Description: Called file hosting services, these online systems allow documents, images and files to be stored on distant servers rather than on a PC. Source: NYTimes.com Date: Jan 28, 2011 In the old days of computing, you could carry only as many files as you had floppy disks. Then came hard drives and thumb drives,… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Digital Policy
When employees cross the line online
Description: Most everybody posts online these days. But in an age of conspicuous opinionation, how does an employer know when an employee has crossed the line? Source: Globe & Mail.com Date: Jan 31, 2011 The boundaries between work life and home life are dissolving, just as the difference between public and private communication is becoming… Read more »
Ottawa enters dispute over higher Internet fees
Description: The Harper government is stepping into a contentious debate over just how much Canadians should pay for Internet service, as Industry Minister Tony Clement says he will review a federal regulator’s decision that will raise prices for consumers and businesses Source: Globe & Mail.com Date: Feb 1, 2011 As people access increasing numbers of… Read more »
Google, Twitter help give voice to Egyptians
Description: CNN’s Josh Levs talks about how technology plays a part in protests around the world Source: CNN.com Date: Jan 29, 2011 Last week, as demonstrators angry with the policies of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak took to the streets, the government shut down social-media websites, then blacked out all internet access in much of the country. On… Read more »
Music Industry Braces for the Unthinkable
Description: After another year of plunging music sales, record company executives are starting to contemplate the unthinkable: The digital music business, held out as the future of the industry, may already be as big as it is going to get. Source: Informationweek Date: Jan 23 , 2011 In each of the past two years, the rate… Read more »
The world’s fastest Internet access—who’s got it?
Description: New research ranks the countries with the fastest Internet connections, and all 50 U.S. states too. Source: Fortune.com Date: Jan 24 , 2011 The speed at which people around the world connect to the Internet is climbing at a 14% annual clip and now averages nearly 2 megabits per second, according Akamai’s “State of the… Read more »
So far for magazines, tablets are a bitter pill
Description: Since Apple introduced the iPad last year, publishers have poured millions of dollars into apps in the hopes that the device could revolutionize the industry by changing the way magazines are read and sold to consumers. Source: Globe and Mail.com Date: Jan 17 , 2011 “If you look at the Apple store,” said David Carey,… Read more »
In the Works: A Google Mobile Payment Service?
Description: Google (GOOG) is considering building a payment and advertising service that would let users buy milk and bread by tapping or waving their mobile phones against a register at checkout Source: Businessweek.com Date: Jan 4 , 2011 The service may make its debut this year, say the two, who requested anonymity because the plans… Read more »
1986 Privacy Law Is Outrun by the Web
Description: Concerned by the wave of requests for customer data from law enforcement agencies, Google last year set up an online tool showing the frequency of these requests in various countries. In the first half of 2010, it counted more than 4,200 in the United States. Source: NYT.com Date: Jan 9 , 2011 Many Internet… Read more »
For minorities, new ‘digital divide’ seen
Description: Some see a new “digital divide” emerging — with Latinos and blacks being challenged by more, not less, access to technology. Source: usatoday.com Date: Jan 11 , 2011 When the personal computer revolution began decades ago, Latinos and blacks were much less likely to use one of the marvelous new machines. Then, when the… Read more »