"One of the most frequently asked questions from our customers is: ‘Why don’t you have free WiFi at Logan?’ said Thomas J. Kinton Jr., CEO & Executive Director of Massport. "Well, we are pleased to be able to now say ‘We do!’ "

A secure WiFi system was installed through out the airport six years ago at a cost of several million dollars. The charge of $7.95 for the service allowed the investment to be recovered. For the next two years, Massport will continue its partnership with service provider, Advanced Wireless Group, and the free WiFi will be supported by advertising and sponsorship programs.

During the two month period when free WiFi was available as part of a Google sponsorship, use of the network increased nearly six-fold. Users who did not subscribe to a roaming service viewed a Google promotional page be fore accessing the Internet. Under the new system, roaming subscribers will get access and those using the free service will view advertising before accessing the Internet.
 

Related Articles:

>Google And Virgin America To Offer Free WiFi During The Holidays

>American Expands In-Flight Internet Service

>Google Offering Free Wi-Fi In Airports During The Holidays

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The study found broadband Internet users are at east 50 percent less likely to give up on job searches because of discouragement than those who do not use the Internet. Dial-up Internet users are about one – third less likely to drop out of the labor force.

"By connecting Americans to jobs and information about job opportunities, Internet usage feeds hope and encourages frustrated workers to keep on looking even when job prospects are dim," according to Phoenix Center President Lawrence J. Spiwak. "These findings suggest that broadband connectivity can contribute to economic recovery."

"Our study also shows the enormous potential benefit of community broadband centers for those who are not connected at home," Spiwak adds. "While broadband use at home delivers significant benefits, shared facilities can be a valuable solution to connectivity gaps in unserved and underserved communities."

The Phoenix Center says the new study provides insights to policymakers at a time when unemployment is  high, with government estimates suggesting the unemployment rate, when broadly defined, now exceeds 17%. In fact, large numbers of Americans have given up looking for jobs because they think none are available.

The U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is responsible for the government’s monthly data on employment and unemployment, estimates that adding "discouraged workers," as defined by the Bureau, who had quit looking for work as of December 2009, would boost the current U.S. jobless rate above the frequently reported 10 percent level.

Related Articles:

> Open Internet Heavily Promoted at CES

> Internet’s Possible Future in the US Gets Ready to Be Decided

> FCC’s Net Neutrality Site Gets a Blog

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There are various of media players on the internet for downloading. However, lots of them are just too general that you may not keen on. In this case, you may want to design your personal media player for yourself. In this tutorial, it will show you the techniques to design a professional media player.

(View This Tutorial)

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With world governments advising citizens to switch from Internet Explorer to alternative browsers, and an unpatched security hole in at least two major versions of Internet Explorer, Microsoft has to do something to restore faith in their browser. Easiest way to do it, apparently, is saying that other browsers are even worse than IE.

Microsoft’s UK security chief Cliff Evans told Techradar that “The net effect of switching [from IE] is that you will end up on less secure browser,” and that “the risk [over this specific] exploit is minimal compared to Firefox or other competing browsers… you will be opening yourself up to security issues.”

Evans then downplays the seriousness of this problem. “The reality of the risk is minimal, even if you have IE6; you would have to go to a website running the exploit,” he says. Even if we disregard the fact that many very serious browser vulnerabilities work in that way – e.g. you have to visit a website running an exploit to be affected – there’s still the fact that this particular vulnerability isn’t just lab-tested, it’s been successfully used on unsuspecting victims in the real world. This alone makes it as serious as security holes go.

Evans continues to undermine the security record of other browsers. “There are broader risks and issues with other browsers,” he claims, at the same time admitting that the IE vulnerability that caused this entire mess probably isn’t present with other browsers. “I’m not aware that the vulnerability exists in other products, but those products may have other vulnerabilities,” he says.

While one can say that absolutely no piece of software is ever completely secure, this logic is flawed. Microsoft’s IE has a serious, unpatched security vulnerability, and pointing to possible holes that other browsers may or may not have won’t make it go away.

Tags: internet explorer, security, web browsers

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Switching to an alternative Web browser like Firefox or Google Chrome is one possibility. For now, security companies like McAfee have only identified the latest security exploit as an Internet Explorer issue, but there’s no guarantee that they won’t find vulnerabilities in other browsers that were involved in the broad attack on Google and others.

Generally speaking, a browser switch is going to be a lot easier for an individual than it will be for corporate users, where IT policies often dictate which browser people use on their computers. Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant and security firm Sophos, said in a blog post Monday that companies may cause “more problems than it’s worth by summarily switching browsers” because of the potential for employee confusion and Web site compatibility problems caused by the new software.

“My advice is to only switch from Internet Explorer if you really know what you are doing with the browser you’re swapping to,” Mr. Cluley said. “Otherwise it might be a case of ‘better the devil you know.’”

For people who don’t want to or can’t move to another browser from Internet Explorer, they should upgrade to the latest version of the software, Internet Explorer 8. While that version of the browser is also technically vulnerable to the security flaw it contains features that minimize the threat, Microsoft says.

And if switching to IE 8 isn’t an option, users with earlier versions of the browser, like IE 6, should adjust their security settings to “high,” which also reduces the risk of running malicious code, Microsoft says. There’s more in blog posts from Microsoft and McAfee describing the hack and precautions for users.

The Journal also posted a list of other common sense security tips on staying safe on the Internet.

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Late Thursday night, Google and Verizon (which offers the search giant’s new phone on its network) filed a joint letter to the Federal Communications Commission on the “common ground” they’ve found on the divisive issue of net neutrality, or rules that would require Internet providers to handle all legal Internet traffic equally.

“It is essential that the Internet remains an unrestricted and open platform, where people can access the lawful content, services and applications of their choice,” the companies wrote in the nine-page letter.

They ticked through a variety of things they agree on, such as “encouraging investment and innovation of broadband network” and “providing users with information.”

Sadly, the lawyers who’ve been racking up sizeable billable hours while crafting missives to the FCC couldn’t find common ground on everything. “We continue to disagree on some of these matters,” the companies acknowledged.

That’s a bit of an understatement, judging from the voluminous filings each company made with the agency yesterday.(Google = 98 pages; Verizon = 139 pages)
Noting that the FCC’s proposed net neutrality rules would apply to Internet providers, not companies that offer services over the Internet, Verizon wrote that “it is no mystery, after all, why dominant Internet incumbents such as Google are among the strongest proponents of net neutrality rules – their incentive is to lock in place through regulation advantages they have established for themselves based on today’s predominant business models.”

Google, meanwhile, didn’t slam Verizon by name in its FCC filing, although it noted it believes (unlike Verizon) that wireless networks should be covered by net neutrality rules and that broadband providers should be subject to more oversight.

“At their core, today’s broadband networks are the result of government-sanctioned
monopolies, the grant of public benefits and their attendant enormous market advantages and economies of scale, scope and ubiquity. The government should have a role to ensure that all of these public contributions are put toward serving the public interest,” Google wrote.

Notably, Google and Verizon said they agreed that “communications laws and regulations should not apply to Internet applications, content or services.”

(Translation: the FCC shouldn’t regulate Internet services, like search or online video.)
That puts Verizon slightly on the other side of AT&T Inc, another big Internet provider which argued in its filing Thursday that if the government is going to regulate Internet lines, it should regulate Internet companies like Google, too.

AT&T argued that Google “with an entrenched market share of greater than 70
percent of the search market — shapes how consumers actually experience the Internet more than any given broadband provider possibly could.”

“While AT&T continues to believe that no rules are necessary, the Commission cannot rationally impose rules on one set of providers based on hypothetical concerns while exemption other providers that act as Internet gatekeepers and have engaged in actual misconduct,” AT&T wrote.

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Read the rest of Germany Not to Use Internet Explorer Anymore? [German Government Says “Nein” to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer]

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It’s no secret that we don’t like Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), the outdated 10+ year old browser still used by 15-25% of people on the web. Last year, we called for IE6 to die so that the web could move on with new innovations such as HTML 5.

Now Internet Explorer, specifically IE6, is under fire again after a critical IE vulnerability was implicated for the attack on Google’s infrastructure by Chinese hackers. While IE6 criticism is not a new phenomenon, last week’s events give those of us who advocate for the abolition of IE6 (myself included) new ammunition.

Whether you work for a company that won’t get rid of IE6 or have parents that just don’t see the need to ugprade, here are five new reasons to upgrade or switch browsers:

1. Your security and your company’s security are at risk: There’s no other way to lay it out: if the security of Google, Yahoo, and around 20 other companies were compromised due to people still running IE6, then your security is at risk too. Upgrading after a hacker uses this exploit to steal your information is simply too late, especially if you hold sensitive customer data.

2. World governments are suggesting you switch browsers: Both Germany and France have issued warnings about Internet Explorer, asking citizens to switch to prevent the same type of breach that affected Google.

3. Even Microsoft wants you to drop IE6: The Microsoft Security Research & Defense Blog specifically addressed the flaw and the risk of attack by platform. The most important part of the post was that they “recommend users of IE6 on Windows XP upgrade to a new version of Internet Explorer and/or enable DEP.”

This isn’t the first time Microsoft has asked people to voluntarily upgrade, but it is the first time that it’s been in response to an exploit or vulnerability. Think of it like a recall: would you keep driving a car that Toyota, Ford, or GM says could malfunction? Don’t make the same mistake with your computer’s security.

4. Not wanting to upgrade from Windows XP isn’t a legitimate excuse anymore: One way to delete IE6 is to upgrade your OS — both Windows Vista and Windows 7 run upgraded versions of the IE browser.

We understood why people didn’t want to upgrade when their choice was Windows Vista, but now that a very stable, solid, and secure upgrade is on the market (Windows 7), there’s no excuse not to upgrade. Yes, it’ll cost you up front, but it’s far cheaper than having your data stolen.

5. This will not be the last massive IE6 security breach: This flaw was unknown before Google’s groundbreaking China announcement. And it’s not the first flaw ever found with the browser — there are at least 142 vulnerabilities in IE6, 22 of which are not yet patched. Would you use armor that had 142 weak spots?

Last week’s series of events drove home just how dangerous and idiotic it is to run the long-broken IE6 browser. It should be a wake-up call to IT departments and users around the world: if you keep running a browser from 2001, you are throwing your online security right out the window.

Tags: IE6, IE6 must die, internet explorer, microsoft, trending

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A couple of days ago we wrote that the German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology advised German citizens to switch from Internet Explorer (regardless of the version they use) to an alternative browser for security reasons.

Now, the French government has issued a similar advisory, pointing out that Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 all share a similar vulnerability, which allows malicious hackers to remotely execute arbitrary code.

The fix? CERTA (Centre d’Expertise Gouvernemental de Réponse et de Traitement des Attaques informatique) proposes a switch to an alternative browser.

This is another serious hit for the world’s most dominant web browser, but also one that’s been losing its marketshare in the last couple of years. Alternative browsers — Firefox, Opera, Safari and others — may not have a perfect security record, but all of them have always been perceived as safer alternatives. This latest vulnerability, discovered after the cyber attacks on Google, does nothing to change that notion.

Tags: france, internet explorer, microsoft, software, web browser

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"At present, 3,700 Internet sites are blocked in Turkey, including YouTube, GeoCities, and Google sites," said Miklos Haraszti, an OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.

"Even as some of the content that is deemed ‘bad’, such as child pornography, must be sanctioned, the law is unfit to achieve this. Instead, by blocking access to entire websites from Turkey, it paralyzes access to numerous modern file sharing or social networks."

In a report Haraszti presented at Bilgi University in Istanbul, Ankara State University and at the International Law Congress of the Ankara Bar Association, he noted that, while in Turkey, he was unable to access even the OSCE’s YouTube website.

"Blocking access inside of Turkey is an affront to the public’s right to the entirety of the Internet, said Haraszti. "Numerous Criminal Code provisions are applied against media workers, and as a result, journalists risk imprisonment for carrying out their work."

"Therefore ‘reform or abolish’ the Internet Law is our main recommendation. I hope that the Turkish authorities will soon remove the blocking provisions that prevent Turkish citizens from being part of today’s global information society."

Related Articles:

> Turkey Asks Google For $47 Million In Taxes

> Legalized Online Gambling Would Bring In Billions

> NY Lawmakers Approve Internet Tax

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The bill was introduced into the New Jersey senate by Senator Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), who also introduced a separate bill which calls for New Jersey residents to vote on a constitutional amendment that would allow state-regulated sports wagering in Atlantic City casinos, and to state residents via an intra-state Internet gambling system.

New Jersey currently offers gambling on horse races to state residents through the 4NJbets.com website. The state would expand the law to permit online versions of games currently allowed in Atlantic City casinos, such as Poker, Blackjack and Baccarat. The Internet gambling system would be regulated by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, which would establish a Division of Internet Wagering to manage operations and licensing.

Joe Brennan Jr.
IMEGA’s chairman

"We’re happy that New Jersey has taken this issue into their own hands," said iMEGA chairman Joe Brennan Jr.

"New Jersey is recognized as having the toughest gaming regulators in the US, but as a leading gaming state with a long track record of doing things the right way, Internet gambling will have a great home here and the opportunity to begin normalizing the industry."

The iMEGA says it supports efforts in Washington DC by Representative Barney Frank (D) in the House and Senator Robert Menendez (D) in the Senate, to create a Federal path to regulation, the association worked with New Jersey legislators on the bill to establish continued progress toward regulate internet gambling in the U.S.

"The efforts to resolve the Internet gambling issue have stalled in Washington DC," Brennan said.

"If states assert their right to regulate gambling within their borders and take a serious look at permitting Internet gambling, one side effect may be a breaking of the deadlock in the US Congress."

Related Articles:

>U.S. Asked To Halt Online Gambling Rules

>Kentucky Supreme Court Hears Online Gambling Case

>Americans Favor Legalizing Online Poker

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I know that there are many other hosting companies out there on the internet. Thousands of them! So if you know one that has a fantastic design and that deserves to be on the list and shared with the readers of WebDesignDev, then please feel free to drop in a comment. Enjoy!

Beautiful Hosting Site Designs…

Media Temple

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Sony is banking heavily on apps, as Dash will provide access of over 1,000 free applications. The standard news, weather, and calendar programs will be available. However, Sony is opening up Dash’s source platform to third party developers.

The Dash Internet Viewer will release sometime in April, with a $199 price tag.

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So I dug through hundreds of dog photos to find the most inspiring and uplifting ones to share with you today in hopes that you will smile at these heartwarming animals we adore so much.

All photos are from the Flickr site and all photos are linked to original photographers. Enjoy!

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Even though this application seems to be quite boring and useless Intel wanted to create this feature to showcase the awesome power of their new i7 processor and it sure does its job quite well. The huge screen showcasing this feature really gives you a perspective of its capacity and let me tell you. It seems to have a humongous amount of features and ways to track and grab content from the Internet.

It sure helps though that the screen they are demoing their new application on is a touchscreen but given that we will see a slew of new touch screen tablets and what not on the market this year this could potentially become a hit app if you ask me. I sure would like to try it out on my Twitter feed to see if I can more efficiently follow my 32k+ followers and what they do. It sure is intriguing and I can’t wait to check it out. However, without a touch display on my desktop it kind of feels unnecessary to get the app. After all, I don’t have the i7 processor either but maybe it works on other processors as well, it should right?

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An new year new sponsors our first new year edition of our monthly thank you post to our sponsors for their support throughout January, who have helped and supported Creative Nerds immensely to help increase the growth of our site.

Become one of our sponsors and get your site noticed by our readers

Creative Nerds has thousands of visitors each day and one of the main perks of becoming one of our sponsors is that your company or product will be noticed by thousands of people each month. Each Month we write a post dedicated to our sponsors thanking them for their support, making our readers aware of our sponsors and chance for our readers to learn a bit more about sponsors.

Heart Internet

Heart Internet’s Reseller Professional account is every Internet professional’s dream. Specially tailored for web designers, Internet integrators, web hosting resellers and developers, our Reseller package includes unlimited web space, unlimited bandwidth and the ability to host unlimited domains at no extra charge!

ForeUI

ForeUI is a handy UI prototyping tool. It can rapidly create static or interactive, skinnable UI prototypes of your website or software. You can use ForeUI to:

Create mock-up for the GUI in your mind and make others understand quickly. Make working prototype of website or software to collect feedback from potential users. Perform usability testing before releasing the beta version. Generate the schematics that can be inserted in the design documents.

PSD To Html

RapidxHTML is a small team of designers and developers, with a wide range of skills and experience. Each of us know our strengths and weaknesses and how these fit into the big picture.

They came together with one simple objective to offer professional XHTML / CSS markup services at affordable price. We combine expertise in eye-catching graphic layout with modern web design standards built into one of the most powerful systems in the world.

Premium WordPress Themes

Premium WordPress Themes Club! Are developing professional wordpress themes and provide efficient support of our templates. Join the club and choose the membership that suits your needs. We are proud to invite you to the best wordpress themes club and provide you with the full access to all our themes, as well as tutorials, support and the community forum.

Viva Themes

They create quality and professionally designed wordpress themes. They offer themes for your business, blog or personal sites. All of that comes with their excellent free support.

PSD Mall

Psdmall is a web design shop that sells unique photoshop designs. All designs are created from scratch in photoshop and are delivered in a .psd format. Psdmall is the perfect solution for newbie designers, developers, domainers, or anyone in need of a high quality design at an affordable price.

Digital Product Delivery

Each day, thousands of vendors use DPD to automatically sell downloads and deliver their digital products to customers. Integrating with PayPal and other popular payment processors, DPD is the quick and easy way to set up your products for automated selling.

Stockvault

Stockvault.net is a stock photo sharing website where designers and photographers can meet to share their images. You don’t have to sign up to be able to download our images, but we’d like you to do so anyway, just so you can gain access to our special features. All images on this site are free for personal and non-commercial usage.

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According to Akamai’s Q3 State of the Internet report, the United States’ internet speed did not qualify for a place in the top ten list of countries with the fastest internet in the world, and its average overall speed has actually decreased by 2.4% year-over-year from 2008 to 2009.

The United States actually ranked 18th out of 203 nations tested in terms of average connection speeds, falling behind speed leaders like South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong.

When looked at from a global perspective, the results are quite positive. The report states:

“The global average connection speed is once again increasing, after an unusual drop in the second quarter. The average connection speed of 1.7 Mbps returns it to a level consistent with the first quarter of 2009. South Korea maintained its position as the country with the highest average connection speed, and was joined by Ireland as one of two countries in the top 10 posting quarterly gains of greater than 25% (on top of minor quarterly gains also seen in the second quarter). Romania, Sweden, and the Czech Republic all saw quarterly declines in their average connection speeds, though they all maintained positive yearly growth. While the United States saw a small quarterly gain in average connection speeds, increasing to 3.9 Mbps, from a year-over-year perspective, the trend is negative, though just slightly so.”

If you live in Delaware, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, or Utah you can be quite pleased with your region’s Q3 performance as they each increased upwards of 15% in average connection speed from Q2 measurements.

In case you’re unfamiliar with Akamai, the company serves as a distributed computing platform for companies worldwide. Their quarterly State of the Internet report analyzes data gathered from their global server network and covers security, internet penetration, mobile internet, average connection speeds and broadband connectivity.

[via Gizmodo]

Tags: akamai, state of the internet

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In a statement issued today, the German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (known as BSI) recommends that all Internet Explorer users switch to an alternative browser. They may resume using Explorer after a fix is issued by Microsoft for a critical vulnerability that has been implicated in the Chinese cyberattack against Google.

If you missed it, yesterday McAffee released a report outlining details of the cyber assault on Google and around 20 other major technology companies. It specifically implicates a critical flaw in all versions of IE that allows hackers to “perform reconnaissance and gain complete control over the compromised system.” Microsoft has responded that it is developing an update to the vulnerability.

According to the statement from BSI, even running Internet Explorer in “protected” mode is not enough to prevent a hacker from exploiting this security flaw.

IE, while the world’s most popular browser, has been steadily losing marketshare over perceptions that it is slower and less secure than rival browsers, especially Firefox. This incident won’t help.

The full statement, translated via Google, is below:

Translated Statement from Germany

“In Internet Explorer, there is a critical yet unknown vulnerability. The vulnerability allows attackers to inject malicious code via a specially crafted Web page into a Windows computer to infiltrate and set up. The last week became known hacker attack on Google and other U.S. companies has probably exploited the vulnerability.

Affected are the versions 6, 7 to 8 Internet Explorer on Windows systems XP, Vista and Windows 7 Microsoft has released a security advisory in which it discusses ways of minimizing risk and is already working on a patch to close the security gap. The BSI expects that this vulnerability will be used in a short time for attacks on the Internet.

Running the Internet Explorer in ‘protected mode’ as well as disabling scripting Acitve Although more difficult to attack, but it can not completely prevented. Therefore, the BSI recommends to switch to the existence of a patch from Microsoft to an alternative browser.

Once the vulnerability has been closed, the BSI will provide information on its warning and information about public-CERT. Keep informed about the civic-CERT and the BSI warns citizens and small and medium enterprises from viruses, worms and vulnerabilities in computer applications. The expert analysis of the BSI around the clock, the security situation in the Internet and send alerts when action is needed and safety information via e-mail.”

Tags: germany, internet explorer, software

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"There’s a lot of awesome stuff on the Internet: Cats talking LOLspeak. Iranian dissidents tweeting. Live traffic updates. Science experiments," says Rick Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel on Google’s Public Policy Blog. "All of these things, and so much more, are possible because of the openness of the Internet. Any entrepreneur with an idea has always been able to create a website and share their ideas globally – without paying extra tolls to have their content seen by other users. An open Internet made Google possible eleven years ago, and it’s going to make the next Google possible."

Whitt outlined what Google supports in its FCC filing:

- Adding a nondiscrimination principle that bans prioritizing Internet traffic based on the ownership (the who), the source (the what) of the content or application;

- Adding a transparency principle that ensures all users have clear information about broadband providers’ offerings;

- Providing a carefully-defined "reasonable network management" exception so that broadband providers are empowered to address genuine congestion issues and protect against hazards like malware and spamming;

- Applying general openness protections to both wireline and wireless broadband infrastructure; and

- Creating better enforcement mechanisms at the FCC, and introducing the concept of technical advisory groups (TAGs) to potentially provide expert advice and resolve disputes.

Here is Google’s submission:

Here’s Google and Verizon’s joint submission:

The FCC’s OpenInternet.gov has numerous posts up liveblogging the recent "Innovation, Investment, and the Open Internet" workshop, which featured discussion from an interesting mix of people on the subject of the Open Internet.

Related Articles:

> Open Internet Heavily Promoted at CES

> Internet’s Possible Future in the US Gets Ready to Be Decided

> FCC’s Net Neutrality Site Gets a Blog

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Update 2: On a related note, while various sources the U.S. government is backing Google’s decision, Voice of America reports:

The top American official in China says the U.S. government will stay out of negotiations between Internet giant Google and the Chinese government.  At the same time, though, he stressed that the issue of Internet freedom is related to free speech, which is a core American value.

 …

He said the U.S. government sees the American company’s negotiations with China as a business matter and therefore will not get involved.

Update:

Normal
0

According to multiple sources, the attacks exploited a new security hole in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Microsoft is working with Google and other partners o patch the hole. The attackers called the attacks "Operation Aurora", according to McAfee.

Original Artilcle: There has been a lot of confusion and mixed reporting going on around this whole Google China situation. Verisign, whose iDefense team who has researched the attacks took note of this and put up a blog post trying to clear the air. Read that to get a clear summarization of what the firm knows. Within that, Verisign says:

The attack bears significant resemblance to a July 2009 attack in which attackers launched targeted e-mail campaigns against approximately 100 IT-focused companies. The July attack employed a PDF file that exploited a zero-day vulnerability in Adobe Reader.  The malware associated with the summer attacks communicated with Command & Control Servers configured similarly to the Command and Control Servers involved in the Google attacks. In fact, the C&C servers from the Google attacks are within the same subnet and six IP addresses apart from the Command and Control server addresses in the summer attacks.

Considering the similarity of the two attacks, it is likely that the summer attacks and the Google attacks originate from the same actor and that the organizations targeted in the Silicon Valley attacks have been compromised since July. It is not much of a stretch to speculate (This is the speculation part) that both attacks leveraged an Adobe vulnerability although that has not been confirmed and Google is not talking.

According to reports, iDefense declares that the Chinese govenrment was behind the effort, which explains Google’s actions, and the involvement of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said:

We have been briefed by Google on these allegations, which raise very serious concerns and questions. We look to the Chinese government for an explanation. The ability to operate with confidence in cyberspace is critical in a modern society and economy. I will be giving an address next week on the centrality of internet freedom in the 21st century, and we will have further comment on this matter as the facts become clear.

Chinese government officials were quoted by Bloomberg:

"The Chinese government administers the Internet according to law and we have explicit stipulations over what content can be spread on the Internet," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular briefing in Beijing today. Chinese law prohibits hacking and other forms of online attacks, she said, declining to say whether that law also applies to state agencies.

"Effective guidance of public opinion on the Internet is an important way of protecting the security of online information," Wang Chen, director of the State Council Information Office, said in a question-and-answer session with reporters, a transcript of which was posted on the office’s Web site today.

Google.cn is still accessible (at least from here in the U.S.), and it is no longer censoring search results. Among the other companies affected by the attacks were Yahoo and Adobe.

Related Articles:

> China Responds To Google Situation

> Baidu’s Stock Soars Following China News

> Google May Quit China

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David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, announced on its official blog last week, there is to be “a new approach to China”, which means, we want out. What the ultimate outcome of this furore will be is not yet clear, but according to sources China is said to have persuaded Google to stay on and announced that: “Beijing is trying to persuade Google to stay and give up plans to pull out its Chinese version from the country.”

On the same blog, Google said: “Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google.” Therefore, we quit? That simple? Not quite.

China’s foreign ministry said last Thursday that: “China welcomed international internet companies to conduct business within the country according to the law”. Well, that’s all well and good if the Chinese authorities are protecting users from viewing porn and overt sedition but the assumption of the foreign Press has been that the hacker attacks were orchestrated by the Chinese government to carry out investigations against human rights activists.

That sort of practice is, of course, unacceptable to us in the West, but doesn’t it smack of hypocrisy? There’s something awkwardly deceiving about Google’s moral stance on China when its corporate motto “do no evil”, an anachronism now but perhaps a catchy shibboleth in its time, is an almost obscene declaration of double standards while it retains data mining to service ad revenues, coupled with surveillance, digital profiling and personal intrusion.

Getting ever more involved, the issue has now become politicised, with the US government saying it will lodge a formal complaint with Chinese officials to express its concern about cyber attacks on Google’s Gmail service in China after Google announced it will no longer censor its content.

In the spirit of appeasement, China Internet Network Information Center, another official agency, said on Saturday that the number of internet users had reached 384 million by the end of 2009, a 28% jump in one year. In January last year, China also issued 3G licenses to major telecom operators, resulting in a massive hike in internet users. Now, around 8% of all internet access in China is through mobile phones, and growing exponentially.

Google is also apparently in trouble for copyright theft of Chinese writers without obtaining permission. Add to this the valid criticism by censors for allowing its site to be used for the distribution of pornography: Google should know better than to let that type of content through in China.

According to Techcrunch last week, “Google has had more success in China than a lot of other big Valley names, but [it] isn’t and will likely never be the market leader…Valley elites erupted into applause on Twitter and blogs saying Google was showing more backbone than the US government and was a model of integrity for the world.” Moral integrity and Google? A non-sequitur if there ever was one, surely?

But perhaps there are other factors at play: Google was not making a lot of money in China and played second fiddle to Baidu; and it was never going to make any substantially increase in its market share. Maybe economics was at the forefront of its decision, as last year China accounted for just under 1-2% of Google’s US$21.8 billion revenue.

This is not just a Google issue though: all foreign media companies have found it very difficult to penetrate the Chinese internet market; they make only modest returns. What the backlash may be within the country and without is yet to be revealed, but media censorship is deeply unpopular, even with the Chinese people themselves, and some have suggested  that if Google goes ahead and pulls google.cn, the Chinese may yet stage protests against the government, citing Google as the catalyst.

One statement I read that came out of Google’s statement of intent was from Warren Cowan, CEO at Greenlight, a UK-based search engine marketing agency, who told TechNewsWorld: “China doesn’t need Google as much as Google needs China . China’s got the sophistication, the strength and the will to do whatever it wants.” Not so, methinks, or China would not have held out the olive branch this weekend; the “need” is perhaps better described as mutual.

But surely there must first be some resolution between Google and the Chinese authorities, as blocking access to sites such as Blogger, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and millions of other “undesirable” websites, is excessive use of their censorship “laws”. It was perhaps the hacking attack on Gmail that was the last straw.

The Chinese are still very sensitive about images of Tiananmen Square, the footage of Chinese police beating up Tibetan monks and the social unrest in Qinghai. It was these scenes that prompted the shutdown of foreign social-networking sites. Also, the scare of the footage on Twitter about the Iranian election protests saw them further retreat into their protective shells.

All this, together with the political overtures of President Barack Obama’s sharp slap on the wrist in his thinly-veiled criticism of Chinese internet censorship during his recent visit, and that the US is to receive the Dalai Lama and to sell arms to Taiwan, doesn’t exactly aid Google’s cause.

Of course, there is also the argument that whether or not Google leaves China, the Chinese have become adept at circumventing these Orwellian blocks to foreign websites with the installation of “virtual private network” software.

But let’s look at some social and economic perceptions of the international press: it has recently taken up the mantle of China’s economic ascendancy on the world stage and of its future dominance. But there are negatives in this narrative. First, intransigence was China’s hallmark during the recent climate change talks in Copenhagen which turned to condemnation; and there has been an international outcry about the jailing of a human-rights activist and the execution of a mentally disturbed British drug-smuggler.

China’s strongest asset, its booming economy, has also been damned by many a reliable source, with one describing it as “Dubai times 1,000, or worse”. According to the Economist, “China’s smooth ascent is exploding because its economic miracle has proved partly illusory. In fact, China’s government may be right to see the economic gloom as in part wishful thinking from outsiders repelled by its repressive political system… China is no Goldilocks economy. Bank lending is growing too fast, which may be fine if it is flowing into useful investments, but not if it is fuelling asset prices. The risk of bubbles and excess capacity will grow unless policy is tightened soon.”

Analyses have drawn a mixed crowd: there are those that think Google is morally right to withdraw from repression; others view it as financial suicide; others still see China’s ascendancy on the world stage as an entity it simply must engage with at whatever cost.

But let’s look at a few excerpts of Will Hutton’s “China, the West and the Credit Crunch”, regarding this new utopia: His lecture reversed some common expectations that the 21st century belongs to China and asserted that its extraordinary growth has been taken out of context. He contends that China’s growth offers no new paradigm for development, and its success is based solely on high savings and low-tech manufacture, having come about as a consequence of its One Child Policy, which effected a phenomenally high savings rate of around 40% as means to ensure old age financial support.

The other point to mention here is Chinese businesses mask pervasive state control. According to Mr Hutton: “Of the 1,105 enterprises floated on the stock exchange, 81% are actually state controlled; of the 6,000 restructured state-owned enterprises, the members of communist party committees have become non-executive directors in 70%.” These figures go a long way to explain Google’s and other multinationals’ treatment by the state.

And talking of economic growth and what the board of google.cn might have realised is, as Mr Hutton states: “…economic growth requires an educated and productive workforce, discerning consumers, property rights and the capacity to innovate. A telling statistic is that China currently accounts for only 0.1% of international patents.”

To conclude, this appears to be a Mexican standoff, with reports that Google’s China operations may be “officially terminated” in February, leading the Chinese government to block the company’s main site, according to Credit Suisse Group. But their decision to withdraw should rather be a precursor in raising a meaningful dialogue with the Chinese authorities. If not, who else is to contribute in becoming a “key enabler of a better-informed world” in China?

The West has a lot to learn from the Chinese and vice-versa, but it will not be an easy task while the Right continue to hold political and economic sway in the country. Although Google will hold more talks with Chinese authorities “in the coming days”, it would also do well to remember its own fuzzy logic: don’t be evil; in other words, be up-front about what personal data you collect. People in glass houses, and all that…

If it does eventually go sour, the biggest losers in this fiasco will be Google and China; both would lose face if the withdrawal proves to be true, with China deprived of Google’s innovation, international visibility and respect and Google’s visible global hand will be impaired.

————————–

John Sylvester is the media director of V9 Design & Build (http://www.v9designbuild.com) and an expert in search engine optimization and web marketing strategies.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Google squirts water-pistol at China’s Great Firewall amidst hypocrisy

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It’s been all over the internet this week; you may have read it somewhere… The American Heart Association announced on their website that every single hour that we watch TV increases the chances that we will die younger than we normally would from cardiovascular disease.

You can read the original article here: http://circ.ahajournals.org According to this study, there seems to be a big difference between watching two hours of television a day and four hours. Those that watch more than four hours suffer the greatest risk with an 80% increased risk of CD (cardiovascular disease) over the people that watch two hours or less of television each day.

The scariest part of this study is that this risk is not just associated with watching television, it also pertains to working on the computer. In other words, sitting still is bad. Our bodies are made to move. I know I sit at my computer for at least ten hours out of each twenty four, if not more. I ride my bike and get on my treadmill regularly, but now I’m thinking that is not enough.

According to http://news.cnet.com, “Technological, social, and economic changes mean that people don’t move their muscles as much as they used to; consequently the levels of energy expenditure as people go about their lives continue to shrink. For many people, on a daily basis they simply shift from one chair to another–from the chair in the car to the chair in the office to the chair in front of the television.”

This video below, from Fox News in 2008, states that television watching is actually hurting our intelligence. After all, Steve Jobs said, “People don’t read anymore.” 40% of Americans read one book or less last year.

On a personal note, the thing about this video that annoys me is that our generation reads mostly on the internet. Why doesn’t anyone recognize that as real reading? It is. My son is in third grade, yet he is reading at a fifth grade level. He doesn’t read a lot of books (he does read some), but he reads on the internet every single day.

Oh, and to the woman speaking in this video, just for the record, I bought the Cliffs Notes for all the Shakespeare books I was supposed to read in school and guess what? I turned out ok.

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The entire world has been talking about Google’s decision to not censor its China search engine after it became the victim of Chinese cyberattack. And while we’ve talked a great deal about its global implications and the censorship in China, we haven’t talked a lot about exactly how Chinese hackers actually broke through Google’s security measures.

A recently published analysis by antivirus/computer security firm McAffee seems to have some of the answers.

They have launched an investigation into the attack has turned up some interesting results, including the likely codename of the operation as well as a key vulnerability in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer that may have helped the hackers succeed.

The Logistics of the Attack

McAffee begins by stating that it discovered a previously unknown vulnerability in Internet Explorer that was exploited by the malware used in the attack. Microsoft has been informed of the exploit and responded, saying they’re developing an update to counter the vulnerability.

Here’s McAffee’s explanation of the vulnerability:

“As with most targeted attacks, the intruders gained access to an organization by sending a tailored attack to one or a few targeted individuals. We suspect these individuals were targeted because they likely had access to valuable intellectual property. These attacks will look like they come from a trusted source, leading the target to fall for the trap and clicking a link or file. That’s when the exploitation takes place, using the vulnerability in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

Once the malware is downloaded and installed, it opens a back door that allows the attacker to perform reconnaissance and gain complete control over the compromised system. The attacker can now identify high value targets and start to siphon off valuable data from the company.”

The attack targeted a few key individuals to install malware and rip open a hole through security via Internet Explorer. McAffee made sure to note that the IE flaw was just one way the hackers infiltrated the networks of Google and 20+ other companies.

As for why McAffee believes that the attackers called the operation “Aurora,” here’s their explanation as well:

“Based on our analysis, “Aurora” was part of the filepath on the attacker’s machine that was included in two of the malware binaries that we have confirmed are associated with the attack. That filepath is typically inserted by code compilers to indicate where debug symbols and source code are located on the machine of the developer.”

Overall, while Microsoft and IE seem to be partly to blame, the attack was sophisticated and executed on multiple fronts. In fact, Verisign iDefense not only claims that the Chinese government was behind the attacks, but that compromised Adobe PDFs were also to blame. However, Adobe disputes this notion.

The hackers knew who they wanted to target and what they wanted and used vulnerabilities never before known to do it. The nature of the attack likely played a big role in Google’s decision.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, bunhill

Tags: attack, china, Google, internet explorer, McAffe, trending

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"The Chinese government administers the Internet according to law and we have explicit stipulations over what content can be spread on the Internet," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular briefing in Beijing today. Chinese law prohibits hacking and other forms of online attacks, she said, declining to say whether that law also applies to state agencies.

"Effective guidance of public opinion on the Internet is an important way of protecting the security of online information," Wang Chen, director of the State Council Information Office, said in a question-and-answer session with reporters, a transcript of which was posted on the office’s Web site today.

Google.cn has reportedly stopped censoring its results, and many expect it to be blocked, although (at least from here in the U.S.) it is currently still accessible, and even has a doodle up.

Original Article: Google’s situation in China appears to be the biggest story to hit the tech industry in some time, at least in terms of discussion. If you’re not up to speed, we covered Google’s announcement here. What it boils down to is that Google may shut down its operations in China, where it has been censoring search results. Google is now taking the stance of no longer censoring, and the world is waiting to find out if and how China and Google can resolve the issue.

Share your two cents about the Google China situation.

It has come to light that the attacks against Google that kicked this whole thing off were part of a string of attacks against 33 companies according to iDefense (this is more than the "at least 20" Google suggested). The other companies are all unknown at this point, except Adobe. Wired Threat reports:

A hack attack that targeted Google in December also hit 33 other companies, including financial institutions and defense contractors, and was aimed at stealing source code from the companies, say security researchers at iDefense.

The hackers used a zero-day vulnerability in Adobe Reader to deliver malware to the companies and were in many cases successful at siphoning the source code they sought, according to a statement distributed Tuesday by iDefense, a division of VeriSign. The attack was similar to an attack that targeted other companies last July, the company said.

As Google noted in its announcement, it looks like a goal of the attackers was to access the Gmail accounts of Chinese Human Rights activists. Again, more on the original story here.

The U.S. government is now involved. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued the following statement:

We have been briefed by Google on these allegations, which raise very serious concerns and questions. We look to the Chinese government for an explanation. The ability to operate with confidence in cyberspace is critical in a modern society and economy. I will be giving an address next week on the centrality of internet freedom in the 21st century, and we will have further comment on this matter as the facts become clear.

Opinions and speculation are rapidly flying around all over the web. Some feel that Google’s move is more of a business decision than really about "not being evil" and ethics. Robert Scoble, who is "torn" on this notion, has an interesting analysis up, in which he talks about "the push and pull of China" based on his travels to the country.

Here are a few other noteworthy reactions from various blogs and news outlets:

Henry Blodget at Silicon Alley Insider:

"Google made the right decision to build a business in China a few years ago.  And it’s making the right decision now, by threatening to pull out of the country if China doesn’t relax its censorship demands. "

"Google’s decision to make a big public threat now, when it controls 15%-20% of China’s search market and is known to most Chinese Internet users, will put far more pressure on the Chinese government to relax its policies than a boycott of the country five years ago would have."

Google matters in China now. 

Jeff Jarvis at Buzz Machine:

Note that even Google’s cofounder, Sergey Brin, has waffled if not agonized over the company’s China policy.

Will the Chinese people revolt at losing Google? We can only hope. Will other companies now have to hesitate before doing the dictators’ bidding? We can only hope. Will Google be punished by Wall Street? It probably will. But as I’ve argued, we should hope that Google’s pledge, Don’t be evil, will one day be chiseled over the doors of Wall Street.

Frank Reeding at Marketing Pilgrim:

While the Chinese people are clearly in favor of Baidu as their engine of choice, if Google were to say that they will not do business in China what kind of pressure does that place on other companies to possibly isolate the biggest and fastest developing market in the world? This could get interesting.

From the New York Times:

"The whole industry will become worse," says Yu Yang, chief executive of Analysys International, a Beijing-based research firm. "As for Baidu, without competition with Google, Baidu has no motivation to innovate."

Stephen E. Arnold at Beyond Search:

"Amidst the furor of the Google – China issue, I noticed that most of the pundits ignored the global disruptive power of a Google decision. I may be one of the few—maybe the only addled goose—pointing out that Google operates like a nation-state, not a garden variety company."

Patrick Chovanec at Seeking Alpha

But in China, nobody issues an ultimatum — especially not to the government — unless they are fully expecting a final and irreconcilable break. As long as you have some hope of a favorable outcome, you bite your tongue. That’s precisely why Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have uttered not a word of complaint, even as a six-month ban on accessing those sites has left their Chinese market share in ruins. Google’s decision to publicly throw down the gauntlet — a move sure to be seen by the Chinese government as a virtual declaration of war — is a sign the company has already written off China and is ready to pack its bags.

Philipp Lenssen at Blogoscoped quotes Google lawyer on CNBC:

When CNBC asked Google’s David Drummond in an interview, "Can you verify… that the cyber attacks were government based?”, David answered: "I want to be very careful here and be very clear. We’re not saying, one way or the other, whether these attacks were state-sponsored or done with any approval of the state. We can’t speculate on that at this point. What we do know is that they were highly organized, and we believe that the attacker came from China, and we know that political dissidents and people interested in human rights in China were clearly targeted here."

As another speculative reason, Google now fighting for an uncensored Google.cn could have been part of the original plan, too: first, get into the market and find a relevant amount of users; second, potentially use that user base leverage for discussions about free speech issues.

Rebecca MacKinnon at RConversation:

Google’s decision was tough and is going to have a great deal of difficult fallout. Still, based on what I know, I think Google has done the right thing. They are sending a very public message – which people in China are hearing – that the Chinese government’s approach to Internet regulation is unacceptable and poisonous. They are living up to their "don’t be evil" motto – much mocked of late – and living up to their commitments to free speech and privacy as a member of the Global Network Initiative.

The best way to keep up with the most recent commentary may be to follow a query like this on Twitter.

Though there has already been an incredible amount of discussion on this topic, you can pretty well guarantee that it is only the beginning. As more of the story unfolds, it’s going to be quite interesting to see how the Google China situation turns out. It is big for the search industry in China, and it is big on a government level. It will also be interesting to see what to what extent the U.S. government gets involved.

What do you think of Google’s actions? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Related Articles:

> Google May Quit China

> Gmail Switches to Default Https Encryption Following Attack

> Google Bows to Chinese Authors on Book Scanning

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CSS and Javascript issues within each version of IE present us with layout and functionality issues. Double margins, floating and absolute positioning, and lack of PNG support are probably the most frequent problems. Luckily Internet Explorer has been supporting conditional comments which allow us to target blocks of HTML toward all IE browsers or specified IE browsers.

Examples of IE Conditional Comments

<!--[if IE]>
<style type="text/css">
a		{ color:#fff; }
</style>
<![endif]-->

The example above sets the color of links to red if the browser is any flavor of Internet Explorer.

<!--[if lt IE 8]>
<script src="http://ie7-js.googlecode.com/svn/version/2.0(beta3)/IE8.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<![endif]-->

The example above example includes the IE8.js library int the page if the version of Internet Explorer is less than 8.

<!--[if IE 6]>
<script src="DD_belatedPNG.js"></script>
<script>
  DD_belatedPNG.fix('.png');
</script>
<![endif]-->

The example above fixes PNGs if the browser is Internet Explorer 6.

Conditional Comments Syntax Table

While we all dislike Internet Explorer’s bugs, their conditional comment syntax provides us a perfect method for fixing them quickly.

Valuable Resources

• If you’d like to cut one of the browser version issues out of the equation, you can always make IE8 emulate IE7.
• Be sure to check out the MSDN documentation for Microsoft’s “official” guide.
• PPK has some awesome notes about conditional comments.

Have fun fixing your code in Internet Explorer with conditional comments!

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and be sure to visit Script & Style for the best Javascript and CSS articles around!

Sponsor the David Walsh Blog and get your brand in front of several thousand users per day!

IE Conditional Comments

Related posts:

1. Microsoft’s Internet Atrocities
2. The 7 Major Roadblocks That Cripple Web Developers and The Internet
3. Adding Events to Adding Events in MooTools
4. Web Predictions For 2009
5. April Fools! Change Your PHP Pages to ASP…Or Not

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After Google’s decision to stop censoring content on the Chinese version of their search engine, and threat to completely halt its operations in China, official China has shown a slightly indifferent face.

They’ve issued a two-pronged response which boils down to these two points: first, if you want to do business in China, you have to abide by China’s laws. Second, China will not give up on censoring the Internet.

According to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, “The Chinese government administers the Internet according to law and we have explicit stipulations over what content can be spread on the Internet.” Simply put, Google’s refusal to censor content on their search engine is breaking the law, which probably won’t be tolerated.

Furthermore, director of the State Council Information Office Wang Chen explains China’s rationale for censoring the Internet. “Effective guidance of public opinion on the Internet is an important way of protecting the security of online information,” he said. Well, that really depends on how you define “security of online information”; if you want to keep a piece of information secret from the government, tough luck.

Chen also commented on hacking: “China is a country being harmed by Internet hackers and is firmly opposed to hacking attacks.” But is the Chinese government is allowed to use certain hacking methods in order to “guide the public opinion on the Internet”? Official China doesn’t say.

It’s very unlikely that China will yield on the matter of censorship, and what Google has said in that blog post on Tuesday cannot be unsaid. As it stands now, Google’s days in China might be numbered.

Tags: china, Google

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In the wake of Google’s threat to pull its business completely out of China, the entire world is responding, including Chinese Internet companies, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Chinese government — in the form of censorship.

A quick recap: Yesterday, in a lengthy blog post, Google revealed that it was the victim of sophisticated attacks against its infrastructure, originating from China (possibly from the Chinese government itself).

The targets were the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. As a result of these attacks — along with Google’s discovery of already compromised Google accounts — the company has decided to not censor its search engine, even if it means being kicked out of China.

The Fallout Has Begun

As we wrote yesterday, the political, social and moral implications could be huge. And, in fact, the fallout has already begun. World leaders are beginning to chime in, none more prominently than Hillary Clinton, President Obama’s secretary of state.

Here’s what she had to say in a brief statement:

“We have been briefed by Google on these allegations, which raise very serious concerns and questions. We look to the Chinese government for an explanation. The ability to operate with confidence in cyberspace is critical in a modern society and economy. I will be giving an address next week on the centrality of internet freedom in the 21st century, and we will have further comment on this matter as the facts become clear.”

As with most statements, it doesn’t reveal all that much. However, we now know for sure that the government has been aware of the situation and will be specifically addressing the issue next week, allowing for the government to gather more information and likely talk to the Chinese in private.

In China, the Google News Is Being Censored

How the news is being interpreted within China is a tricky subject, because it’s getting suppressed in the communist nation. According to a New York Times report, the news was heavily censored or quickly fell from the headlines.

One quote from the article really caught my attention. It’s from an 18-year-old Chinese law student:

“The government should give people the right to see what they want online,” said the woman, Bing, who withheld her full name for fear that it might cause her problems at school. “The government can’t always tell lies to the people.”

At the same time, China’s Internet industry has been shaken to its core, according to The Wall Street Journal. Concern has swept across the industry, as Google’s technological presence has been a boon to the nation’s rapidly growing Internet sector.

It’s probably safe to say that no Chinese Internet company can match Google’s technology or innovations, and losing access to that is an issue. It also has a lot of investments and partnerships that could be affected by a pullout.

This news will continue to leak to the Chinese people, despite the censors. How much information they got, or what explanation the government would give if Google.cn were to simply disappear, is still unknown.

The pressure has begun to build on China, and it’s not going to go away anytime soon.

Tags: censorship, china, Google, Google China, Hillary Clinton

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Originally posted at Relevant Results

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This report comes at a time when public investment in broadband is surging. The federal government has allocated $7.2 billion in stimulus funds to promote universal access to broadband, foster economic development, and achieve additional potential benefits through this technology.

Jed Kolko, associate director at the PPIC and author of the report, compared changes in several economic outcomes with the extent of broadband expansion. To measure the expansion of broadband availability, he relied on FCC data on the number of broadband providers in a ZIP code.

Surprisingly, his research shows that expanded broadband availability has not increased the likelihood that workers telecommute, or have home-based businesses, most likely because communication with workers by video is sophisticated and requires expensive hardware and much faster Internet connection or because corporate cultures discourage telecommuting.

Mr. Kolko writes that the relationship between broadband expansion and economic growth can best be seen in industries that rely more on information technology and in areas with lower population densities.

The report also links broadband expansion to population growth but points out that the average wage and the employment rate are unaffected by Internet expansion.

The report claims that broadband positively impacts employment growth, which in turn, encourages people to move or commute to areas where job opportunities have increased, and thus this growth in local labor prevents the increased demand for labor from raising the employment rate or average pay.

Readers, do you think broadband availability boost economic development?

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British Sri Lankan music artist M.I.A.’s next big single will be called “Down Like Your Internet Connection,” a song about arguing with Verizon tech support to get her cable Internet and wireless up and running.

M.I.A. has been known to tech geeks for years; she jump-started her career by spreading the first singles from her debut album, Arular, online. The album wasn’t out yet, but savvy web users could track the songs down with the help of blogs and file-sharing services.

The artist is known for putting heavy words to light music, but this is a far cry from songs about child soldiers and immigration politics. When you’ve been on the phone with tech support for several hours, you might start to see it as a sort of war, though.

M.I.A. was trying to get her broadband working when she decided mid-crisis that she should ask the support people to help her out with her music. “Ten phone calls later, I have Internet that sticks and a song,” she said.
Rolling Stone reports that the song actually features Filipino Verizon tech support workers singing the hook.

The album — which was made in collaboration with producer Blaqstarr — will be released this summer. If “Down Like Your Internet Connection” is the first single, it will probably hit several weeks earlier. “I Fight the Ones That Fight Me” is another revealed song, but the album itself still doesn’t have a name.

[via Switched]

Tags: album, blaqstarr, down like your internet connection, m.i.a., mia, music, single, tech support, verizon

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If you’re a fan of the TV show Glee, you can start jumping (or singing) for joy: Fox has officially renewed the series for a second season. Not only that, but Glee will be going on a nationwide casting search next month that will include an Internet twist.

The producers of Glee are seeking to fill three new roles for the second season of the show and they will be accepting online submissions from amateurs and professionals between the ages of 16 and 26. More details will be announced soon.

Online casting calls aren’t exactly new, but the fact that such a big show — Glee was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards last month — is willing to at least entertain the idea of finding someone without using the standard agency process is kind of cool. Granted, our cynical side fully expects the roles to be cast with professionals, regardless of how the audition tapes find their way to producers, but it’s still a nice touch.

Glee has had a strong Internet following since its pilot debuted last May (and was subsequently available for free from iTunes). In August, Fox even tried to add Twitter commentary to reruns of Glee and the sci-fi show Fringe, although that turned out to be a better idea in theory than in practice.

Are you a fan of Glee? What do you think about using the Internet to find new talent for network TV series? Let us know!

Tags: GLEE, media, music, television, tv

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Internet radio has come a long way from the low-bitrate 56k radio feeds we used to have to deal with in the mid-1990’s. Anybody with a MP3 collection can setup a Shoutcast collection and many radio stations are gladly simulcasting their content over the air and to the internet. At CES last week, Pure unveiled five new internet radios, each filling a different market niche.

(…)
Read the rest of Pure Flow Digital Radios Revealed [Pure Shows Off Five New Internet Radios, Features Include Alarm Clock, iPod Compatibility, Touchscreens]

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Chumby, the makers of the Chumby personal internet viewer, revealed a new hardware tablet at CES 2010 called the Chumby Sunfury.  The Chumby Sunfury is a 7-inch touchscreen tablet that provides mobile web browsing and a stream of mobile content from the familiar Chumby widgets.

(…)
Read the rest of Chumby Sunfury Tablet Web Browser Device Revealed [Chumby Adds The Chumby Sunfury To Its Line Of Personal Internet Viewers]

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Now that an NBC exec has confirmed the rumors of a late-night lineup shake up, videos making fun of the situation have gone viral.

Lesson learned: Denizens of the Internet won’t hesitate to rally around the child yelling that the Emperor’s not wearing any clothes.

NBC Universal television Chairman Jeff Gaspin said yesterday that the network will definitely move Leno out of primetime. The suggestion that Leno’s show will drop to a half hour in length with Conan and Fallon staying at one hour was also confirmed.

Gaspin was vague about Carson Daly’s fate, promising only that he “will be part of NBC regardless of what happens.” It sounds like Leno has definitely agreed to the new deal, but that Conan is still mulling over his options, which include a not-so-subtle hint from Fox that they’d love to have him. To fill up all that primetime space, NBC has greenlit six new series in addition to J.J. Abrams’s Undercovers.

The Web’s Reaction

The whole fiasco has turned into a snarky Internet drama, with videos of comedians’ comments on the subject going viral over the weekend. The joke is on NBC, and the consensus among commenters on blogs, Digg, and everywhere else seems to be that the decision to move Leno into primetime was deserving of digital mockery to begin with. The Hollywood Reporter had to dig pretty deep to write about a dissenting view. The late-night jokes about the move are the centerpieces of this PR disaster. Keep reading for the cream of the crop.

The Jay Leno Show

Jay made references to the situation two nights in a row. Here are both videos.

The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

Conan spent less time on the subject. After setting the tone to “absurd” by joking that he and Jay will run simultaneously in splitscreen, he tagged on a sharp jab at the end.

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Kimmel’s monologue on the subject didn’t have much to do with the topic at all, actually, but it was still very funny.

He made up for it in this second clip, though, bringing in a cameo by the situation’s tragic odd man out: Carson Daly.

Patton Oswalt on Comedy Death Ray Radio

Comedian Patton Oswalt has more street cred than the late-night hosts these days, and he was very candid in this more serious (but still chuckle-worthy) interview on Comedy Death Ray Radio.

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Finally, our favorite bit about the fiasco.

Tags: carson daly, conan o’brien, craig ferguson, jay leno, jeff gaspin, jimmy fallon, jimmy kimmel, late night, late night tv, media, nbc, nbc universal, patton oswalt, television, tv, video, viral videos

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Originally posted at Technically Incorrect

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The end result, to my mind, is a device that occupies an uncomfortable, middle ground between laptops and smartphones that tries to please everyone and pleases no one. Consider the factors:

• Size: A bit too large to go into your pocket; a bit too small for regular day-to-day work.
• Power: Slightly more capable than a smartphone; slightly less capable than a laptop.
• Price: Slightly higher than a higher-end smartphone but lacking a phone’s capability and portability; slightly lower than a lower-end notebook but lacking a notebook’s speed and storage.

To summarize: Slightly bigger and pricier than a phone, but can’t phone. Slightly smaller and cheaper than a laptop, but not that much smaller or cheaper. To adapt a phrase I used in an article I wrote yesterday, netbooks are like laptops, but lamer.

This is so wrongheaded I am not sure where to begin. I happen to agree with Dave Winer’s definition of “netbook”:

1. Small size.
2. Low price.
3. Battery life of 4+ hours. Battery can be replaced by user.
4. Rugged.
5. Built-in wifi, 3 USB ports, SD card reader.
6. Runs my software.
7. Runs any software I want; no platform vendor to decide what’s appropriate.
8. Competition. Users have choice and can switch vendors at any time.

Netbooks are the endpoint of four decades of computing — the final, ubiquitous manifestation of “A PC on every desk and in every home”. But netbooks are more than just PCs. If the internet is the ultimate force of democratization in the world, then netbooks are the instrument by which that democracy will be achieved.

No monthly fees and contracts.

No gatekeepers.

Nobody telling you what you can and can’t do with your hardware, or on their network.

To dismiss netbooks as like laptops, but lamer is to completely miss the importance of this pivotal moment in computing — when pervasive internet and the mass production of inexpensive portable computers finally intersected. I’m talking about unlimited access to the complete sum of human knowledge, and free, unfettered communication with anyone on earth. For everyone.

It’s true that smartphones are slowly becoming little PCs, but they will never be free PCs. They will forever be locked behind an imposing series of gatekeepers and toll roads and walled gardens. Anyone with a $199 netbook and access to the internet can make free Skype videophone calls to anywhere on Earth, for as long as they want. Meanwhile, sending a single text message on a smartphone costs 4 times as much as transmitting data to the Hubble space telescope.

I don’t care how “smart” your smartphone is, it will never escape those corporate shackles. Smartphones are simply not free enough to deliver the type of democratic transformation that netbooks — mobile PCs cheap enough and fast enough and good enough for everyone to afford — absolutely will.

That’s why I love netbooks. In all their cheap, crappy glory. And you should too. Because they’re instruments of user power.

The truly significant thing is this — the users took over.

Let me say that again: The users took over.

I always say this is the lesson of the tech industry, but the people in the tech industry never believe it, but this is the loop. In the late 70s and early 80s the minicomputer and mainframe guys said the same kinds of things about Apple IIs and IBM PCs that Michael Dell is saying about netbooks. It happens over and over again, I’ve recited the loops so many times that every reader of this column can recite them from memory. All that has to be said is that it happened again.

Once out, the genie never goes back in the bottle.

Netbooks aren’t an alternative to notebook computers. They are the new computers.

Cheap and crappy? Maybe those early models were, but having purchased a new netbook for $439 shipped, it is difficult for me to imagine the average user ever paying more than $500 for a laptop.

For the price, this is an astonishingly capable PC:

• Dual Core 1.2 GHz Intel CULV Celeron processor
• 2 GB RAM
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• 11.6″ screen with 1366 x 768 resolution
• Thin (1″) and light (3.5 lbs)
• Good battery life (5 hours)
• 3 USB ports, WiFi, webcam, gigabit ethernet

Windows 7 is a fine OS, but this machine would surely be cheaper without the Microsoft Tax, too.

The Acer Aspire 1410 isn’t just an adequate netbook, it’s a damn good computer. At these specifications, it is a huge step up from those early netbook models in every way. But don’t take my word for it; read the reviews at netbooked and Liliputing. (Caveat emptor — there are lots of 1410 models, and the newer dual core CPU version is the one you want.)

Of particular note is the CPU. While the Intel Atom is a technological coup, I don’t feel current Atom CPUs deliver quite enough performance for a modern, JavaScript-heavy, video-intensive internet experience. It is quite clear that Intel is intentionally hobbling newer iterations of the Atom CPU in the name of market segregation, and to prevent too much netbook price erosion.

That’s why the current Intel CULV CPUs are far more attractive options — they’re dramatically faster, and have become power-efficient marvels. I hooked up my watt meter to this Aspire 1410 and I was surprised to find it consume between 13 and 16 watts of power in typical use — while my wife was browsing the web in Firefox, over a wireless connection, with multiple tabs open. I fired up Prime95 torture test to force the CPU to 100% load, and measured 21 watts with one CPU core fully loaded, and 26 watts when both were. These are wall measurements which reflect power conversion inefficiencies of at least 20%, so real consumption was between 10 and 20 watts. I was wondering why it ran so cool; now I know. It barely uses enough power to generate any heat!

Modern netbooks are not cheap and crappy. They’re remarkable computers in their own right, and they’re getting better every day. Which makes me wonder:

A recurring question among Apple watchers for decades has been, “When is Apple going to introduce a low-cost computer?

Steve Jobs answered that decades-old complaint by stating, “We don’t know how to build a sub-$500 computer that is not a piece of junk.”

They may be pieces of junk to Mr. Jobs, but to me, these modest little boxes are marvels — inspiring evidence of the inexorable march of powerful, open computing technology to everyman and everywhere.

We have produced a democracy of netbooks. And the geek in me can’t wait to see what happens next.

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“It sounds like it did not go well at all for the FCC,” said Robert McDowell, a Republican FCC commissioner, at a Consumer Electronics Show panel Saturday. Mr. McDowell disagreed with the agency’s decision in 2008 to ding Comcast for deliberately slowing some subscribers’ Internet traffic.

“What was sort of interesting and noteworthy was the court spent less energy on [administrative procedure issues] and focused a lot of time looking at the FCC’s authority to do anything at all without an explicit legislative mandate,” he said.

On Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia heard oral arguments in Comcast’s challenge of the FCC’s decision to cite it for throttling Internet traffic. In 2008, the agency said Comcast violated the FCC’s net-neutrality or open Internet principles, which say that Internet providers can’t discriminate against competitors’ data traffic.

Comcast argued that the agency hadn’t jumped through the right administrative hoops to take enforcement action.

According to reports from the hearing, however, the appeals court judges focused more on broader jurisdictional issues. Much of the questioning focused on the more central issue of whether the FCC had authority to impose net-neutrality rules without an explicit congressional mandate.

If the court rules that the agency does not have authority to police Internet providers’ conduct, it could have a wide-ranging impact on the Obama administration’s technology agenda, which counts net-neutrality rules as its centerpiece.

“We want an open platform and clear rules of the road,” said Mignon Clyburn, a Democratic FCC commissioner, who urged people to wait and see what the court actually says.

In the fall, the FCC began crafting explicit net-neutrality rules, which would require Internet providers — including wireless companies — to treat all legal Internet traffic equally. The idea is also expected to be part of a plan the agency is writing for how the U.S. can ensure all Americans have access to high-speed, affordable Internet service.

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One of big challenges for 3D experience on the Internet was the Internet speed and bandwidth. With the increasing Internet speeds, new trends open to the 3D world over the cyber space.

I doubt that any of us do not know Second Life and the debate the run around it as a new 3D experience over the web. Although its unified and new approach to web 3D using the social media concept, Second Life was not the first 3D web application in the Internet history.

Since years, there were alot of attempts to create 3D worlds over the web, but these attempts were faced with a big challenge, which is the internet limited speed and capability to transfer large 3D files. Nowadays, the internet becomes faster and more capable to handle large files transfer such as the 3D web applications.

With this new internet capability, the virtual 3D world comes to life again and many pioneers has attempt to launch online 3D worlds and 3D online chat applications that allow you to customize the world around you and choose your own style character. This experience is not just for fun and chatting, but also for business developing and online virtual companies meetings.

Below are an amazing collection for the best 3D world applications that let you create you own virtual presence over the web free of charge. Furthermore, it allows you to create your own business of firm presence.

Vivaty

Vivaty is a 3D chat and 3D world that lets you create your own style and environment, as well as chatting with friends and login with your favorite social networks.

Protonmedia

You can use Protonmedia to create you virtual business presence such as creating virtual office and employees. It can be helpful in creating virtual meetings and online meeting using your own 3D character that represents your emotions and acts.

Kaneva

Not only 3D chatting, Kaneva helps you to create 3D world for your own and interact with online friends with different 3D characters and experience.

Justleapin

Justleapin allows you to create 3D world and connection with friends in the 3D virtual world. Furthermore, it allows you to add photos, video and music and share it with friends.

Club Cooee

With the cartoon style 3D characters, you can create your own and meet with other cute characters friends. And share with them activities and fun.

Amazing Worlds

Amazing Worlds is a pioneer of the Worlds 2st 3D mirror world that creates virtual world for real locations in the world. Amazing Worlds has been acquired by Autodesk, the leading 3D software company.

3D City

3D City lets you create  3D environments for you own site. You can use their service for you community site as well as 3D chatting application.

Second Life

Second Life is the most famous 3D chatting and virtual world web based application that includes huge number of users and sociality that allows you to connect with friends and create your own virtual life. Second Life allows you to improve your business and create your own virtual business presence.

Onverse

Onverse lets you connect with friends in the 3D world by choosing your own 3D character and connect with other friends in the 3D world.

Meez

Meez is another interesting 3D chatting and 3D world website that allows you to share the 3D experience with friends and create new friends.

IMVU

One of the most famous 3D chatting application that allows you to create you own 3D character and choose its style and connect with friends in amazing virtual environment.

Moove

Moove is another 3D chatting environment web application that lets you chat in  3D worlds and with 3D characters.

There

There is another famous 3D chatting virtual environment that lets you connect with friends.

Prototerra

Protoerra provides 3D world for your 3D chatting experience. It also allows you to create high quality 3D environment for your virtual life.

Awol Now

Awol provides you with the most funny characters and cute environment.

Exit Reality

Exit Reality allows you to create your own 3D experience for both fun and business purposes through high quality 3D characters and content.

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Internet Usage

* Adults spend 15+ hours on Internet a Week
* Expected 217 MM US internet Users by 2012 (71% Penetration)
* 55% broadband access, will grow to 90% by 2012
* Online video viewing increased 35% year over year

YouTube Statistics

* #4 Largest Site on the Internet
* #1 Largest video site on the web
* 300MM Worldwide Visitors a Month
* 100 Million Visitors per Month
* 5 Billion Video Streams Every month – 40% of all videos online
* (Do the Math – 5 Billion / 300 million worldwide visitors = 17 streams a month per person)
* 15 Hours of video uploaded every minute

But what if you wanted to save that video? Maybe for listening to it offline, if it is a Music video or something interesting that you want to share with your offline friends.

It is very simple really, just copy the link of the said video you want to download, then go to Save Tube.  Paste the URL and then save.  Its that simple.  Watch the video below and see how its done via a demo.

You can also try KeepVid.

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Social Networking:
How To Save YouTube Videos

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When it comes to bringing online video content to your television set, you’re about to have a lot of options to choose from. The Boxee Box will be one, Roku another and shortly the newest contender in this growing space will be the Popbox.

Made by Syabas, a company that has been making hardware streaming devices primarily for the A/V enthusiast under the Popcorn Hour brand, the Popbox is a sleeker, more user-friendly Internet set-top box made for a more mainstream audience.

Like other Internet media centers, Popbox has a number of channel partners on board to provide content: Twitter, BlipTV, Crunchyroll, IMDB, Netflix, NextNewNetworks, Revision3 and more — check out the full list of partners. The user interface is similar to other offerings, designed for use with the included remote control.

Popbox vs. Boxee

Popbox will be hoping to take advantage of two factors in the race to win the hearts and minds of Internet video enthusiasts: price (at $129, it will come in below the Boxee Box’s expected $200 cost) and time to market (slated for a March launch, the hardware will in all likelihood be available before the Boxee Box’s “sometime in Q2″ release date).

Still, Boxee has built a loyal fan base for its popular software media center who will make a great existing market for its device. They are also embracing a more “platform-agnostic” approach, where Mac, Windows and Linux clients will still be in active development at the same time as the hardware solution. Popbox has a much more hardware-centric approach, and has no current plans to offer a pure software solution.

In either case, it’s about to be a great time to think about how to bring Internet content to your television. Do you already watch online video on your TV? If so, what’s your solution?

Popbox Images

Tags: boxee, boxee box, CES, CES 2010, internet tv, media center, ONLINE VIDEO, popbox, set-top box, syabas, tv

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Pandora and Pioneer — manufacturer of car audio systems — are partnering to bring Internet radio to your car.

The joint announcement — which was made today at CES — means that come March, you can purchase Pioneer-powered devices to stream Pandora radio while driving.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the Pioneer device supports both navigation and entertainment, which means it will set you back an exorbitant $1,200. Should you be willing to shell out that kind of dough, the in-car system will automatically detect an iPhone or iPod touch with Pandora installed and mirror the application settings on the the navigation screen for your listening pleasure.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal did not involve the exchange of cash. Pandora is interested in expanding its reach and making the service universally accessible to users. Pioneer is anxious to expand further into Internet radio with connected devices and to challenge the likes of Sirius XM.

In addition, an annoucement from Pioneer also signifies that the company is moving in a more open and web-centric direction. The company is opening up its PAIS platform for connected devices to other device vendors.

The annoucement states:

“The PAIS platform presents open-standard interfaces for voice UI, navigation and maps, local search, social networking, music & radio, and video & TV, among other services. These interfaces enable device vendors to add new service offerings quickly, eliminating the need for significant investment in proprietary solutions, and saving vendors from the pitfall of trying to guess the next ‘killer app.’”

[img credit: rossr]

Tags: music, pandora, pioneer, social media

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Today DivX and LG Electronics are announcing a strategic alliance to bring the new DivX TV Internet TV platform to the next generation of LG’s Blu-ray players and home theater systems.

Internet TV is a hot trend at CES 2010, with tons of manufacturers lining up to show off devices that promise to make it easier to connect to your content, whether it’s on TV, a computer or a mobile device.

Like Boxee and the Boxee Box, DivX TV aims to bring Internet content to your TV screen and allows you to stream local media from your computer.

Check out this video:

When DivX TV launches it will include a number of channels and partnerships for different video, movie and music services — plus social networking and photo-sharing sites. The current list of DivX TV partners and channels include:

Associated Press
blip.tv
Break
CNET
Roxio CinemaNow
Dailymotion
Diggnation
Pandora
Picasa
Revision 3
Rhapsody
TED
Tekzilla
The Street.com
Twitter
VBS.TV

As a media fan and a home theater buff, I’m thrilled that users are being given so many different options to bring all types of media to the living room.

What do you think about the future of Internet TV? Let us know!

Tags: boxee, CES, CES 2010, DivX, divx tv, iptv, television

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The Boise Sad Cowbell Girl Meme started out so innocently, with Internet lurkers delighting to her lackluster cowbell stylings. And then, we found out she was blind and that we, subsequently, are bad, bad people.

The viral video, featuring a beret-wearing college student banging on a cowbell (bereft of joy), was posted to YouTube yesterday after the Fiesta Bowl.

Soon, it made its way to sites like College Humor, and inevitable spin-offs were concocted, such as “Boise Sad Cowbell Girl Doesn’t Fear the Reaper” (as you can see, some smart cookie took that vid down, along with the original).

The mockery was short-lived, however, as a tweet by Boise State student Gloria Miller revealed that the girl in question is, in fact, blind, and did not notice the camera panning by her.

Although I myself did not find this video all that funny — seriously, it ended and I was like, “Wha? That’s it?” — the aftermath of the realization is rather fascinating. Internet memes, while hilarious, are usually inherently cruel. I guess that there are limits to what even the most hardened of humorists will tolerate. Who would have thunk it?

Tags: humor, video, viral video, youtube

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I probably would not have even attended that first seminar had I not been invited to speak, so “luck” played a part in my discovering one of the most-powerful online success secrets.

My circumstances were different than all of my fellow speakers though in that I still have another year to serve in the U.S. Air Force at the time. Attending seminars meant scheduling live events, and indeed building an online business, in a way where it didn’t interfere with my being a full-time soldier.

What happened was that at that seminar I was exposed to some really amazing people who were doing what I eventually wanted to do, and doing it at a much higher level than I had previously allowed myself to even imagine possible.

At that seminar I discovered that some of the best learning happened after-hours. I discovered this when I was walking down the hallway with Ramon Williamson (one of the speakers) and he asked John Reese (one of the attendees) if he had time for a little “brainstorming.”

John said yes, and Ramon suggested we could hang out in his suite. Ramon orders a few snacks from room service, and from around 9pm that night until 4am the next morning, Ramon and John bounced ideas off of each other, and I sat listening in amazement.

I won’t repeat what they said, only that they had income goals at least 10 times as big as mine… and they clearly explained HOW it was possible.

That seminar was where I also discovered “the joint venture” and the back end. Prior to that event I viewed EVERYONE as my competitor.

At the seminar, I discovered about 20 people who were genuinely NOT afraid to share with me what was working as long as I was willing to do the same for them.

They taught me to drop the poverty mentality, and that together we could make the pie bigger for everyone. Over the next few years I did projects with most of the speakers and several of the attendees from that seminar.

After I spoke, they all openly critiqued my business model, knowing that it would help the other attendees. I basically had one product that represented 90% of my income and I had no real backend product to offer after that first sale. They FIXED that.

I left that seminar so pumped up that I was ready to explode. I had driven the dozen hours from Eglin AFB, Florida to Hawk’s Cay down in the Florida Keys. All during the 12-hour return drive, I planned my next step.

Within a month of attending my first seminar, I boldly decided that I was going to host my own seminar, and began putting it together.

Four months after attending my first ever live event, I hosted a seminar in Pensacola, Florida (in April 2003). It wasn’t huge but it was a HUGE step for me.. one of many that I would take in relatively rapid succession.

Speakers at my very first seminar included Dr. Bob Silber, Ramon Williamson, Fred Gleeck, Armand Morin, Tony Blake, Stephen Pierce, Gary Knuckles, and myself.

Stephen was the first speaker, and I can still tell you to this day exactly what he said. In fact, I can tell you to this day what ALL of my speakers said.

I could go on forever with how attending my first seminar surrounded me with movers-and-shakers, and totally energized me. I honestly became close friends with MOST of the speakers from that first seminar that I spoke at. Jonathan Mizel even called me the day before I hosted my first seminar to both wish me luck and to give me a few tips.

My first seminar set in motion a chain of events that made all of the really BIG things that I’ve done since then possible. It enabled me to start developing the relationships that would have never happened had I not gotten out and actually attended a live event.

My conception of what IS possible would probably be relatively constrained had I not been around mentors who taught me to think bigger.

Six and one-half years after attending my first ever live event… six years after having the audacity to host my own live event, I celebrated my 50th birthday with another live event.

As luck would have it, Stephen Pierce, my keynote speaker from the first event that I hosted, spoke at my birthday seminar. He arrived at the venue in a bus, along with an entourage, and proudly shared on stage that my seminar in Pensacola, Florida, in 2003 was the first seminar that he ever spoke it. I sort of started his speaking career. Now, he spends many months out of the year, traveling around the world, and speaking in front of crowds that sometimes exceed 1000 people.

If you have never attended a live Internet marketing event, you’re missing a powerful catalyst that will energize and guide you. If you do not attend live Internet marketing events, you’re missing a powerful networking opportunity.

I’ve now attended at least 50 live events, speaking at many of them. However, I attend many that I am not speaking at just for the networking. This is where I set up massive joint ventures, meet future business partners, and learn the latest industry news.

If you want to be a truly successful Internet marketer, make attending live events a part of your education and marketing process. To find out when and where live events and tele-events are being held consult The Internet Marketing Seminar Schedule at my directory website: http://InternetMarketingSeminarSchedule.com

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What Happened During And After Attending My First Internet Marketing Seminar

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