Cisco Needs To Step Up To Reduce Net Censorship, Says Net Freedom Advocate. I recently finished writing a story on Net censorship in Saudi Arabia, as part of a larger package on Cisco's ambitions in the world's emerging markets. Throughout the process, my editor Peter Elstrom and I struggled with how to explain...

Consumer Electronics With A Twist. One good thing that could come out of this economic downturn is an explosion of innovation in consumer electronics. There are signs that the electronics industry may be inching closer to breaking a new frontier and offering flexible consumer electronics.

Google Launches SearchWiki for Customized Search Results. After almost a year of testing and some recent early sightings, Google today is planning to launch SearchWiki, a way for searchers to edit their own search results. When you log into your Google account--and you need to have one...

The Silver Lining on GM's Private Plane PR Problem: At Least GM Leased.. If you're going somewhere with tin cup in hand, it's probably best to leave the corporate jet at home. That's what GM CEO Rick Wagoner and other Detroit car execs found out the hard way, when they were lambasted during...

Measuring the Market for Hacked Data. Cyber criminals have assembled a black market for information worth $276 million, according to a new study by computer security company Symantec, which is spotlighting the results as these underground transactions drive more hacking attacks. Symantec toted up the advertised...

Hmm, Could Search (Meaning Google) Actually Buck the Economy?. Two new reports appear to indicate that search--and by extension Google--might do better despite the tanking economy than investors may think. And investors are bearish indeed. Google's stock fell again today, to about a third of its all-time high, despite...

Blockbuster and Netflix Take Their Competing Models Online. Blockbuster and Netflix have very different visions of how the residential movie distribution business works in the physical world. Netflix customers pay as little as $5 a month for as many DVDs as they want to watch, the different...

Twitter: Growing Business Use?. I get a steady stream of emails from Twitter notifying me that someone has started following my posts (swildstrom, if you're interested) on the microblogging service. I'm never sure just why people choose to follow my posts, but lately I...

Power.com: One Ring to Rule All Social Networks?. With what looks to be a fair amount of fanfare, a company virtually unknown in the U.S. is aiming to disrupt the fast-growing social networking business. Tonight, Rio de Janeiro-based Power.com, which already boasts 5 million registered users, is coming...

iPhone Linux Hack: What It Means. iPhone hackers have managed to replace Apple's own operating system that comes with the device with Linux software. That could be the beginning of a seismic shift for smartphone software. It opens the door for open-source operating systems to jump onto devices not built specifically for them.

Why the BCS Will Always Be a Mess. OK, this isn't about technology, but every year at this time, we need a reminder that there are some issues that that defy all of our efforts, technological or intellectual. Like the selection of the college football teams that will...

Former AOL Chief Jonathan Miller Eyeing Yahoo Buy? Maybe, But .... And the rumors around Yahoo keep swirling. A few days after supposed news of a Microsoft deal to buy Yahoo's search operation proved to be complete fiction, the Wall Street Journal has a bit more credible story this morning. It...

Do-it-yourself iPhone Software: Not Likely. In a post yesterday, my colleague Olga Kharif speculates on the significance of a hack that allows the replacement of the iPhone version of OS X with Linux. This, she argues, may be the beginning of an era in which...

MySpace Launches Streaming Video for Mobiles. Streaming Web video just might be one of those services that will come into its own during this economic downturn. Only a week ago, Google's YouTube launched YouTube Live, which streams video channels via the Internet. Today, social network MySpace Mobile has claimed the title of the first social portal to launch video streaming (albeit in beta) for mobile phones.

Inviting Your Ex (Employee) to the Holiday Party. Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu famously said, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.� I was reminded Monday night why it’s a good idea to keep ex-employees even closer still.