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Buzz Out Loud 759: Worms on the tongue

And that, my friends, is how we get you to listen all the way to the end. But in actual news of the day, a judge ordered Google to expose the viewing habits of millions of YouTube users. But it's OK, because only a few people will get to look at them. That's fine, right? Also, we freak out about privacy and identity theft, just in time for a study that acknowledges that consumers are freaking out about privacy and identity theft. Plus, the power of video compels you...to switch to broadband.

Listen now: Download today's podcast … Read more

Report: Some dial-up users wish to stay that way

Got dial-up and don't want to give it up? You're not alone.

An estimated 10 percent of Americans are surfing the net via dial-up connections, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

And a lot of those people apparently see no compelling reason to change. The report indicates that those users are not itching to make a change to a speedier broadband connection in large part because, they say, broadband is too expensive.

Of this dial-up group, 35 percent cited the cost issue, while 19 percent say nothing will ever prompt … Read more

News.com Daily Podcast: Can media hype hurt start-ups?

You'd think start-ups would jump at any media hype they could get. Not so, says CNET News.com reporter Caroline McCarthy. She joins the podcast to talk about technology companies that generated huge amounts of hype--and then suffered from it later. Knowing how the new-media machine can work, some companies are even trying to fly under the media radar.

That, and the day's headlines, in today's daily podcast. Listen now: Download today's podcast

Today's stories:

Yahoo shares jump on latest Microsoft report

FAQ: antitrust eyes on Yahoo-Google ad deal

Office subscription service ready to go… Read more

Featured Freeware: Google SketchUp

We all know that Google is more than capable of doing excellent webware for productivity, but isn't 3D design a bit of a stretch?

Google SketchUp for Windows and Mac is a 3D-modeling program of powerful drawing tools that boasts an intuitiveness many design programs fail to achieve. On first impression, SketchUp looks like it sacrificed function for simplicity, but that's not the case. Despite the extremely user-friendly interface, SketchUp offers a high-end range of powerful 3D-drawing tools that let you experiment and play with new designs.

Using basic shapes in 3D space for your outline, you can … Read more

AOL rate increase maybe not as dumb as it looks

AOL is raising the subscription fee by 20 percent for its low-cost dial-up service plan, a move that illuminates an awkward phase of its transition from an Internet service provider to an online media and advertising company.

The Time Warner division told subscribers last week that beginning July 27, it would raise its monthly dial-up rate from $9.99 to $11.99 per month. Subscribers who specifically sign up for a plan with limited technical support can keep the $9.99 rate, though, but they won't get phone-based help unless dealing with an Internet connection issue.

The move obviously … Read more

Dell's Studio line and Sony rumors: The week in laptops

The week belonged to Dell, which finally confirmed one of the worst kept secrets in laptopdom, the Studio line of laptops. Somewhere between the budget Inspiron line and high-end XPS line, the Studio 15 and Studio 17 are available with a variety of colors and lid imprint patterns; buyers--whom Dell describes as "today's digital nomad"--can also snap up optional color-coordinated accessories. But how do the new laptops perform? Read our Dell Studio 15 review for the full scoop.

Aside from launching new laptops, Dell also made headlines by briefly extending the deadline for ordering a system with Windows XP. … Read more

The 404 127: Where Justin gets his wardrobe off eBay

All the bizarre stories on today's show throw us into a rollercoaster of emotions. We start off innocent enough, begging Rick Moranis to do more movies, but then quickly spiral into flora weaponry, gender identity and male pregnancy, heartbreaking eBay auctioneering, and the difficulty in "Shorty" pimpery. We also come to the sobering realization that we've been duped...AGAIN! This must stop. EPISODE 127 Download today's podcast

UPS and the art of sorting nearly a million packages a day

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--I grew up in a household with two subscriptions to The New Yorker. How could we not? My father and my stepmother both needed their own copy of each issue.

With that as part of my background, how could I not become a lifelong fan of the magazine?

In 2005, New Yorker writer John McPhee published what instantly became one of my favorite pieces of all time, "Out in the Sort," a long treatise about the United Parcel Service's Worldport air-distribution facility here. Among his many detailed descriptions of this gargantuan operation, and the one … Read more

Computer sprawl at Geek Squad City

BROOKS, Ky.--At Geek Squad City, it's no accident that everywhere you look are well-groomed young people in dark pants, white shirts, and narrow black ties.

Since its founding by Robert Stephens in Minnesota in 1994, Geek Squad has always been run on a very stylized kind-of-Mormon-missionary, kind-of-G-Men motif. That's why my host for a tour of the Geek Squad City facilities was Anthony Hadfield, who bears the job title "deputy director for counterintelligence."

I've come to the well-known computer repair company's giant facility just south of Louisville as part of Road Trip 2008.… Read more