Internet News

If you're looking to stock up on Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and video games, now is the time to do it. Best Buy has Blu-ray movies starting at $8 and DVDs starting at $4, while Wal-Mart has DVDs starting at just $2. Kohl's has its entire stock of video games on sale for 20 to 30 percent off. And for music lovers, Costco is offering a discounted pack of iTunes gift cards: $60 worth (four $15 cards) for just $48. Full Story »

Developers of the open-source Metasploit penetration testing toolkit have released code that can compromise Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, but the software is not as reliable as first thought. Full Story »

Back in August, Nicholson Baker wrote a devastating review of the Kindle 2 in the New Yorker. Noting that everyone from Newsweek to the tech blogs to just-plain-folks was calling the new Kindle "important," Baker gave Amazon's latest version of the device a thorough test-read. He was unimpressed, to put it mildly. Full Story »

Google launched a mobile version of its movie search service Tuesday that is compatible with Apple's iPhone as well as all mobile devices running Android and the Palm webOS. The new offering promises to make it easier for movie fans to plan their next theater trip while on the go. Full Story »

Hackers working on the open-source Metasploit project have spiffed up a zero-day attack on Microsoft's Internet Explorer, making it more reliable -- and more likely to be used by criminals. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US magazine publishers Time Inc., Conde Nast and Hearst are preparing to launch an online newsstand described as an "iTunes for magazines," according to published reports. Full Story »

Covestor Investment Management and kaChing are online ventures that seek to challenge traditional mutual funds. Borrowing ideas from social networking, the startups help connect small investors with individuals the companies deem top money managers. The investors can choose a manager to follow, and make trades in a brokerage account based on the managers' market moves. Full Story »

This Friday is Black Friday--officially kicking off the 2009 holiday shopping season. Online attackers and malware developers know how to capitalize on current events, and the rush to find great holiday bargains offers a prime opportunity to exploit eager shoppers. Here are five tips to help you shop online securely. Full Story »

The pager message is from a woman near a pay phone near 38th Street in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. The woman says her children were evacuated, but she's trying to find them. She tells her husband she loves him. Full Story »

MILAN - An Italian prosecutor demanded jail time Wednesday for four Google executives charged in absentia with defamation and violating privacy for allowing a video to be posted online showing an autistic youth being abused. Full Story »

This week is as good a time as any--just before Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Consumerpocolypse Tuesday--to look back at a year's worth of laptops. In fact, we've got a huge laptop holiday gift guide feature that I encourage you to check out. In the meantime, though, I threw out an innocent-enough question to the Internets (Facebook, Twitter, TwitBook...whatever!) this past week: "What are you looking for in a new laptop?" Full Story »

Online advertising revenue in the U.S. fell 5.4 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, as the sputtering economy kept its tight grip on even the fastest growing segment of industry, according to a report released Wednesday. Full Story »

With iTunes and Hulu.com as models, major magazine publishers are getting ready to tackle online publishing. According to news reports, Time, Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith and others are planning an online newsstand that will provide their properties in various formats and be jointly run. Full Story »

Major magazine publishers are uniting to solve that old media dilemma of how to survive new media, rumor has it, and they'll soon be opening a joint storefront to peddle their digital wares. Time, Condé Nast, and Hearst are among the publishers who will participate in this iTunes-style magazine store, according to the Observer, but concrete details are scarce. Here's how I'm hoping it pans out: Full Story »

BARCELONA, Spain - The Internet can be a powerful medium for politicians to get their message across but it is also a vital means for civilians to have a say in what politicians do, participants in a political conference say. Full Story »

STRASBOURG, France - The European Parliament has endorsed new telecom rules that would give phone and Internet users more rights and allow them to appeal to national courts if they are cut off for illegal file-sharing. Full Story »

Have you already tried Chrome OS using a virtual machine, and were less than impressed? Well now you can get a feel for how Google's Web-centric operating system will run natively on your machine. The folks over at Engadget were able to boot Chromium OS -- the open source version of what will become Chrome OS -- off of a USB stick on a Dell Vostro A90 netbook. The USB bootable disc is based on the Chromium OS build of Twitter user Hexxeh, who set up a Web site where you can view all the instructions you need for getting your bootable USB up and running. Full Story »

SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc. is apologizing for a racially offensive image of the first lady that appears at the top of the list when users search for pictures of Michelle Obama on its site. Full Story »