Technology

Are you building a business -- or thinking of starting one? Especially if you're a corporate army of one, it pays to be in the "you" business.

That means promoting yourself and telling people what you can do as a potential goods or services provider -- or an employee, for that matter.

And increasingly the online world is the place to hang your shingle with dedicated Web pages and social-networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn.

One of the easiest and best ways to market yourself or your business is by creating a blog.

Free video to mobile phones became reality on Wednesday in cell phone-crazy Italy, where Vodafone users with certain late-generation smart phones can now watch video content from Internet TV operator Babelgum, free of data charges.

The twinning of Babelgum's content with Vodafone's service is a next step toward realizing the full promise of smart phones, which integrate the Internet with the mobile phone.

The Italian launch will be followed by the rollout in Britain on Thursday, with other countries, including the United States, to follow, Babelgum said.

Today, Virgin America plans to become the latest airline to offer in-flight Wi-Fi Internet, a service with a problematic past that still promises far-ranging flexibility in entertainment.

The San Francisco-based carrier has scheduled the service for one Airbus A320 aircraft, joining American Airlines as the only carriers in the world to offer full Internet access.

A new billboard is going up in the middle of Times Square that will be powered with 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels instead of the usual electricity. When it's windy and sunny, the billboard will be able to generate enough electricity to light up.

Cisco Systems warned that a sharp drop in sales could push quarterly revenue down by as much as 10 percent.

The computer networking giant, the first major technology company to report earnings that include October, when the credit crisis spread beyond financial companies, said Wednesday that its sales had fallen 9 percent from the same month a year earlier.

Cisco expects sales for its current quarter to drop 5 percent to 10 percent from the $9.8 billion reported in the same period a year ago.

If the past week is any indication, Americans may soon enter the era of always-on, always-available Internet. While the full rollout of new broadband technologies may be two or three years away, the nation is closer to catching up with its access-rich Asian counterparts than ever before.

Barack Obama's presidency could spell major changes for the technology industry after years of limited White House attention.

According to Ed Black, president and chief executive of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, Tuesday's election outcome is good news for technology companies since the Obama camp has many tech-savvy advisers who understand the sector and its users. That was reflected in the Obama campaign's innovative use of technology and the Internet to organize volunteers, raise money and communicate with voters.

The decision by the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday to open up white space -- the unused frequencies between television channels -- to unlicensed Wi-Fi devices is being hailed by technology companies as the dawning of a new era in broadband Internet access.

But the ruling is also being harshly criticized by various trade groups, including the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), which argues that both the FCC's procedure and the concept are flawed.

In a move to protect and advance the human rights of freedom of expression and privacy, the Global Network Initiative was launched Tuesday. But for all the big names in technology, human rights, academics and communications, some privacy advocates say this initiative fails to address the depth of the issue.

The initiative was formed to provide a systematic approach to resist efforts by governments that try to enlist companies in acts of censorship and surveillance that violate international standards. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are among the Internet companies leading the charge.

Eight members of Congress are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to delay a planned Nov. 4 vote on a proposal to open up unused portions of the television airwaves known as "white spaces" in order to deliver wireless broadband services.

The proposal by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is a high priority for public interest groups and many of the nation's biggest technology companies, including Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., which hope it will bring universal, affordable broadband service to rural America and other underserved parts of the country.