In E-Book Era, You Can’t Even Judge a Cover

"Among other changes heralded by the e-book era, digital editions are bumping book covers off the subway, the coffee table and the beach. That is a loss for publishers and authors, who enjoy some free advertising for their books in printed form. . ."

Why Internet Connections are Fastest in South Korea

"Broadband Internet speeds in the United States are only about one-fourth as fast as those in South Korea, the world leader, according to the Internet monitoring firm Akamai. And, as if to add insult to injury, U.S. Internet connections are more expensive than those in South Korea, too."

Apple May be Working on iPhone for Verizon: Report

"Apple is said to be developing a CDMA-compatible iPhone that would work on leading U.S. mobile carrier Verizon Communications Inc's network, the Wall Street Journal had reported earlier, citing people familiar with the matter."

High-Tech Cheating Abounds, and Professors Bear Some Blame

"The latest surveys by the Center for Academic Integrity found that 22 percent of students say they have cheated on a test or exam, but about twice as many—43 percent—have engaged in 'unauthorized collaboration' on homework."

Computer Chip Revenue Falls 10.5%

"Worldwide semiconductor sales reached $228.4 billion in 2009, down 10.5% from 2008, reseacher Gartner reports this morning. Semiconductor sales are a good indicator of the tech industry's health, since nearly every computer and electronic is packed with them."

E-book Advantages on the Kindle and the iPad

"If you're choosing between a Kindle or an iPad for reading electronic books, you might keep in mind some advantages of both products."

IPad Could be Kindle's First Big Threat in E-books

"Amazon.com, which has dominated the young but fast-growing electronic book market for the past few years with the Kindle, could get its biggest threat Saturday, when Apple releases its iPad multimedia tablet."

Students Retain Information in Print-Like Formats Better

"In a study at Arizona State University, students had lower reading comprehension of online material than they did of print-like versions."

Employers on Online Education

"In a survey done by online institution Excelsior College and Zogby International, 61 percent of CEOs and small business owners nationwide said they were familiar with online or distance learning programs. Not only are they familiar with them, but 83 percent of executives in the survey say that an online degree is as credible as one earned through a traditional campus-based program."

Young Learners Need Librarians, Not Just Google

"The ubiquity and ease of Google searches could make kids' minds go soft without the ability to critique or contextualize the answers."

Google Issue Could Affect China Long-term

"China may not see any immediate fallout from Google's fight against its censorship but there could be long-term implications, experts say."

13 Ways of Looking at an iPad

"'With the iPad,' writes Steven Levy in How the Tablet Will Change the World, 'Apple is making its play to become the center of a post-PC era.'"

OCLC Shedding NetLibrary Division

"The Dublin nonprofit that electronically connects library collections around the world is letting go of one of its divisions."

Cracks in Great Chinese Firewall, even without Google

"Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are out, but in China's vast and bewildering online universe you can freely read the New York Times or visit a favorite porn site."

TV and Internet Use Together Growing

"Americans are spending more time watching television and surfing the Internet simultaneously, and nearly 60 percent of TV viewers use the Web at the same time at least once a month, according to a Nielsen report released on Monday."

More Employers Use Tech to Track Workers

"Two-thirds of employers monitor workers' Internet use, according to an American Management Association/ePolicy Institute survey from 2007, the latest data available from those groups. Nearly half of employers said they track content, keystrokes and time spent at the keyboard."

Militant and Hate Group Internet Use Grows: Report

"The use of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube by militant and hate groups grew by almost 20 percent in the past year, a report by the Simon Wiesenthal Center found on Monday."

More Courts Swear by Digital Technology

"Courts in Iowa, Minnesota and New York are considering replacing at least some court reporters with digital recording systems to cut costs."

FBI Uses Phony Profiles on Social Networks

"The FBI and other federal agencies are going undercover on Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and other social networks with phony profiles to gather information and communicate with suspects, according to an internal Justice Department document."

Facebook and Twitter Access via Mobile Browser Grows by Triple-Digits

"The study found that 30.8 percent of smartphone users accessed social networking sites via their mobile browser in January 2010, up 8.3 points from 22.5 percent one year ago. Access to Facebook via mobile browser grew 112 percent in the past year, while Twitter experienced a 347-percent jump."

Survey: People Prefer Free Online News

"The project's report contained an extensive look at habits of the estimated six in 10 Americans who say they get at least some news online during a typical day. On average, each person spends three minutes and four seconds per visit to a news site."

U.S. to Roll Out Major Broadband Policy

"U.S. regulators will announce a major Internet policy this week to revolutionize how Americans communicate and play, proposing a dramatic increase in broadband speeds that could let people download a high-definition film in minutes instead of hours."

Privacy concerns Hinder 'Real-Time Web' Creation, Developers Say

"An Internet that gives people the information they want virtually as soon as it's created is getting closer, according to Internet professionals. But before real-time Web becomes a reality, developers say they need to figure out how to protect people's privacy while blasting out as much information as they can, as fast as they can."

Reported Cyberfraud Losses Double in 2009: FBI

"Reported losses from Internet fraud more than doubled in 2009, with scams that falsely used the FBI's name generating the most complaints, the law enforcement agency said on Friday. The total dollar loss rose to $559.7 million last year from $264.6 million in 2008, based on amounts reported to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center."

5 iPad Competitors

Apple's iPad will have plenty of company when it debuts, but not all the slates target the same consumers. Here's a look at five of the most promising.

Security Firm Says Universities Make Good Targets for Phishing

"Students at universities in the United States have been pegged as good targets for online criminals, the security company RSA notes in a recent report."

Twitter Users Not So Social After All

"Twitter may be a fast-growing social network, but most of its 50 million accounts merely follow other users rather than posting their own messages. In fact, a whopping 73% of Twitter accounts have tweeted fewer than 10 times according to a new report from Barracuda Networks, a Web security company."

HighWire Presents Findings from eBooks Librarian Survey

Summary of the Report

Full Report (38 Pages)

Interactive Map: Growth of the Internet 1998-2008

Interactive map from BBC covering 1998-2008

Report: Checking Out the Future

Checking Out the Future: Perspectives from the Library Community on Information Technology and 21st-Century Libraries

E-Books Make Gains

"Boosted by the success of Amazon.com's Kindle e-reader and online e-book store, the e-publishing content space is booming and shows no sign of slowing down."

Academic Publishers Seeing Strong Growth From E-book Sales

"Nearly 90% of commmercial academic publishers have seen growth in e-book sales over the past two years, according to a cross-sector survey released today (10th March) by the Association of Learned Professional and Scholarly Publishers. Growth in some cases was more than 1,000%, with e-book sales now almost 10% of total book sales of the publishers surveyed."

iPhone Addictive, Survey Reveals

"A new Stanford University survey confirms what many iPhone users may have long suspected: Apple's smartphone can be addicting."

Bing Search Up 37% Since Launch

"Microsoft's share of U.S. search traffic increased to 11.5% in February from 10.7% in January, according to figures released Wednesday by market watcher comScore. Yahoo, currently the number two player in the market, saw its share fall from 17% to 16.8% over the same period."

MySpace Readies Site Overhaul to Rekindle Growth

"With shrinking audiences, deep layoffs and two management shake-ups, MySpace, the one-time leader in Internet social networking, has had a rocky year."

IBM, Universities Target Easy-to-Use Cellphones

"IBM has started a two-year research program that aims to make cellphones easier to use for groups including the elderly and the illiterate."

Private Lives: U.S. Millennials Less Prone to Share Online

"In the United States, only 8% [of millennials] agree completely with the statement “I love to write about myself and my friends in blogs and on my social sites.’"

Twitter Passes 10B Tweets

"Just four months after it hit 5 billion, Twitter passed the 10 billion-tweet mark this evening."

White House Using Twitter to Spread Message

"Blending behind-the-scenes nuggets with a defense of President Barack Obama's record, White House and administration officials increasingly are communicating through Twitter."

YouTube Turns on Captions on Millions of Videos

"YouTube is adding captions to millions of Internet videos. The feature unveiled Thursday expands upon speech-recognition technology that YouTube began using to make captions available on a limited number of videos late last year."

FBI Director Warns of Growing Cyber Threat

"Militant groups, foreign states and criminal organizations pose a growing threat to U.S. security as they target government and private computer networks, FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Thursday."

How Cybercriminals Invade Social Networks, Companies

"Cybercriminals are moving aggressively to take advantage of an unanticipated chink in corporate defenses: the use of social networks in workplace settings. They are taking tricks honed in the spamming world and adapting them to what's driving the growth of social networks: speed and openness of individuals communicating on the Internet."

Open Learning Initiative

From the site: "Open & free courses. No instructors, no credits, no charge."

Desktops 'Irrelevant' in 3 Years: Google Exec

"In three years, the desktop computer will be a relic of a bygone era and cloud computing will be the standard. At least that’s Google’s bet, as expounded by Europe exec John Herlihy."

Study Finds Weakness in Security System

"U.S. scientists say they've discovered a weakness in the most common digital security algorithm used to protect media copyright and Internet communications."

University Library Sees Demand for Kindles Soar

"For students looking to temper sober textbook readings with a literary escape into the world of vampires and zombies, Oregon State University is loaning out Amazon Kindle electronic readers stocked with the latest in popular books."

Highlighting E-Readers

"Now, as several major universities finish analyzing data from pilot programs involving the latest version of the Amazon Kindle, officials are learning more about what students want out of their e-reader tablets. Generally, the colleges found that students missed some of the old-fashioned note-taking tools they enjoyed before. But they also noted that the shift had some key environmental benefits. Further, a minority of students embraced the Kindle fairly quickly as highly desirable for curricular use."

Violent Video Games = Aggressive Kids

"A U.S. researcher says his analysis of 130 studies involving 130,000 subjects worldwide proves violent video games lead to more aggressive, less caring kids."

Government to Spend $25 Billion to Improve Internet Access

"The Federal Communications Commission's plan to boost Americans' access to the Internet will propose up to $25 billion in new federal spending, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday."

Thousands of Authors Opt Out of Google Book Settlement

"Some 6,500 writers, from Thomas Pynchon to Jeffrey Archer, have opted out of Google's controversial plan to digitise millions of books."

Libraries Embrace Digital Future With eBooks, Music, Video

"The digital collection shared by city and suburban libraries has been mushrooming since 2005. Starting with nearly 250 titles, it has grown to 18,000 eBooks, downloadable audio books, downloadable video and streaming music titles plus eight databases with nearly a million tracks of music. During that period, the number of users has mushroomed from 82 to 4,500."

Survey: More Americans Get News from Internet than Newspapers or Radio

"More Americans get their news from the Internet than from newspapers or radio, and three-fourths say they hear of news via e-mail or updates on social media sites, according to a new report."