Spotlight Features

Software engineers at Microsoft's laboratory in Cambridge, England, have developed a new, proprietary peer-to-peer (P2P) technology that is being eyed by Hollywood producers as a potential distribution channel for their content. Code-named "Avalanche," the product is said by Microsoft to be a safer ...

A recent "operation" of the Motion Picture Association of America, whose "Keystone Kops" unit is run by ex-U.S. Department of Justice deputy assistant attorney general John G. Malcolm, was a media circus. Helped by the Southern California High Tech Task Force, Malcolm and his crew raided New Century...

On this day in the United States we celebrate our independence from what was reported to be a very oppressive government. Of course, since the victors get to tell the story and it all happened even before my time, I have little doubt there was another side. History may seem black and white, but I ...

The Supreme Court's decision on Brand X probably went unnoticed by the majority of broadband consumers, but its effects will not. In a single decision, the high court has helped to put America on the right path towards real broadband reform. It's tough to predict what other innovations the future ho...

Matt Drudge may be the world's most famous blogger, having outed former President Clinton and his pudgy paramour Monica Lewinsky online. His successors on the Internet made blogging a political force during last year's presidential election, and may have helped George W. Bush retain the White House ...

Today it's all about search-ability and search engines. Spelling and cognitive associations control corporate names. Business listings have gone through the roof: A two-inch directory of the past is now a two-mile thick book. Has pure memorability of the precise name become more critical then the en...

People often ask me how likely it is that an open-source license like the GNU General Public License will ever be enforced. When they ask that, they usually mean: "If I violate it will I get caught?" It's a legitimate question, if one lays aside moral rhetoric, such as the idea that proprietary so...

There are few of us who would choose to go anywhere without them, but we've all wished at one time or another that we had a magic jamming device that could hang up cell phones in the face of a loud, annoying user nearby. The fact is, for most of us, the only thing that makes us more angry than a fel...

Challenges facing new offshore call centers can spill over and impact clients and customers of those clients. Driven by cost considerations and the availability of personnel, U.S. firms are increasingly turning to offshore call centers -- but are often doing so without fully understanding the constr...

I just had one of the most surreal experiences in my life. I attended, as AMD's guest, the F1 Race in Indianapolis where 14 out of the 20 cars racing, including the Intel car, left the race after the parade lap. Sharing the experience with me was a group of AMD's closest friends, mostly actual IT p...