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In the rush to win over office productivity software users, Microsoft's FUSE Labs has lobbed one at Google with the launch of its Docs service. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the beta project during his keynote at Facebook's f8 developers' conference this week, but it has received little fanfare so f...

Streaming video provider Hulu may be moving to a subscription model. That's according to a report in the Los Angeles Times and a host of online rumors. The plan, which reportedly would be rolled out at about $10 per month, would cover episodes of television shows older than the last five -- an archi...

Up to now, devices designed to measure and enhance signals routed through brain circuitry have been hampered by the complexities of the folded surface of brain tissue. However, scientists have announced the development of a brain implant that conforms so closely to the brain's surface, it "essential...

The Truth in Caller ID Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. The bill aims to prevent misrepresentation of the called-from number on voice calls through any channel. Called "caller ID spoofing," the practice involves using various types of software to insert a name and number pe...

In the midst of a dispute with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over control of the airwaves, a group of broadcast companies announced a joint venture to develop a national mobile content service -- that is, "mobile TV." Including television broadcasting heavyweights such as NBC and Fox, ...

Now that rumors of Palm putting itself up for sale are being substantiated left and right, speculation turns to suitors. Which companies would most enliven the smartphone market by purchasing the company that nearly single-handedly developed the PDA space lo those many years ago? Prospective acquire...

Comcast's federal circuit court victory over the Federal Communications Commission this week appears to have thrown a wide range of federal-level Internet plans into question. Only three weeks ago, the FCC announced its National Broadband Plan, with ambitious initiatives aimed at making high-speed ...

In one of its biggest blunders ever, Google whipped up a storm of customer privacy complaints earlier this year when it launched its social networking service, Buzz. After making a series of changes to the profile set-up procedure during ensuing weeks, Google now is asking all of the earliest Buzz u...

Climate change, peak oil, and precarious food systems seem finally to have entered the realm of relatively mainstream discourse. Corporate employees now routinely discuss their gardening plans and dreams of a hobby farm over lunch. Photographs of whole foods guru Michael Pollan grace the covers of p...

The United States is the world leader in nanotechnology research, but it may lose that position if it doesn't step up its efforts. That's according to a report issued Thursday by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Better coordination of research efforts and a more concert...

There is now proof that a Nobel Prize-winning technology can deliver targeted therapy directly to cancer tumor cells, say a team of California Institute of Technology researchers led by Mark Davis, who published their findings in Nature. Their clinical trial showed that a specialized polymer nanopar...

If the U.S. comes under cyberattack, how much authority should the president have to shut down the Internet? That's at the core of the debate over different versions of the cybersecurity legislation currently in circulation in Washington. Senate Bill 733 limits that authority. A previous version of ...

Companies of all sizes now routinely field the question, "What are your sustainability practices?" What's more, the people asking that question are increasingly organizing through the use of social networks large and small. Bloggers like Sharon Astyk of Casaubon's Book, for example, have thousands o...

The Federal Communications Commission is set to deliver a much-anticipated report to the U.S. Congress on Thursday. Among other things, "The National Broadband Plan" proposes to have an additional 100 million households connected to high-speed Internet service within the next 10 years. An Executive ...

While television remains the most popular consumer device for viewing video content, it's fast falling before the march of alternatives, according to a report released Thursday by Deloitte. About half of U.S. consumers want the freedom to view their content on any platform they choose -- be it telev...

You're the manager of a Hilton Garden Inn, and it's the height of family vacation season. The lobby is abuzz with kids toting skateboards and moms pushing strollers; your front desk agents are overloaded with check-ins. In the middle of all this, a harried business traveler calls to the front desk f...

What a difference a few years make. Back when Al Gore ran for president in 2000, experts and laypeople alike engaged in lively debates about whether climate change was real or imagined. Two elections later -- after a mammoth public education effort by that same Al Gore -- most people believe that th...

A week -- even a day -- can make a world of difference in a presidential election. Witness the fact that nearly right up to the minute the still-unfolding Wall Street crisis came to a boil, the issue getting the most play in campaign speeches was oil prices. There was even a fair amount of speculati...

The leading edge of online corporate outreach once was the executive blog. Carefully crafted messages on a range of topics, closely vetted by PR firms, were posted every few weeks, calculated to appear spontaneous and thoughtful. Not surprisingly, many companies learned that customers didn't find th...

A recent advertising campaign has eBay exhorting consumers to "Shop Victoriously," and, it's true, winning an online auction can be fun. My recent score -- vintage hand carders to process wool for spinning, won for a mere $15 -- was a hoot. I got solid tools for an obscure craft at less than one-thi...