online

Major recovery organizations have been using the Internet to help individuals recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. An increasing number of support groups are springing up all over the web with one goal: to provide online, 24/7 assistance to ... people recovering from some form of substance abuse. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, almost 2 million people this year will find themselves entering some kind of rehabilitation for abuse of various drugs or alcohol. In the past 70 years or so, these alcoholics and addicts would have left various rehabilitation ... (view more)

It seems every polling day sees pundits hyping up "the first real Internet-era election", but the 2008 US Presidential race really has brought us close to that point. A study of 2,251 adults suggests that 46% of Americans have followed the elections ... either through the Internet or via text message. That's up from around 33% in 2004. However, that figure is a little vague as it incorporates gathering information, sharing opinions and influencing others -- three activities which most likely cover very different numbers of people. (Source: cnet.com ) And yet, the study did also find 35% of adults ... (view more)

The Warner Brothers Television Group has announced that "The WB Network" will be returning shortly as an online video site. The WB, which started out as a broadcast network in 1995 and went off air in 2006, experienced an early surge in popularity ... due in large part to the number of compelling television series it offered (7th Heaven, Dawson's Creek) and having an identifiable mascot (The WB Frog). In addition to opening TheWB.com, Warner Brothers is also launching a sister web site dedicated to children called KidsWB.com. The complementary sites are a part of the new "digital destination" ... (view more)

Still not sure that China has become a rising technological giant? Perhaps recent news that the Asian country has officially passed the United States in the number of online users will convince you otherwise. Granted, we've been aware of China's ... massive population for a very long time. The country boasts some 1.3 billion citizens, and although it struggled to establish an economy on par with the United States or Britain during the twentieth century, by the turn of the 21st it had clearly arrived amongst the world's economic (and military) super powers. For a good look at China's export ... (view more)

Tor Anonymity Online Tor is a software project that helps users defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security. ... http://www.torproject.org/ Shell Tools Shell Tools is a collection of free Windows shell extensions and utilities. This package contains updated versions of our old shell extensions FontLoader, FileNote, RegisterEx, CopyURL and more. http://www.moonsoftware.com/ (view more)

Who's watching Facebook? More than just your World of Warcraft pals and drinking mates, it seems. A Toronto university student recently found out the hard way that the way you network in the virtual world can have very real consequences in the ... physical. Chris Avenir, 18, is facing severe punishment -- perhaps even expulsion -- for creating a Facebook group designed to help students at Ryerson University exchange answers for how to fool an online testing system. Called "Dungeons/Mastering Chemistry Solutions", the group racked up about 147 members, most from the school's first year chemistry ... (view more)

Last week, HarperCollins, publishers of popular authors Paulo Coelho, Ann Patchett, and Wally Lamb, announced that it will begin to offer some of its newer releases online for free. The company hopes to duplicate on its website what customers have ... done for decades in brick and mortar store. (Source: nytimes.com ) Visitors will be able to view the entire contents of some books for a limited time. The initial titles include: Paulo Coelho's The Witch of Portobello; I Dream in Blue: Life, Death, New York Giants by Roger Director; Mark Halperin's The Undecided Voter's Guide to the Next President: ... (view more)

Internet Protocol addresses (IP) are used to identify computers and the actions they take on the Internet. IPs are routinely stored by search companies and other online businesses to help improve search results and provide advertisers with complete ... billing data. While this practice has been questioned before, with Google's pending bid to purchase advertiser DoubleClick, European leaders are taking a hard look at these business practices. Peter Scharr, Germany's data-protection commissioner, believes that IPs are not just a tool for companies to use, but a form of personal identification that ... (view more)

Online video sites are reaping the benefits of the ongoing writer strikes, with television viewers switching to their PCs to find new programming. Nielsen Online, which surveys and measures Internet use, says YouTube's audience has risen 18% since ... the strike began. Rivals DailyMotion and LiveVideo have both seen similar increases, while Crackle, an offshoot of Sony Pictures, has seen traffic double in the same period. Visitor figures across all video sites have gone up by 10% during the strike. Analyst Alex Burmaster says such rapid growth is far higher than normal and suggests the strike is ... (view more)

The Christmas season is a time when Roman Catholics flood their churches in droves to honor the birth of Christ. A far afterthought in all the praise and worship is the higher-than-usual volume of money the church incurs at this time. Sadly, some ... "seasonal churchgoers" do not give the church a second thought until the Easter season approaches. Others must work all season and are unable to attend mass on Saturdays and Sundays with some form of regularity. Whatever the circumstance, church donations constantly suffer during non-holiday periods. But not any more. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese ... (view more)