Internet

Egypt's military arrests divers cutting undersea Internet cables

Egypt's naval forces arrested three divers cutting through an undersea Internet cable today, the country's military representative said, raising the possibility that saboteurs are behind severed lines and days-long Internet disruptions.

A coast-guard patrol stopped a fishing boat near Alexandria and arrested three men "while they were cutting a submarine cable" line belonging to Telecom Egypt, the country's main communications company, Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said on his official Facebook page. The page offered no details on the divers' identities, according to published reports.

It was not immediately clear if the divers were responsible for … Read more

North Korea cuts mobile Internet access for foreign visitors

Less than a month after allowing foreign visitors to access 3G wireless networks, North Korea has reportedly severed tourists' connection to the mobile Internet.

The reclusive country announced last month that it would soon relax restrictions on visitors' access to the Internet via mobile devices within its borders, rules that long required visitors to leave their handsets at the border or airport when entering to the country. Residents were expected to have access to certain voice and text services on the 3G network, but not the mobile Internet.

Koryolink, a 3G mobile provider partially owned by the North Korean government, … Read more

Home networking explained, part 5: Setting up a home router

Editors' note: This post is part of an ongoing series. For the other parts, check out the related stories section below.

It might seem like a daunting task to set up a new home router. But it doesn't have to be if you understand the most common way routers are managed: through the Web interface. The hardest part of using the Web interface is getting to it. Once you have gotten there, the rest, at least most of it, is self-explanatory.

Note: Almost all home routers on the market come with an Web interface, which is a Web page … Read more

Senate embraces Internet taxes

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly today to endorse levying Internet sales taxes on American shoppers, despite warnings from a handful of senators that the proposal is antibusiness, harmful to taxpayers, and will be a "bureaucratic nightmare."

By a vote of 75 to 24, senators adopted an amendment to a Democratic budget resolution that, by allowing states to "collect taxes on remote sales," is intended to eventually usher in the first national Internet sales tax.

The vote follows a week of fierce lobbying from the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represent … Read more

Internet tax proposal up for a vote in Senate this week

Internet tax supporters are hoping that a vote in the U.S. Senate as early as today will finally give them enough political leverage to require Americans to pay sales taxes when shopping online.

Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wy.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are expected to offer an amendment to a Democratic budget resolution this week that, by allowing states to "collect taxes on remote sales," is intended to usher in the first national Internet sales tax.

"We're working overtime in pushing this, talking to our members, activating our grassroots," says Stephen Schatz, a spokesman for … Read more

Consolidate your content in Rockmelt

The sheer volume of information people interact with each day is overwhelming. Articles, blog posts, Facebook posts, and tweets -- it's impossible for many to keep track and stressful for others who try. So apps like Rockmelt are becoming increasingly popular. Designed to consolidate your favorite Web sites and content sources into a single interface for reading, sharing, and saving, Rockmelt is a very effective app in many ways, and in others very much in need of updates and refinement.

Upon installation, Rockmelt prompts you to sign in to at least one social account. You can alternately create an … Read more

Internet Explorer 10

Review: The story of Internet Explorer resembles nothing less than the "Ugly Duckling," a maligned and mocked bird that grew into something far more beautiful. Such is the case with Internet Explorer 10 and its roots as Internet Explorer 6.

Microsoft has improved its signature browser in fits and spurts coinciding often with major Windows upgrades over the past 10 years, but IE 10 is the winner that Microsoft fans have long been craving. Fast, standards-compliant, and even future-forward in some ways, Microsoft got it right with IE 10. Still, it has some drawbacks that keep it from … Read more

Intel reveals what happens in a single Internet minute

The Internet is a busy place. Usually, we're all just puttering along online, watching silly cat videos, checking e-mail, and occasionally getting some work done. If you truly were to comprehend everything happening on the Internet at any given moment, it would drive you mad, much like Bowman in "2001: A Space Odyssey."

"The thing's hollow--it goes on forever--and--oh my God--it's full of Internets!"

Fortunately, Intel has broken down what happens in an Internet minute into an easy-to-digest infographic. First, let's look at the big-daddy number. Every minute, 639,800GB of global IP data is transferred. That's a little hard to really wrap the mind around, so let's get into some of the telling details.

In a single minute of Internet time, 204 million e-mails are sent. Online denizens view 20 million photos on Flickr. Twitter processes 100,000 new tweets and 320 new Twitter accounts are created. That's more than five new Twitter users per second. No wonder it's so hard to keep up with all that tweeting.… Read more

Google reveals first expansion of speedy Google Fiber service

Google has gotten the green light for the first expansion of Google Fiber, the Internet and video service the Web giant offers to the twin cities of Kansas City.

Google announced today that the Kansas City suburb of Olathe, Kan., (population 125,000) would be getting access to the high-speed Internet service after the Olathe city council approved the company's service roll-out proposal. Google, which didn't offer any launch specifics, said it was also poised to launch service in other locations.

"We think that Fiber and widespread Internet access will help to create jobs, grow local businesses, … Read more