Google has launched a tool designed to make it easier for computer users to use
online applications offline. One of the key limitations of web services such as
e-mail, word processing and calendars, is that they require a net connection to
function. Gears allows access to online data and applications inside the web
browser when offline. Using Gears, online data that is usually held on web
servers can be stored offline on an individual's computer. Gears works in most
of the leading web browsers.
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Google on Wednesday launched a beta translation function that allows users to
search foreign language Web sites in their own languages. The addition to the
Google Translate page will provide translations for 12 languages and will allow
international web surfers to search English-language information available on
the Internet. Results for a search will pop up on a split screen, with the
English results on one side and the machine translated page in the language of
your choice on the other side.
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The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) is sounding an early warning on a
proposal in the president's 2008 budget that would require Internet businesses
such as eBay and Amazon.com to collect personal data on their customers and
share it with the Internal Revenue Service. The move is part of an effort by the
U.S. Treasury Department to track down unreported small-business income
generated by the sale of personal property on such sites.
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Whether they take the form of a comic image of a giant cat or a desperate plea
from a sick child, chain e-mail messages and Internet frauds are elements of the
online landscape that we've all encountered. No topic is off limits: a medical
warning, a promise of free money, or a believably Photoshopped image. But at the
end of the day, they're just elaborate hoaxes or clever pranks--and we've
collected 25 of the most infamous ones ever to have graced the Internet or our
inboxes.
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While the Internet has come to represent instant communication, there are so
many messages out there about so many topics that companies risk losing control
of their image. This realization has brought a wake-up call to those responsible
for protecting corporate images and dealing with customers. It also has brought
some opportunities for researchers who are devising new software programs to do
a better job of monitoring what is said about whom on the Web.
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Customers of companies which lose credit card data to hackers are voting with
their wallets and taking their business elsewhere, suggests a survey. A majority
of those questioned said they would stop spending in shops and on websites hit
by criminal hackers. The survey also found that people wanted to know as soon as
possible if data about them was stolen. Of those asked, 95% said they worried
about key personal data being stolen and used by thieves.
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A study released on Thursday indicates that more women than men go online in the
United States, defying the perception of the Internet as a male-dominated realm.
Approximately 97.2 million women use the Internet in the United States, compared
to 90.9 million men, according to research by eMarketer. "There are absolutely
more things women do online than men do," said eMarketer senior analyst Debra
Aho Williamson, author of the "Women Online" report.
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Verisign, the master-keeper of Internet addresses ending in ".com" and ".net"
said Thursday it would raise fees charged to register those names. The annual
levy for ".com" will increase 7 percent to $6.42, and the ".net" fee will go up
10 percent to $3.85. The per-name fees are collected from companies that sell
domain names on Verisign's behalf, and are generally incorporated in the prices
companies, groups and individuals pay to register names.
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People who use the Internet to read the news have a greater attention span than
print readers, according to a U.S. study that refutes the idea that Web surfers
jump around and don't read much. The EyeTrack07 survey by the Poynter Institute,
a Florida-based journalism school, found online readers read 77 percent of what
they chose to read while broadsheet newspaper readers read an average of 62
percent, and tabloid readers about 57 percent.
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Laptops will overtake desktop PCs as the dominant form of computer in 2011,
according to a report by analysts IDC. The report predicts the laptop market
will grow by 16.1% year-on-year until 2011, compared to 3.8% for desktop PCs.
The gradual shift away from fixed machines may reflect the needs of an
increasingly mobile workforce and the ubiquity of wireless networks. The latest
report from IDC indicates that the appetite for computers on the move is set to
continue.
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The software maker said Tuesday that it will more aggressively pursue legal
action against companies that create domain names that are misspellings of
Microsoft product names in order to capture Internet traffic from typo-prone
computer users. In 1999, Congress passed the U.S. Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer
Protection Act, which makes it illegal to register domain names that infringe on
the trademark rights of individuals or corporations.
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Citing concerns over cost and compatibility, the top technology official at the
federal Department of Transportation has placed a moratorium on all in-house
computer upgrades to Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system, as well as
Internet Explorer 7 and Office 2007, according to a memo obtained Friday by
InformationWeek. Compatibility with existing applications appears to be the
Transportation Department's major concern.
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An obese 26-year-old man in northeastern China died after a "marathon" online
gaming session over the Lunar New Year holiday, state media said on Wednesday.
The 150-kg (330-lb) man from Jinzhou, in Liaoning province, collapsed on
Saturday. China has seen an alarming rise in the number of teenage and young
adult Internet addicts in recent years, despite attempts to restrict minors from
cybercafes and limit online game playing times.
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