Internet

These days, advertisements are almost everywhere. But there's at least one place they can't be found: on Wikipedia. The website's advertisement-free model surely has generated a great deal of talk, with some praising and others opposing the site's ... refusal to include ads. Recently, discussions have evolved around the sustainability of Wikipedia's ad-less site. Currently, Wikimedia (the non-profit organization running Wikipedia) is funded almost entirely from donations, many of which are small individual donations. Wikimedia has managed to control its expenses in some areas such as labor -- the ... (view more)

Alas, Gmail's day has come! Google has finally decided to nix the "by invitation only" requirement and allow anyone interested in Gmail to sign up for a free account. Google has been phasing out the invitation restriction geographically, beginning ... last week with Europe. This past Wednesday, North America, South America, and Asia all gained restriction-free access to Gmail. (Source: news.com ) Although the nearly three-year-old service is still in beta mode -- signaling that Gmail is still a work in progress -- lifting the invitation restriction is a big step for Google. Keith Coleman, Product ... (view more)

The problem with having an encyclopedia to which anyone can add information is just that -- the fact that anyone, including non-credible sources, can add information. ;-) While Wikipedia has become a hit for both typical Internet users and students, ... it has failed to strike a chord with professors. Professors and other educators have developed concern about the reader-produced Wikipedia, noting the inaccuracies found throughout the website. Recently, the history department at Middlebury College in Vermont has decided to take a stronger stand against students using Wikipedia. It voted this ... (view more)

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is in the process of finalizing a deal with search engine powerhouse Google. The conditions of the agreement will make BBC programming available on the online video site YouTube.com. The deal will once ... again exemplify the site's growth in global popularity as it continues to add international content to its service. A spokesperson for the BBC recently confirmed that the publicly funded broadcasting corporation had spoken with Google. The extent of the conversations have not yet been reported, but several sources have confirmed that many different ... (view more)

Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group have agreed to provide music downloads from America and distribute other western content directly onto mobile phones for sale in the Asian market. The two will operate out of China in association ... with the already established ACCESS China Media Solutions. ACCESS China Media Solutions is its own international joint venture, combining ACCESS Ltd. of China and Melodeo of the United States. ACCESS China Media Solutions was formed in early 2006 as a means for Melodeo to distribute its technology to wireless carriers and handset makers in China. ( ... (view more)

Google's vice president for content partnerships, David Eun, recently revealed in an interview that Google is just as perplexed as the rest of the world with respect to the future of online video. Many were shocked when Google paid over one and ... three quarters of a billion dollars to acquire the emmensly popular YouTube web portal. Notably so. And yet, one might assume that in order for Google to make such a large purchase, the company must have had some prediction as to where things may lead. However, the opposite may be true. Eun admits that analysts have been unable to determine both the ... (view more)

The name and details of the latest venture for Skype and Kazaa co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis were released earlier last week. The young entrepreneurs have tackled the world of Internet television with a service called "Joost". ... Zennstrom and Friis, who sold Skype for an incredible $2.6 billion USD to eBay Inc. in 2005, have said that Joost will combine aspects of file-sharing software and regular broadcast television. (Source: news.zdnet.com ) Joost (pronounced "juiced") may even eventually attempt a move onto television sets, but the two co-founders have remained adamant that ... (view more)

This past Tuesday, Netflix unveiled its new "Watch Now" service. The service gives subscribers the option of downloading movies to their PC at no additional charge, an attractive alternative to Netflix's traditional mail delivery method. "Watch Now" ... will be introduced to only a small portion of Netflix subscribers initially; however, the company will be allowing about 250,000 subscribers into the system each week until June. (Source: physorg.com ) Viewers can use the service after accepting a computer applet that takes under a minute to install. Subscribers to the $18 monthly package can ... (view more)

It wasn't so long ago that Microsoft shipped its latest browser, Internet Explorer 7. Ditto for the latest iteration of Mozilla's cult hit Firefox, with version 2 upgrading many of the features that made it second only to IE. However, even as these ... two web surfing tools begin to make their way onto more and more home and business computers, Microsoft and Mozilla are hard at work on their next browser generation. It's not surprising considering the one core reason why continual updates are necessary: security. Codenamed "Gran Paradiso", Mozilla appears ready to launch Firefox 3 sometime this ... (view more)

Did someone in Israel read the recent Infopackets story about technology making it easier for people to lie? It sure seems that way! Actually, the uniquely titled KishKish Lie Detector has been available to the public since December, and a new beta ... upgrade has just been released. The Israeli technology works over the Internet with popular online phone service, called Skype. (Source: batm.com ) "We tested it with the [former U.S. president Bill] Clinton speech about his relationship with his intern Monica Lewinsky," stated Zvi Marom, the founder and CEO of BATM Advanced Communications. "When ... (view more)