In 1997, EarthLink began providing subscribers with a content-rich,
easily-navigable and interactive launch point to the Internet via the Personal Start Page. Now, non-EarthLink subscribers who want to access the information on their home pages without online aggravations like pop-up ads have a simple, one-stop-shop for personalized news, entertainment, sports, stock quotes and other content with added enhancements for customization. Full Story...

"Surfing the Internet" is a misleading metaphor. It is really more like "Scuba Diving the Internet", with all the complexities of equipment, navigation theory, and understanding the wildlife and the terrain.

Here, we will focus on equipment needed to "successfully dive the Net"! Note that both mandatory and optional equipment is listed below. Please also note that if you browse the Internet from work, many of these items will be provided for you, provided you adhere to professional ethics when using the Internet at the office. Full Story...

Tool to increase download speeds by up to 500 percent, resume and schedule downloads.

Comprehensive error recovery and resume capability will restart broken or interrupted downloads due to lost connections, network problems, computer shutdowns, or unexpected power outages. Simple graphic user interface makes IDM user friendly and easy to use.

Internet Download Manager screenshot Internet Download Manager has a smart download logic accelerator that features intelligent dynamic file segmentation and safe multipart downloading technology to accelerate your downloads. Unlike other download accelerators and managers that segment files before downloading starts, Internet Download Manager segments downloaded files dynamically during download process. Internet Download Manager reuses available connections without additional connect and login stages to achieve better acceleration performance.

Internet Download Manager supports proxy servers, ftp and http protocols, firewalls, redirects, cookies, directories with authorization, MP3 audio and MPEG video content processing, and a large number of directory listing formats. IDM integrates seamlessly into Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, MSN Explorer, AOL, Opera, Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Firebird, Avant Browser, MyIE2, and all other popular browsers to automatically handle your downloads. You can also drag and drop files, or use Internet Download Manager from command line. Internet Download Manager can dial your modem at the set time, download the files you want, then hang up or even shut down your computer when it's done.

Other features include multilingual support, zip preview, download categories, built-in download accelerator, scheduler pro, sounds on events, HTTPS support, queue processor, pipelining of ftp commands, html help and tutorial, enhanced virus protection on download completion, progressive downloading with quotas (useful for connections that use some kind of fair access policy or FAP like Direcway, Direct PC, Hughes, etc.), command line parameters, and many others. Download here

A free download available from Microsoft on Thursday brings support for Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) to Windows XP Service Pack 2.

Microsoft describes WPA2 as the highest level of standards-based wireless security currently available. Full Story...

Two downtown Tucson plazas will become Wi-Fi hot spots, where people with portable wireless devices can tap into the Internet free.

The Tucson Wi-Fi Alliance and several business and government entities banded together to wire Jacome Plaza in front of the Joel D. Valdez Main Library and El Presidio Plaza outside City Hall and the Pima County administration buildings. The wireless system will be switched on at a ceremony at 9 a.m. May 23.

"This story is about people coming together to set up a free Wi-Fi zone," said Alecia Miller, the alliance president and the project manager for launching these hot spots. "A lot of cities have done this, but I don't think any other city has done this where everything is donated." Full Story...

AOL joins Google and numerous other providers in offering an advertiser supported free e-mail service.
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The new service will be available to users of the Internet service provider's popular AIM instant messaging service. Users will have e-mail addresses consisting of their username with @aim.com appended.

New software will be needed to utilize the free e-mail service. A beta version of the new AIM will be available for download starting today. Though the service will require AIM initially, the company plans to expand it to a Web-based service accessible from any browser.

E-mail accounts come with 2GB of storage. Google's Gmail service offers a similar amount. But the motivation for the new service will be to keep users and their eyeballs on advertising in AIM. Full Story...

You may want to check your cellphone bill. You might just find some new taxes added in the past months.

Undated -- Cellphone users are being hit by new taxes as state and local governments scramble to replace declining tax revenue from traditional phones.

The new charges are adding $2 to $10 or more a month to cellphone bills on top of existing federal and state taxes and fees for emergency 911 communications. Examples:

.Thirty-two of Virginia's 39 cities have levied cellphone taxes since the Legislature approved the tax in 2003. Most recently: Alexandria approved a $3-a-month tax last week.

.Baltimore added a $3.50 monthly tax in September.

.Oregon's Legislature is considering a 5% tax, the Missouri Legislature a 3% or 4% tax. Full Story...

SARASOTA FL -- Web surfers on the go can now wander all through downtown and still stay connected.

A pilot project that offered free public wireless access to the Internet in Five Points Park and on the grounds of the Selby Public Library has been expanded to encompass a wider area.

The Wi-Fi system is set to cover the area from Fruitville Road on the north to Hudson Bayou on the south, and from Payne Park on the east to Sarasota Bay on the west. Full Story...

A new form of phishing attack which targets Wi-Fi users was discovered at a recent WLAN event in London.

The attack works when a phisher creates a fraudulent spoof website which appears to be the log-in page to a Wi-Fi network. When the user logs in through the website script up to 45 viruses and Trojans are sent to the computer. Wi-Fi business users, who are more likely to have information worth stealing, and who meet in public places such as hotel meeting areas and airport lounges are being warned to be especially careful. Full Story...

Decision to decommission free hot spots could be a sign that demand for public Wi-Fi is limited, some say.

Word from Verizon that it plans to decommission the hundreds of free Wi-Fi hot spots it turned up in New York City two years ago has some observers suggesting that demand for such public wireless services is limited.

"Hot spots are more of a social gathering application with low security," says Larry Swasey, a senior analyst at Visant Strategies. EV-DO "brings in more users, and it's a more secure environment."

Cellular data services such as 2 megabit per second EV-DO and the 14.4 mbps High-Speed Downlink Packet Access, although slower than Wi-Fi, have far wider coverage, enable roaming, and operate in licensed spectrum less susceptible to interference. Full Story...

Keep your Wi-Fi connections safe from eavesdroppers and hackers who might be trying to steal your personal information while reliably sending email from any Wi-Fi hotspot.

JiWire is offering for download a beta software utility called SpotLock that provides a simple graphical interface to connect users to hotspots (or home or corporate networks, for that matter). What's more, the software—currently only for Windows 2000 and XP— will offer VPN secured connections.

The software features four tabs: The Connect tab brings up icons representing every Wi-Fi network the computer can see. Double click on a network icon to start the connection to that WLAN instantly (if no other credentials are needed). A hop to the Management tab will let you set up profiles for use on any network encountered, including the WEP/WPA settings needed—it will even accept info for other VPN services you might be running concurrently.

The interesting part of SpotLock is the Secure tab, where you can activate security on your connection. Once on, an IPsec-based virtual private network (VPN) tunnel is established, which terminates at a proxy server on the other end. This tunnel effectively encrypts your data while you sit at any hotspot.

SpotLock also builds in an SMTP (define) gateway for sending e-mail message. Anyone using the VPN tunnel can send up to 200 e-mail messages per day, even if the hotspot ISP you're using throttles or prevents outgoing e-mail. No configuration is needed. Any note you try to send will go through over the SpotLock SMTP relay. Future versions may allow use of different SMTPs. Full Story...

McDonalds is rolling out high-speed wireless Internet connections in North Texas.

Officials say the Wi-Fi connections available in 90 North Texas McDonald's and expects to have Wi-Fi available in all of its 285 area stores by the end of the year.

The service operates at broadband speeds. Connection rates cost $2.95 for a two-hour online session.

IOGEAR has launched its Powerline Networking Kit, a connectivity tool that allows users to access home computers as networking and gaming devices, share Internet connections, printers, transfer files, play games and more through the most pervasive medium in the house -- the electric powerlines.

By connecting two computers with a 10/100 Base-T adapter through powerlines, it improves the file transfer speed and quality of broadband access.

With no extra wires, 56-bit DES hardware encryption, bandwidth up to 14 Mbps and a range of 990 feet, the Powerline Networking Kit is an easy-to-use tool for every connected home. It can also be used to extend a Wi-Fi network to the furthest part of the house or facility. Full Story...

Even if this strikes you as yesterday's news, the free hot zone idea is catching on all over the country. The San Francisco Chronicle reported today that a four-block portion of Fillmore street and two blocks of Castro street will become a free WiFi zone, courtesy of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Anchor Free Wireless. And the Grand Rapids Press last week notified readers that most of the Michigan town's downtown section will be covered by a free wireless zone for eight weeks as part of a demonstration project to determine whether the city should go all WiFi all the time. Finally, a story in last week's Sun-Sentinel said that Hollywood and Pembroke Pines, Fla., will take the big WiFi plunge. Full Story...

Wi-Fi has freed computer users from wires at home and on the road, but that freedom comes at increased risk of attack, experts say, as unsecured Wi-Fi networks have become a favorite target for hackers.

In one recent example, a local cafe found its free Wi-Fi connection had been used to send spam. In Phoenix last year, a home Wi-Fi network was used to fraudulently order merchandise.

So far, there's little data on Wi-Fi hacking, partly because of its stealthy nature.

"We don't really know how big the problem is, to the extent that people don't even know they've been compromised," said FBI Special Agent Tom Liffiton, Phoenix-based coordinator of the agency's InfraGard security program. Full Story...