advertising revenue

The Federal Communications Commission has released an engineering report that opens the door for the FCC to apportion a chunk of wireless spectrum for free Internet services across the nation.

"We need to reserve some spectrum for free broadband services," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said. "This would be a lifeline broadband service that would be designed for lower-income people who may not otherwise have access to the Internet."

The good folks at the "We Can Solve It" campaign are pretty much the biggest influencers that clean technology has. They promote legislation and education that will help America overcome its energy (and yes, economic) crisis.

Microsoft said Thursday that it would set up research centers in France, Germany and Britain to improve its Internet search technology, describing the move as a vote of confidence in the European economy and in the company's ability to close the gap with Google.

Steven Ballmer, the Microsoft chief executive, said at a news conference here that the three "centers of excellence," to be based near Paris, in London and in Munich, would employ several hundred people all together.

When an explosion last June knocked out 9,000 servers at The Planet, a Texas data center, 7,500 customers were affected. Though this level of disruption is rare, it provides a sobering reminder of how reliant businesses are on high tech, and if that technology suddenly fails how fast it can sink a business.

Prevention and disaster planning are key, say experts, to surviving a crash and keeping costs down over the long haul.

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch plans to forgo making deals at this year's Allen & Co. media retreat, dampening the five-day event renowned as an incubator for big-time media and Web combinations.

"Not today, not this week," Murdoch told reporters Wednesday morning on his way to the annual retreat's opening breakfast. Murdoch built his media and entertainment empire through brash dealmaking at Sun Valley and elsewhere, including last year's purchase of Dow Jones Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal.

Having staked out a position on your PC and many mobile devices, Google now has its sights on your living room. Late last week, the search giant announced the release of a free beta version of Google Media Server, a Windows application that seeks to bridge the gap between a PC and a TV.

That gap is between the explosion of TV programs, movies, music and homemade videos on the Web and television sets. A variety of solutions have been launched by Microsoft, Apple and others, and now Google is entering that ring.

Gadgets and UPnP

Having staked out a position on your PC and many mobile devices, Google now has its sights on your living room. Late last week, the search giant announced the release of a free beta version of Google Media Server, a Windows application that seeks to bridge the gap between a PC and a TV.

That gap is between the explosion of TV programs, movies, music and homemade videos on the Web and television sets. A variety of solutions have been launched by Microsoft, Apple and others, and now Google is entering that ring.

Gadgets and UPnP

Your new Internet browser is ready -- several of them, actually.

They're all free, so take your pick.

The Mozilla Foundation, whose Firefox browser has already snared over 18 percent of the world's Web surfers, has just introduced its latest upgrade, Firefox 3. For a nonprofit outfit, Mozilla can really sling the hype. The foundation practically dared us to visit getfirefox.com on Tuesday and download the new browser, in an effort to set a world record for the most file downloads in a single day. Suckers that we are, at least 7 million of us fell for it.

Four venture capital firms are betting Internet startup LinkedIn Corp. is worth $1 billion, highlighting the lofty hopes riding on online services that connect people with their friends, family and business associates.

The 10-figure valuation is implied by a $53 million investment being announced Wednesday from Bain Capital Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners.

The investors received a combined 5 percent stake in Mountain View-based LinkedIn, whose 5-year-old Web site helps people use the Web to advance their professional careers.

It may be a niche publisher, but the International Data Group has been working out the answers to some big mainstream questions. The biggest one: Can print media survive the transition to the Internet?

Consider the most recent evidence: Google, the Internet ad giant, reports surging growth and profit, while print publishers bemoan a swift and alarming falloff in advertising revenue so far this year.