Articles by John P. Mello Jr

More than a third of Americans are turning to the Internet for information about the elections next week, according to a poll released by the Associated Press and America Online last Friday The telephone survey showed that 35 percent of Americans are using the Internet to get information about the upcoming elections....

Unrestricted access from the office to personal Web-based e-mail can pose security risks to businesses, but the practice is being largely ignored, according to a survey released by a security firm this week According to a poll taken at the Internet security monitoring portal of UK-based Marshal, 48 percent of the 242 respondents surveyed said they ...

In an era when software companies seem to release new versions of their products every month, Xrayz Software is a true anomaly. It hasn't released a new version of its ClipCache software in three years ClipCache (US$24.95) is one of my all-time favorite programs. I use it religiously every day....

In the go-go eighties, Bret Easton Ellis's novel Less Than Zero was a cult classic, but today another "Less Than Zero" is attracting another kind of cult -- one bent on computer mischief or worse "The security industry and trade press have directed a lot of attention toward the 'Zero Day' attack, promoting it as the threat to guard against," Alan S...

Researchers at Stanford University have discovered what they say is more evidence that compulsive use of the Internet may be more than just a bad habit "Potential markers of problematic Internet use seem present in a sizable proportion of adults," the researchers concluded in an article published in CNS Spectrums: The International Journal of Neuro...

Search engines have made a boodle for outfits like Google, but when it comes to online entertainment -- especially entertainment on demand -- they may find their relevance waning "Search engine algorithms are based on text, information and links," Daren Gill, vice president for business development for ChoiceStream in Cambridge, Mass., told TechNew...

Another day, another battery recall That seems to be a disturbing trend in the mobile electronics industry, but some companies are moving to address the volatile situation....

A large part of the appeal of blogging is its simplicity. Setting up an account at one of the large blogging services like Blogger.com is as untaxing as filling in a few fields in an online form As uncomplicated as blogging can be, however, once the bloom fades on its novelty, it can become a chore. You've got to log into your host, navigate menus,...

Microsites -- highly focused mini Web sites within larger ones that encourage consumers to create content -- will be growing in popularity among larger online advertisers in the coming year, according to a report released last week byJupiterKagan "The use of promotional microsites will grow most strongly among the largest advertisers in the coming ...

Video games are often associated with the bloom of youth, but a study released this week shows that isn't true in all segments of the market -- especially the "casual" game market Casual games tend to be family-friendly and non-violent; often they involve puzzles or word play. They're about as far away as you can get from "Grand Theft Auto" or "Hal...

Cell phone worms and VoIP fraud are among the top 10 security threats to watch next year, according to a panel of experts assembled by the SANS Institute The panel's findings were released Sunday at the SANS Network Security 2006 conference in Las Vegas....

During an annual outing of college chums this past summer, one of the bunch, following a flurry of digital picture taking, smiled wryly and said that he'd recently shot his last roll of Kodachrome 25 For those unfamiliar with film stocks, Kodachrome 25, touted by many as the best film ever manufactured in the United States, was discontinued in 2001...

A shift in how entertainment is delivered to the home will increase demand for consumer electronics products with wireless networking capabilities and ignite explosive growth for WiFi, according to a study released this week by ABI Research In the report, ABI forecasted that shipments of WiFi-enabled consumer electronic devices will surge from 40 m...

Transaction failures at a company's Web site can have a significant negative impact on the business' brand, according to a survey released Monday by TeaLeaf Technology and Harris Interactive "Transaction failures on a company's Web site create such a bad impression in the eyes of consumers that just one troublesome issue can cause irreparable harm ...

Worldwide shipments of hybrid set-top boxes -- boxes that combine a broadband connection with satellite TV reception -- will reach 50 million by 2011, according to a report from ABI Research During that time frame, hybrids will represent 70 percent of all set-top box shipments in Europe and 45 percent of all those in North America, ABI Principal An...

A proposed treaty that would expand the rights of broadcasters over what they deliver to consumers cleared a significant hurdle last week at a meeting of an international copyright panel The panel -- the Standing Committee on Copyrights and Related Rights (SCCR) of theWorld Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) -- approved the calling of a dipl...

The top 10 fastest growing Web sites in August with back-to-school online advertising campaigns were announced Tuesday by Internet media and marketing research firm Nielsen//NetRatings Topping the list was eBags.com, which showed month-to-month growth of 118 percent, from a unique audience of 582,000 in July to 1.3 million in August....

Webcams have been around for awhile now, but it hasn't been until recently that they've started to become a hit with the instant messaging crowd. The classic videophone may have been a bust, but the marriage of Webcam and IM has started to capture the affection of Net gabbers Apple, as usual, was quick to pick up this vibe and began incorporating v...

Sears and Intel crowned a list of top performing Web sites released Monday by theCustomer Respect Group (CRG), an international research and consulting firm that focuses on how corporations treat their online customers The annual report, now in its fifth year, analyzed the Web sites of all Fortune 100 companies. It ranked them on their performance ...

Web analytics have become a critical part of every company's Web presence, but many businesses are often surprised by how time consuming traffic-crunching programs can be That surprise can be most often pegged to two reasons, according to a report released Wednesday by Forrester Research....