The size of the UK Internet audience grew by five percent from 36.9 million people in May 2009 to 38.8 million people in May 2010, according to a new report from the UK Online Measurement Company (UKOM). Among the 1.9 million new Britons using the Internet, 1 million (53%) were at least 50 years old. Men over 50 were responsible for most of this growth, accounting for 722,000 (38%) new British Internet users followed by women over 50 who represented 284,000 (15%) new users. Following the 50+ age group, women aged 21-34 accounted for 272,000 (14 percent) new British Internet users and 'tweenage' girls aged 12-20 who accounted for 231,000 (12 percent).     "The Internet is getting older in moreways than one. Not only is the medium itself maturing but the audience is shifting towards older age groups," said Alex Burmaster, Internet analyst, UKOM . "This growth is a reminder, if one was still needed, that it is very much a form of media utilized by all age groups. The fact that one in four Britons who use the Internet today are 50 to 64 years old proves it is no longer the sole preserve of the young and technical literati." The types of websites where people over 50 are most likely to visit are a mix of health, video, community, travel, fashion, genealogy, cooking and greeting cards. People over 50 account for 31 percent of Internet users in the UK. Health website RealAge has the highest number of people this age with 89 percent of its visitors over 50. Video site Flixxy trails with 80 percent, followed by community site Saga with 78 percent. "This age group have a wide appetite when it comes to the types of sites they are using to supplement the interests and needs they have in the daily lives, said Burmaster. "Consequently, a number of brands across a range of industries, particularly travel, are showing the rest what a valuable medium online is when it comes to reaching a desired audience who haven't grown up with the Internet."     ...

Mobile penetration in India is above 500 million and thats not a new story. Its been oft repeated that in India a large mass would access the internet via mobiles but still the serious active mobile internet population was recently pegged at just 2 million ! So while all this might look murky the future according to a latest report by mobileSquared looks very bright. As per this report mobile internet users in Asia are likely to boom big time by 2015. So much so that the total mobile internet users in India is likely to cross 260 million! (thats half of the current mobile penetration!). The report states that the uptake of 3G would be responsible for this meteoric rise for mobile internet users in India. So India may have 260 million mobile internet users but it would be trailing China with millions of users as China alone will contribute 58% of all mobile Internet users across Asia by 2015, with over 800 million users. Why these statistics seem lofty? Mobile internet in my book needs to be defined better! If we consider hits on the operator websites and downloads of wallpaper and ringtones as mobile internet then these numbers seem fair. But if we consider actual mobile browsing and use of mobiles for email, communication, chat, social networking, collaboration etc then these numbers are surely lofty to say the least. In my book mobile internet would become a serious play in India once transactions and penetration as well as access converge. This would need the roll out of 3G, mobile payments services to graduate and also the access to mobile internet from a devices and operators perspective.

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The Nobel Peace Prize is undoubtedly one of the most reputed international awards. Over the past few years, it’s been awarded to a lot of people and organizations. I was hitherto under the impression that the Nobel Peace Prize was intended for individuals and for organizations. In the past, various arms of the UN (ILO, UNICEF etc) and other bodies like the Red Cross, Grameen Bank, Doctors without Borders have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. However, it seems to have a strange affinity for controversy . Even last year, the award of the prize to United States President Barack Obama drew much criticism. Most people, including myself, considered it too premature. It was an anticipatory award in manner of sorts. Now, the Internet has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize . The first reaction? Who’ll collect it? (That joke alone has been the cause of many tweets – came right up alongside a Google Search). The Internet was proposed by the Italian edition of the popular Wired magazine. The reason? It promotes “Dialogue, debate, and consensus through communication” as well as democracy? (Someone please explain that bit to China again) In fact, there’s a newly launched site http://www.internetforpeace.org . This is their manifesto: We have finally realized that the Internet is much more than a network of computers. It is an endless web of people. Men and women from every corner of the globe are connecting to one another, thanks to the biggest social interface ever known to humanity. Digital culture has laid the foundations for a new kind of society. And this society is advancing dialogue, debate and consensus through communication. Because democracy has always flourished where there is openness, acceptance, discussion and participation. And contact with others has always been the most  effective antidote against hatred and conflict. That’s why the Internet is a tool for peace. That’s why anyone who uses it can sow the seeds of non-violence. And that’s why the next Nobel Peace Prize should go to the Net. A Nobel for each and every one of us. It will soon be translated into multiple languages and can be downloaded. To be part of the movement, you can sign up , and your name will be mentioned as one of those recommending the Internet for Peace. Wired Italy will carry a dedicated campaign “Internet For Peace” till 2010, with stories about those from acrros the world who have used the web to do something concrete and promote peace and harmony. The initiative, backed not just by the US and UK versions of the magazine is also backed by several celebrities and past Peace Prize Winners. My opinion : It’s frankly quite retarded. How does awarding a medium imply anything? Is it me, or does this seem like a mere PR stunt? The Internet is brilliant, agreed. It has great potential, it can do a lot of good in ...

The Internet has often been criticized as a Mass Medium. Lack of accountability, credibility and content control have been cited as its greatest shortcomings. But, as is the case with any medium, the effectiveness of any medium lies in how well or badly it is used. January 12, unfortunately, gave the Internet an opportunity to come under the spotlight as a truly social medium. After the 7.0 quake hit the poorest country in the western hemisphere, Haiti. The Internet came together for a cause – To provide relief to the Haiti Earthquake victims. With the nation’s capital, Port Au Prince being practically destroyed, Social Media was quick to jump into action and do whatever it could. Social Networking sites were quick, not only to spread images of the wreckage, they were also quick to spread awareness about ways to help. The news of mobile networks allowing people to donate via text/sms was primarily spread on the internet. Google’s Search homepage carried a link offering information to those willing to lend a helping hand. The Hope for Haiti Telethon organized by MTV and George Clooney was webcast giving it a much larger reach. iPhone and Mac developers contributed part of their sales proceeds to Haiti via Project IndieRelief . Crisis Commons , a group of volunteers, is organizing weekend development camps to develop software that could play a part in the relief efforts as well. These are just a few examples of how the web 2.0 can be used as a vehicle for philanthropy. Now that this utility of the Internet has had some mainstream exposure, it is very important that it is taken further. Jaagore – A unique social initiative There are many of us who feel the need to lend some of our time and efforts to places where they can really make a difference, but the biggest problem we often face is not knowing where or how to start. The good people from JaagoRe (Im sure everyone remembers their tireless voter awareness campaign during the 2009 elections) have to given us JaagoRe Social Exchange . A portal where NGOs in different cities have listed their various initiatives. People who want to volunteer or help can look for a cause that interests them and offer their services. You can search by Issue – (Health, Child Rights, Women’s Rights, Voting, Education, Corruption and Global Warming) or City or both to zero in on the project you would like to contribute to. In most cases, social work is wrongly associated with teaching and raising funds, however on JaagoRe there are plenty of avenues to help. Presently, their main page even lists requirements for volunteers in varied applications like website design, communication design, spreading awareness through short films. The only thing that disappoints me about the site is that only a shade under 4000 people have signed up for it to date. I hope to see this number, along with active contributors rise steadily in the coming months. Charity Challenges Another interesting avenu ...

Microsoft Security Advisory (979352) Vulnerability in Internet Explorer Could Allow Remote Code Execution Microsoft TechNet Published: January 14, 2010 | Updated: January 15, 2010 Version 1.1 quote:Executive Summary Microsoft is investigating a report of a publicly exploited vulnerability in Internet Explorer. This advisory contains information about which versions of Internet Explorer are vulnerable as well as workarounds and mitigations for this issue. Our investigation so far has shown that Internet Explorer 5.01 Service Pack 4 on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 is not affected, and that Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, and Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 on supported editions of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2 are affected. The vulnerability exists as an invalid pointer reference within Internet Explorer. It is possible under certain conditions for the invalid pointer to be accessed after an object is deleted. In a specially-crafted attack, in attempting to access a freed object, Internet Explorer can be caused to allow remote code execution. At this time, we are aware of limited, active attacks attempting to use this vulnerability against Internet Explorer 6. We have not seen attacks against other affected versions of Internet Explorer. We will continue to monitor the threat environment and update this advisory if this situation changes. On completion of this investigation, Microsoft will take the appropriate action to protect our customers, which may include providing a solution through our monthly security update release process, or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs. We are actively working with partners in our Microsoft Active Protections Program (MAPP) and our Microsoft Security Response Alliance (MSRA) programs to provide information that they can use to provide broader protections to customers. In addition, we’re actively working with partners to monitor the threat landscape and take action against malicious sites that attempt to exploit this vulnerability. Microsoft continues to encourage customers to follow the "Protect Your Computer" guidance of enabling a firewall, applying all software updates and installing anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Additional information can be found at Security at home. Mitigating Factors • Protected Mode in Internet Explorer on Windows Vista and later Windows operating systems limits the impact of the vulnerability. • In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way ...

Continuing on the same theme of my previous  post , of internet merging with television, all the new   products and services are emerging along two major trends. One is of Internet protocol television (IPTV) and the other of internet television.  Similar names but which currently have very different implications. A very succinct definition of Internet Protocol Television is that it is a profile of closed, proprietary TV systems such as those present today on cable services but delivered via IP-based secure channels representing a sharp increase in control of content distribution. It allows a cable provider or telco to offer more services over the same infrastructure. ‘The IP refers to a method of sending information over a secure, tightly managed network that results in a superior entertainment experience.” Since it is a secure network and is not open to the Internet as a whole, it enables more control over the content. Firstly it is safer for established content producers such as film studios and other media houses as it protects them from piracy. Secondly it allows the monitoring and recording of user choices and selection behavior. Internet television is a much more open model for content creation, distribution and consumption. Internet Television is open to any rights holder no matter whether this is an individual creating a video for a very small audience or a traditional publisher that offers linear cable channels. The creator is able to directly reach the end consumer and on any device. Therefore internet television is independent of devices just as internet itself is. Internet television can grow on the existing infrastructure and can easily be adapted by all the internet users as its operating mechanism is the similar to web browsing. There are many critics and supporters of both technologies. “We think IPTV is the platform for all future media distribution, whether it’s cable, telco, or a future wireless broadband network,” says Ed Graczyk, director of marketing and communications for Microsoft’s TV division. For telcos in particular, IPTV presents a ripe opportunity to establish a foothold in the nascent online video distribution market. “Ultimately Internet Protocol television can be more open. Surfing the Internet on the TV in my limited experience is kind of a novelty that wears off after a while. But if there’s a way for the [IPTV providers] to create a ‘channelized’  experience out of that Web surfing so that it becomes more like TV, you could add some value to services that might be streaming from all around the Internet”, says says Ken Pyle, cofounder of Viodi.com. What does the scenario look like in the Indian market given the infrastructural limitations we have? “Video is driving the bandwidth consumption across the world. In the present market, even with the constraints on bandwidth availability on mobile devices, there is a healthy consumption and huge potential. We are on th ...

Describes the features of VoIP Internet phone, Internet answering machine and free Internet fax services.

Provides information on the benefits of an effective and efficient Internet job search. Also provides information on Internet education which plays a vital role in distance education.

Describes the features of broadband internet technologies, including DSL internet, wireless internet, satellite internet, and cable internet.

The internet is all pervasive. It has earned itself the notorious reputation of being the facilitator of Crime. Well, it’s not all bad. Over the last few years this fallen hero, backed by some inspirational efforts, is applying itself to fighting Real World Crime. This shift owes much of its success to social media (doesn’t everything these days). Facebook was party to a Mafia War of a different kind in mid march when Pasquale ‘Scarface’ Manfredi was nabbed thanks to his Facebookophilia. A regular feature on Italy’s Most Wanted list, this mobster became a victim of his own addiction and using high tech surveillance equipment he was traced to an apartment near Crotone in Southern Italy. PostaCrime.com is also using Facebook as a vehicle to further its cause. Stop Crime, Get Cash is the by-line of this collaborative crime fighting (more reporting actually) website that lets people post crimes and view crime by Area. You can also sign up for Crime Alerts in your locality. It has even managed to piggyback a little e-commerce section that sells decals, Protection packs and apparel. With a call to get local police departments to sign up. This little website took a utopian view to crime fighting. Durham County resident Mark Elander started neighborhoodprotector.com , essentially a web based neighbourhood watch program. An effort to bring the community together to report suspicious activities and people. A vigilant way to prevent crime. A number of Police Departments in the United States use their Facebook fan pages to expedite the process of disseminating information about Most Wanted Criminals. At this point, I should mention that I did take a look at the website of the PDs of Mumbai , Bangalore , Delhi and Chennai . While I was glad to see that there were seemingly active websites in place. They looked like they up only for the sake of checking an item off the list – Website, Check! They still need a bit of work before they can actually engage people. Mumbai’s site came to closest to doing this, and the jarring music score on Chennai’s site has made me put away my speakers. I was a little disappointed with Bangalore’s site considering that the Bangalore Traffic Police’s website is quite interesting and has a nifty HotSpot feature. Ofcourse, to see how accurate it really is we’ll have to wait for a mobile version of the website and that elusive 3G spectrum! We have all watched hollywood cop movies with the famous stakeout. There is a new variant of this old beast on the internet – the social media stakeout. Crime busting sleuths rely on fake online profiles to network with members of various crime circles. Relying on these interactions and relationships has seen some success in places like Cincinnati and New York . There is however a flip side to this tale. A certain big brother feeling tends to creep in. With Public as the default mode on Social Media – How comfortable should we be w ...

Internet marketing is a lucrative business. There are many individuals who are earning substantial revenues by just selling their products or services over the Internet while at the same time endorsing the products or services of other Internet marketers. Revenues are flowing out of different outlets—through affiliate programs, direct product selling, or offering Internet marketing-related services. With several features such as round-the-clock operability, opportunity of widening clientele base, and low starting costs, it is not surprising that the Internet marketing industry is now full of mushroom businesses owned and operated by novices who are eager to share the wealth of this lucrative industry. hopfeed_template=""; hopfeed_align="LEFT"; hopfeed_type="IFRAME"; hopfeed_affiliate_tid="smartz"; hopfeed_affiliate="bread"; hopfeed_fill_slots="false"; hopfeed_height=95; hopfeed_width=565; hopfeed_cellpadding=5; hopfeed_rows=2; hopfeed_cols=1; hopfeed_font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Sans Serif"; hopfeed_font_size="10pt"; hopfeed_font_color="#000000"; hopfeed_border_color="#ffffff"; hopfeed_link_font_color="#D26706"; hopfeed_link_font_hover_color="#3300FF"; hopfeed_background_color="#FFFFFF"; hopfeed_keywords="Niche-Marketing"; hopfeed_path="http://bread.hopfeed.com"; hopfeed_link_target="_blank"; However, in order to grab a slice of wealth offered by Internet marketing, you must bear the stiff competition over the market. In this stiff competition, Internet marketers who possess the knowledge and capability on this type of investment will win the game. The rule of the Internet marketing game is simple: learn the rules and apply necessary marketing strategies in order to win the game. Though you have several websites that are easy to navigate and contain useful features such as complete inventory listings as well as shopping cart facilities, if it is unable to generate generous amount of traffic, your Internet marketing career will be a total failure. To avoid reaching possible career failure, it is important that you seek the help of an Internet marketing consultant. One of their business objectives is to provide their clients the necessary strategies or possibly handle the situation by themselves in terms of generating web traffic to their clients’ sites. This can be done through various ways such as affiliate marketing programs, web page optimization, web content development, or pay per click advertising. Even though as an Internet marketer, you are familiar with the aforementioned marketing concepts, you need sufficient time and expertise to apply it to your Internet marketing business. To fill up the gap, an Internet marketing consultant has the capability of applying the necessary strategies to build essential web traffic that will result in increased sales and generated revenues. In case you have the knowledge and t ...

Microsoft have found a vulnerability in Internet Explorer security that’s affecting all operating systems that were released prior to Windows Vista such as Windows 2000, 2003, XP, etc. However, the post Windows Vista versions such as Windows Vista, Windows 7, Server 2000 and Server 2008 R2 are not affected by this IE vulnerability. According to Microsoft, [...] Related posts: Show Your Own Name in Internet Explorer Title Bar Uninstall or Remove Internet Explorer in Windows XP and Vista Download Internet Explorer 8 With All New Features Password Protect Internet Explorer 8 and Restrict Others Access to Internet Download Internet Explorer 8 Add-On Feature Pack for Windows 7

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Most people do use the Internet whether it is to communicate with friends, family and so on or for anything related to their work. More than that, it is often important to benefit from a quality internet connection and high speed satellite Internet is a popular choice for this purpose. Lots of PC users are opting more and more for this way to connect to the Internet. This connection is fast , reliable and have a good connection quality. Since that option don’t use normal phone lines (or cables ones for instance), the chances of instability are indeed very low. It is well known that such connection is a lot faster than any dial up connection. But not really as fast as a DSL Internet connection. Here High Speed Internet Providers you will find pertinent infos about high speed Internet. A satellite dish is needed for the high speed satellite Internet since it is with such dish that you are able to receive and send Internet signal. If you want a good Internet connection with such a system, it is more than important to have a good access to they sky. Satellite Internet is great for those living in regions without access to phone line based Internet or cable one. This is a high level technology related system that costs less than other type of Internet connections. This system is quite versatile and you can install it anywhere you want. Besides you have no limits regarding the upload/download traffic. This site Rural Internet has all the infos you need to know about rural internet provides. A drawback is that if the weather is bad, you might experience slower speed because the signal between the satellite dish and the satellites in orbit won’t be as good as it should be. Also, the installation of the system is not necessarily as simple as we would all want to. However, these are easy to be ignored aspects when thinking about the many advantages that high speed satellite internet brings in comparison with dial up. For anyone not able to have DSL Internet, then satellite Internet is the best choice. This is a great option to connect yourself to the Internet. You will be able to have Internet even if you do live in areas with difficult Internet connectivity. ...

How can I stop playing? Treating so-called "Internet addiction" using electro-shock therapy was first mentioned earlier this year when reports such as China Youth Daily's on Uncle Yang talked about teenagers who were forced into receiving the treatment in boot camps. The Western media also reported on the boot camp cases, but in mid-July the Ministry of Health announced that it was going to abolish electro-shock treatment, bringing "Internet addiction disorder" once again into discussion on blogs and the Western media. George Sun at Global Voices translated blog posts on the subject by Sina, Netease commenters, the rights lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan, academic and fake goods expert Fang Zhouzi. Fang wrote (from Global Voices): That China once applied the electroshock therapeutics for “net addiction” is against medical ethics. Electroshock is a disputed therapy and produces obvious side-effects though it has a history for some decades. Right now, it is merely applied to a few types of severe psychological illnesses, especially hypochondria and this has been proved by various clinic experiments. Giving the brain electronic shocks to change the cerebral function can only damage the memory and cognitive ability but the mechanism of it is still unknown. On July 16 Chang Ping (real name Zhang Ping), who used to be the deputy editor of the Southern Metropolis Weekly but was removed due to an opinion piece on Tibet in the Financial Times, wrote an opinion piece in Southern Metropolis Daily questioning whether "Internet addiction" could even be seen as an illness. Furthermore, he expresses the idea that some organizations have taken the original joke too far. But Chang Ping says that either way, the government's stopping of electro-shock treatment does not mean that they won't reissue Internet addiction as a disease - they are just changing the standards for treatment. There is a column of opinion pieces by Chang Ping from different newspapers and magazines, collected and updated on Netease as he writes them.

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Where has the debate on Internet addiction gone?

by Chang Ping / SMD The Ministry of Health has stopped using electro-shock therapy to cure “Internet addiction” and the many young people who adore using the Internet will no longer be threatened by “computers,” and they are ecstatic. But, perhaps they didn't look at the notice too closely: it stated that the safety concerns of electro-shock therapy cannot be determined and its effectiveness cannot be defined. What this really means is that they are announcing a different standard for treating Internet addiction, and the officials will still decide that “Internet addiction” is a kind of disease. Like most medical terms, “internet addition disorder” was imported. The difference is, when it started it was a joke. In 1995, a mental illness doctor from the US, Ivan Goldberg, mocked the Diagnosti ...

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Akamai announced the state of the Internet report for the Fourth Quarter – 2009 in Bangalore last week. Leveraging information gathered from its network, the Akamai report provides insight into key Internet statistics such as origin of attack traffic and broadband connectivity levels across the globe. The report has several interesting facts for India. Let us take a brief look into the report. India was ranked 114 for average connections speed, at 849 kbps. Haryana topped the list in the 4th quarter with an average speed of 1103 kbps followed by Kerala in the second position with an average speed of 1065 kbps. India also ranked 8th, with 3.3 percent of observed attack traffic. Russia remained the top attack traffic source, accounting for 13 percent of observed attack traffic in total. India ranked 20 globally for number of unique IP addresses seen by Akamai, with over 3 million IPs. Delhi and Maharashtra continue to top the list with over 1 million unique IPs each. India  also ranks 159 globally for number of unique IP addresses per capita, with 0.0030. Fastest Indian States in terms of connection speeds : Many states in India maintained average speeds above 768 Kbps, After making way for Kerala to move to the top of the list in the third quarter, Haryana is back on top of the list in the fourth quarter as the fastest Indian state with an average speed of 1,103 kbps. Kerala moved down to the second spot with an average speed of 1,065 kbps followed by Karnataka which retained its third spot with an average speed of 1,015 kbps. As far as global average connection speeds are considered – South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan provided the highest average measured connection speed by country surpassing 7.5 Mbps average connection speed in the fourth quarter. During the fourth quarter, 96 countries had average connection speeds below 1 Mbps, down from 103 countries in the prior quarter. Connection speeds below 100 Kbps was measured in only three countries in the fourth quarter – less than half as many as in the third quarter. You can download the detailed report from www.akamai.com/stateoftheinternet . Image via c77c .

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Microsoft Security Advisory (979352) Vulnerability in Internet Explorer Could Allow Remote Code Execution Microsoft TechNet Published: January 14, 2010 | Version: 1.0 quote:Executive Summary Microsoft is investigating a report of a publicly exploited vulnerability in Internet Explorer. This advisory contains information about which versions of Internet Explorer are vulnerable as well as workarounds and mitigations for this issue. Our investigation so far has shown that Internet Explorer 5.01 Service Pack 4 on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 is not affected, and that Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, and Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 on supported editions of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2 are affected. The vulnerability exists as an invalid pointer reference within Internet Explorer. It is possible under certain conditions for the invalid pointer to be accessed after an object is deleted. In a specially-crafted attack, in attempting to access a freed object, Internet Explorer can be caused to allow remote code execution. At this time, we are aware of limited, active attacks attempting to use this vulnerability against Internet Explorer 6. We have not seen attacks against other affected versions of Internet Explorer. We will continue to monitor the threat environment and update this advisory if this situation changes. On completion of this investigation, Microsoft will take the appropriate action to protect our customers, which may include providing a solution through our monthly security update release process, or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs. We are actively working with partners in our Microsoft Active Protections Program (MAPP) and our Microsoft Security Response Alliance (MSRA) programs to provide information that they can use to provide broader protections to customers. In addition, we’re actively working with partners to monitor the threat landscape and take action against malicious sites that attempt to exploit this vulnerability. Microsoft continues to encourage customers to follow the "Protect Your Computer" guidance of enabling a firewall, applying all software updates and installing anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Additional information can be found at Security at home. Mitigating Factors: • Protected Mode in Internet Explorer on Windows Vista and later Windows operating systems limits the impact of the vulnerability. • In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit the ...

Right-wing media have falsely claimed that the net neutrality principle supported by the Obama administration is an attempt by the government to control Internet content. In fact, net neutrality does not mean government control of content on the Internet; rather, net neutrality ensures equal and open access for consumers and producers of content and applications, and is supported by a wide array of groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Christian Coalition of America. Right-wing media push baseless claim that net neutrality would allow government to censor content, squash dissent Beck claimed net neutrality is "a way to control voices." On the January 19 edition of his Fox News show [accessed via Nexis], Glenn Beck claimed, "FCC, they want net neutrality with Obama. That's the big push. Net neutrality, it's a way to control voices." Beck previously claimed on the October 20, 2009, edition of his show that "we have Marxists that are designing and working on net neutrality -- are big believers in net neutrality, right? Gosh, it does seem that these would be the wrong people to help, you know, innovate business for it. And so what they want to do is, if I can do the third one, control content." Limbaugh: "[N]et neutrality is the Fairness Doctrine of the Internet." On the March 16 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed that "net neutrality is the Fairness Doctrine of the Internet." He added: "In the era of net neutrality ... the results of any search -- let's say you want to search abortion, or you want to search the health care bill -- they want to control what you see. They want to control what your options are. They can't really control the content; it's too massive and it's too big. What they want to try to do is limit your access to it, and have that access flavored toward whatever particular point of view the administration wants supported." Newsmax promotes Institute for Liberty's claim that net neutrality "is a foray into content regulation which could effectively squash dissenting viewpoints." In an April 4 Newsmax email , the Institute for Liberty 's Andrew Langer claimed that " 'Network Neutrality' is a code word that means something far more sinister -- 'Government Control.' " He later stated, "The irony, of course, is that their proposal wouldn't make the internet more 'neutral' " and that "[p]art and parcel of their proposal is a foray into content regulation which could effectively squash dissenting viewpoints." Wash. Times op-ed: It's "worrisome" that FCC "seeks to regulate the flow of Internet content" through net neutrality. In a March 31 op-ed , Andrew Moylan of the National Taxpayers Union wrote: "Mr. Obama's appointees to this [Federal Communications Commission] have made no secret of their desire to exercise more control over the whole landscape of video, telephone and wireless services. One of the m ...

Over the years we have gotten very used to a very ‘Free Internet’. Free as in, don’t pay for what you use and don’t pay for what you say! Free Content and Freedom of Content are perhaps the main pillars of the Web 2.0 world! Slowly, but surely, these are being threatened by various vested interests. Free Content Unfortunately we have gotten too used to not paying for things. Thanks to piracy, most of us don’t even need to anymore. Music, news, movies and software from all parts of the world find their way into our hard drives. While as a consumer I’m thrilled with this state of affairs, as a business I would not be. Money that should have been going into somebody’s pocket is simply vanishing. Look at this way, every time we go to a torrent website and download a movie, the only cost incurred is that of data transfer (negated with an unlimited data plan). Contrast this with a situation where a person actually goes for the same movie to a theatre/multiplex. Apart from the movie tickets, the other cost components involved here could include transport (to and fro), parking charges, eatables and the government imposed tax you would invariably pay on one or all of these. In downloading a movie other dependant businesses have lost out on valuable revenue. This is of course, over and above the distributors and production houses that lose collections that they rightfully deserve. If we feel that we should be paid to do our jobs, why deprive others? You could argue that we are saving the money. But if everyone stops spending, no one will earn! Another interesting paradox is that of news/books. In the case of music, movies and software you can lose revenue but no one else can take credit for your work. You can still use your reputation to find another way to make money. A journalist or writer doesn’t quite have the same protection. There is no law against paraphrasing. Months/years of effort and research can come to naught in no time because of perfectly legal reproduction. No money, no fame. Despite anything that Rupert Murdoch tries, people are unlikely to pay for news online. If they don’t pay for news, where do the publishing houses to make money? One might argue that traditionally they have always made their money from advertising rather than subscription. However, there is a world of difference between the revenue generated (for a publication) online and in print. If most people are reading their news for free online. Who is buying the papers? As circulation drops, so will the in print advertising revenues. If they don’t generate revenue, how will they pay the journalists and bear the cost of the research that eventually brings us the news? What will the ‘paraphrasers’ paraphrase? Where will we get our news? An exchange between author Ken Auletta and Google co-founder Sergey Brin paints the picture perfectly. While being quizzed about Google’s ambitious Google Books project Sergey advises Auletta to print his book online for free ...

Who doesn’t want inexpensive internet marketing tools? In this day and age when advertising your business online is the way to go, it’s a must that you avail of internet marketing tools at the lowest cost possible. How can you avail of them? How can you make the most out of these low cost internet [...] Related posts: 5 Reasons Why Blogging is the New Internet Marketing Tool 5 Reasons Why Blogging is the New Internet Marketing Tool... Blogging Software With blogging becoming increasingly popular, there is also an increasing... Free Internet Marketing Methods that will Save your Internet Business Free Internet Marketing Methods that will Save your Internet Business...

      With Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic rants crossing that fine line between adorable and terroristic threats, it’s nice to see there’s “artists” like Prince who still dabble in the kind of crazy that more closely resembles your grandfather’s dementia. Via Amy Grindhouse: explains that he decided album will be released in CD format only Read More ...

In a new report studying the internet usage of Indian SMBs (small and medium businesses), it has been revealed that SMBs will be one of the major forces spending and driving internet growth in the country. Based on the expenditure of these businesses in the past year and the growth in spending, it is predicted that SMBs will increase spending on Internet activities by 16%. In 2009 this expenditure amounted to $1.45 billion. The corresponding figure for Chinese SMBs was estimated to be $7 billion dollars by the same firm, Access Markets International Partners, which conducted the study on Indian SMBs. While the figures for spending differ hugely between the Indian and the Chinese SMBs, there are similarities in the aspects of the internet that the SMBs intend to spend on. Internet infrastructure is below par in both the countries and therefore the top priority of these businesses is to first enable that level of connectivity, speed and ease of access that will help them to engage in activities which will prove to be fruitful for them. The study notes this and goes on further to say that there is a considerable gap in the use of internet related technology such as broadband, e commerce etc in India. Moreover in China the study estimates that in 2009 SMBs spent $3.7 billion on Internet access compared to $3.3 billion dollars on the rest of all myriad activities of the internet. Expenditure on acquiring broadband access is one of the highest in China and spending on wireless technology is also growing at a fast pace. The same investment and growth rate is not present in India but here too DSL and cable modem remain the most preferred modes of internet access. And here we arrive at a slight shift in the outlook of the SMBs in the 2 countries. It is estimated that in 2009 China spent $1.5 billion dollars on their personal online presence, which is way more than India. So in China the companies are not majorly concerned in personally mainitainig company websites. This means that there is scope for growth in expenditure in this particular space in India. Consequently the study says that most Indian SMBs are showing a major interest in setting up their own web sites providing necessary information and online services related to the company online within the next year Yet both countries exhibit a high level of usage of e commerce majorly through third party service providers. In India, the study found that one in four such businesses in India have websites, most of which are hosted on third-party vendors’ or service providers’ servers. While the corresponding figure is not available for Chinese SMBs, it does look like the SMBs in both countries are very interested in e commerce activities either conducted through their own websites or through external platforms. This spells out a good opportunity for all companies who intend to capitalize on this demand. Another notable opportunity that emerges from these studies is the ...