.Net

From Aaron Swartz's struggles with an antihacking law to Hollywood's lobbying to a raft of surveillance proposals, the Internet and its users' rights are under attack as never before, according to the creators of a forthcoming documentary film.

The film, titled "War for the Web," traces the physical infrastructure of the Internet, from fat underwater cables to living room routers, as a way to explain the story of what's behind the high-volume politicking over proposals like CISPA, Net neutrality, and the Stop Online Piracy Act.

"People talk about security, people talk about privacy, they … Read more

Vocabulary .NET is a free tool designed to help users learn new words and new languages. It incorporates Google Dictionary and TTS, and it comes with an English dictionary, though you can import dictionary files as well as create, edit, and export your own custom dictionaries. It's completely portable, which enhances its educational value, but it requires Microsoft .NET to run. While Vocabulary .NET's basic version is free, you must obtain a commercial license to use all its features, including bilingual translation.

Some of Vocabulary .NET's definitions seem highly questionable. For instance, the two definitions for "… Read more

It's no surprise to Google obsessives that the company announced yesterday that it will draw the curtains on its popular RSS-managing Reader service. So what are you supposed to do with your 60 bazillion feeds?

First off, you can export them using Google Takeout. That's an important step to take so you don't lose track of any of the sites you're following. It lets you download your feeds output, called OPML, as a ZIP. Then you extract it all to a folder, and upload them to your prefered Reader replacement service. But which one do you … Read more

If you are considering security software for your Mac there are a number of options out there, including those from popular companies like Sophos, Symantec, and Intego. There are both free tools and paid subscriptions to choose from.

A while ago I gave Intego's SecurityBarrier X6 suite a spin, which in testing has been found to be one of the better-performing anti-malware tools for OS X; however, the software did require a bit of a technical approach that was not too appealing to the average user.

In order to cater to a broader range of people, with its 2013 security suite … Read more

After taking down Channelsurfing.net and arresting its alleged owner in 2011, the feds now seem to be easing up. Before going to trial, the government struck a deal earlier this month with the alleged site owner Brian McCarthy.

In a "Deferred Prosecution" memo filed on February 11, which was obtained by TorrentFreak, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara writes that "after a thorough investigation, it has been determined that the interest of the United States and your own interest will best be served by deferring prosecution in this District. Prosecution will be deferred during the term of … Read more

App.net, a for-pay social service, today introduced a free tier in a proactive move to ramp up on members before current subscribers are forced to renew.

The membership level, modeled after Dropbox, grants people invited by current App.net members the ability to use the social site for as long as they'd like, but with limitations on how many people they can follow and how many files they can upload.

The point of a freemium offering, said creator Dalton Caldwell, is to make App.net open and accessible and to get people excited to pay for additional features. … Read more

If there's an industry more stuck in the past than the music industry, it has to be book publishing.

It's with that in mind that a Pasadena, Calif., startup is trying to upend the traditional, often unpleasant publishing model that's more like a gauntlet than a process.

Authors typically have to beg an agent for representation, beg a publisher to take their book, hope for an advance that covers expenses, write the book, in many cases find their own editors because the publisher's editors are too busy to pay attention, do their own marketing and promotion … Read more

New mobile browsers including Google's Chrome, Microsoft's IE, and Amazon's Silk are gaining a foothold in a market that's growing faster than traditional browsing on personal computers.

The mobile browsing market has long been dominated by three products. Apple's Safari has long held the top spot in usage share measurements by Net Applications, with second place going to Google's unbranded Android browser after it surpassed Opera Mini last year.

Safari had 61.0 percent, the Android browser 21.5 percent, and Opera Mini 9.8 percent of usage in January, measurements released today show. … Read more

Developed for both basic mobile device users and advanced developers, this network-testing app proves to be a very handy tool. Speedtest.net Speed Test delivers an accurate test and aids in diagnosing connection problems.

Speedtest.net Speed Test app was quick to install and there were no advanced settings needed. The tool is very easy to use. A simple one-touch activation begins the test. Bright, easy-to-read graphics indicate progress and current speed in the style of an analog meter. Wi-Fi networks as well as mobile networks may be tested. A separate menu shows a record of the results and the … Read more