Internet

The recent flooding in the Philippines has left many people stranded or missing. Now Google is using its Person Finder to aid in the search.

Person Finder is aimed at connecting missing persons with their loved ones. Anyone who is looking for a lost person or has information about someone who's been found can use the Person Finder page to post that person's name.

If you're looking for someone who's missing, you can enter the person's name or at least parts of the name. And if you've have information on someone who's been … Read more

You have to be careful which band you book for your wedding. Your choice carries with it a message.

If you book the Libertines, your wife may look at you askance. If you tell her it's the Porcupine Tree, well, please imagine her face.

So one wonders whether sufficient thought went into Amazon Senior Vice President Brian Valentine's choice of Tom Petty. When your Valentine brings you something Petty, trouble may ensue.

In this case, it apparently did -- but from an unexpected source.

I hear down the Geekwire that Valentine thought he could book Petty online. Amazon'… Read more

Amazon is serving Netflix some mobile competition with its new Instant Video iPad app.

Free for iPad users, the Amazon Instant Video app offers both Amazon Prime and non-Prime users the ability to purchase or rent any of the more than 120,000 videos available in the retailer's online video store.

Users can then stream the content to view it online or download it to catch it offline. Amazon Prime subscribers ($79 a year) get the better end of the deal. Prime members can stream thousands of movies and TV shows at no extra cost. Non-members must pay the … Read more

Many Yahoo employees may be worried about the future of the company, but at least they'll enjoy free meals in the meantime.

The company's new CEO Marissa Mayer is stirring the pot by offering a few of the perks and policies from her former employer.

As detailed by AllThingsD's Kara Swisher, Mayer kicked things off last Friday by holding the first in a series of weekly Friday afternoon meetings at the company's headquarters.

The first meeting got off to a good start, at least for employees, when Mayer announced that food in Yahoo's URLs Cafe … Read more

Forget about the ripped-and-rugged sprinters and shot-putters, bring on the gold-medal geeks.

The opening ceremony of this summer's London Olympics obliged that sentiment, as Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee got the star treatment during the extravaganza.… Read more

Watch out, Verizon. Comcast may be making a play for Fios customers with the lure of faster download speeds.

The cable carrier is reportedly prepping a 305Mbps downstream service slated to reach markets currently covered by Verizon's Fios high-speed service by year's end.

Citing a "reliable source," Web site Broadband Reports said that Comcast streamed a live event to employees this week detailing future plans for its Xfinity service. Besides discussing the Olympics and more Spanish language programs, the carrier's president and CEO Neil Smit dropped hints about a faster service "soon" to … Read more

Firefox users who've installed a custom theme may bump into trouble if they upgrade to the latest version of the browser.

Released earlier this week, Firefox 14 offers a few enhancements, including better security. But it comes with one gotcha -- lack of support for a lot of existing themes.

Many Firefox users probably know that they can change the style of their browser by installing one of many custom themes, available at the Themes section on Mozilla's Add-Ons page. You can choose from among hundreds of different themes to customize the look and feel of Firefox's … Read more

Computer engineer Bassel Khartabil has dedicated himself to making software free and open for years, and now his friends are asking for his freedom from the Syrian government's detention.

Khartabil was reportedly taken in an ambush on March 15 -- the first anniversary of the Syrian uprising -- during massive arrests. And while it's unclear why Khartabil was detained, activists say the government is known to take people randomly and without reason. It is a scary time, particularly for those who are willing to gather and share information, according to activists.

The 16-month old Syrian crisis has claimed … Read more

People have needs.

There are those who attempt to make money out of satisfying those needs. And there are those who attempt to make money out of offering to hide people's embarrassment at having those needs in the first place.

Currently, certain porn producers -- normally rather nice people -- are being accused of the latter ruse.

Allegations are being laid that these porn producers are involved in shaking down alleged illegal downloaders, who may not be illegal downloaders at all.

According to Wired, the scheme is blessedly direct. Porn producers locate the IP addresses of those they believe … Read more