm says it will help fund networks serving between 50,000 and 500,000 customers. Cities whose officials have already said they are looking into the proposals include Winston, North Carolina; Peachtree City, Georgia; San Francisco, California; and Greensboro, North Carolina. Officials in Ontario County, New York have also shown an interest ... (view more)

Microsoft Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP) to release a new version of Internet Explorer 8 that boasts a number of online safety features. However, while it is being heralded as a "child-friendly" version of the popular web ... browser, it proves to be nothing more than an informational source. There is no doubt that a tremendous need exists for the protection of youngsters against the dangers that lurk online. According to Microsoft, almost 64 per cent (two thirds) of those under the age of 18 have been contacted by a stranger while online. Further research reveals that 41 ... (view more)

The New York Times is considering a fee for frequent visitors to its website. The plan would make it arguably the most high-profile newspaper to charge for online access. According to a source quoted in the Wall Street Journal, it's almost ... inevitable the Times will indeed introduce some form of online access fee. At this stage the only decision is between two methods of doing so. Limits, Premium Articles Amongst Options The first is to limit the number of articles people can read each day without charge. The second plan would be to have some articles free and the rest exclusive to online ... (view more)

Microsoft has uncharacteristically spoken out against Google over the two firms' free online storage offers. The comments follow Google's announcement that it is extending the size and type of files eligible for free back-up. To date, users of ... Google Docs had been severely limited in the amount of data they could store online. Storage could only be used for specific types of document file, namely: word processing, spreadsheet and presentation files. Free Google Docs Storage Balloons to 1GB The firm now says users will be allowed 1GB of free storage, with extra space available for 25 cents per ... (view more)

Here's a piece of advice for thieves this holiday season: if you steal a game console, don't go online to play games with your crooked friends. Doing just that helped cops find a stolen Xbox 360 over the weekend. Twenty-two-year-old Jeremiah Gilliam ... is facing huge larceny charges this morning after cops found a veritable pile of stolen electronics in his Bronx home. According to police, Gilliam had an incredible collection of global positioning systems (GPS), video game consoles, laptop computers, cellphones and other electronic devices in his home. Usually these kinds of repeated petty ... (view more)

With the holiday season attracting droves of online shoppers to Internet retail sites, a planned malicious online attack was almost inevitable. Fortunately, the distributed denial-of-service (DDos) attack that was supposed to wreak havoc on ... Wal-Mart, Amazon and a host of other major chain websites was limited to a select geographic location and resulted in minimal damage. The afternoon prior to Christmas Eve saw a number of online retail sites suspend their services without notice, at the height of the Christmas rush. The good news, however, is that the attack lasted about an hour and the ... (view more)

Microsoft has announced their involvement in the war against illicit child photos by creating a new software tool that will give those looking to abolish such unethical material an upper hand. The software, which is somewhat similar to an antivirus ... program, will identify signatures in content to find images of those being abused. Microsoft researchers worked alongside Dartmouth College computer science professor Henry Farid to produce PhotoDNA. The software is able to accurately pinpoint certain characteristics in digital images that computers can scan online. Said Farid, "The basic idea is ... (view more)

As " Black Friday " proved, online shopping is alive and well this holiday season. However, an increase in Internet shopping presents an opportunity for online deviants looking to cash in on as many victims as possible. As one security unit has ... proven, hundreds upon hundreds of web traps are known to be in existence. Officials at Scotland Yard's e-crime unit discovered a myriad of Asian hoax websites. However, the foreign fraudsters are even more deceptive in their actions this time around, because the infected sites are masquerading as British domain names. This is done to give false ... (view more)

A couple weeks ago, we reported on Microsoft's plans to unveil special Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm applications for its popular Xbox Live online service. They've now been officially set live on Live, and they're being heralded as handy ways to ... keep in touch with friends. For those unfamiliar with Xbox Live, it's Microsoft's online service for the Xbox 360 console. It allows those who subscribe to the service (about $60 per year) the ability to play games with one another, chat, download free (and not free) games and movies, and upload music and videos to the system's hard drive. Although ... (view more)

U.S. President Barack Obama has told Chinese Internet users that online freedom is a "source of strength". But the comments themselves appear to have become the victim of censorship. The president spoke at a "town hall" event attended by students in ... Shanghai. Questioned about online communication he said "I've always been a strong supporter of open Internet use. I'm a big supporter of non-censorship...unrestricted Internet access is a source of strength and I think it should be encouraged." He also argued that the criticism which came with online freedom of speech made him a better president ... (view more)