Washington, D.C.,United States

James Traub in The New York Times:

SOWING CRISIS: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East
By Rashid Khalidi

James Traub in The New York Times:

SOWING CRISIS: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East
By Rashid Khalidi

In the wake of news that Google is introducing behavioral targeting of advertisements, a Democratic congressman from Virginia is renewing his suggestion that new consumer-protection legislation may be needed to rein in data collection.

Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) said he is working with Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), to craft a bill to require online companies to notify consumers of tracking activity. All three congressmen are members of the Internet subcommittee in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which Boucher chairs.

A Recycled Proposal

Trendy California isn't a trendsetter when it comes to relying on cell phones. And while the 1987 movie "Wall Street" helped introduce the then-brick-sized mobile phone to popular culture, New York and other Northeast states lag in dropping landlines. Surprisingly, Oklahoma and Utah lead in going wireless, according to federal estimates released Wednesday.

I'm typically cynical when it comes to the promises of government reform packages, but it seems like almost everyday there's another great project that is at least indirectly benefitting from the stimulus bill. Here's today's example.

Its discovery that someone in Iran shared online the engineering and avionics data about one of the helicopters in President Barack Obama's fleet has thrust a Cranberry (Pa.] Internet security company into the public eye this week.

Tiversa Inc. had become well-known among national security officials as early as 2004 -- after a meeting among company co-founders Robert Boback and Sam Hopkins and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, then chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Microsoft may not be giving its mobile users what they want -- at least not according to CEO Steve Ballmer -- but it plans to in the near future.

Ballmer talked up Microsoft's upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 release Wednesday at the U.S. Public Sector CIO Summit held at the company's headquarters in Washington. Ballmer told the audience that although everything users want is not included in the 6.5 release, it will be in Windows Mobile 7.

It's official (almost): President Obama plans to name his top tech guru, Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Obama on Tuesday announced his intention to nominate Genachowski. Providing there are no last-minute hitches, a formal announcement and Senate confirmation hearing will follow. That process could take a few months.

Genachowski, 46, is the architect of Obama's hugely successful drive to use the Internet to raise funds for the primary and general election campaigns. He also pushed the idea of using wireless as a way to connect with supporters.

The auditions are over. The first YouTube Symphony Orchestra -- selected by viewers of the Web site -- will consist of more than 90 musicians from some 30 countries.

More than 3,000 videos were submitted by amateur and professional musicians from 70-plus countries. Musicians from professional orchestras including the London and San Francisco symphonies and the Berlin, Hong Kong and New York philharmonic orchestras picked 200 finalists. The winners were then selected by voters on YouTube.

Just a friendly reminder that today is the last day to save $200 bucks if you’re planning on attending but haven’t yet registered for this year’s WOMMA University.