"When computers do the news, hoaxes slip in." | csmonitor.com

~~ It is a case of the good with the bad. As pointed out in this article below , alternative news sources-- who would get limited or zero exposure in print & broadcast -- have a ready forum on the Internet.

Yahoo! News contains regular content from "The Nation ", "the Weekly Standard" and loads of other smaller "alternative" news sources, which i know i only read regulary,
because they are on the 'net.
As far as weeding out the truthful from the falsehood,
It is simply, let the reader beware with news.

Hoaxes are nothing new in the creations of the human mind.
The Internet does not create hoaxes. People create hoaxes using the Internet.
The good thing is : That BECAUSE of the Internet's freedom of thought and speech, hoaxes do not last long, but are quickly dispelled. ~~ TP
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When computers do the news, hoaxes slip in | csmonitor.com:

"Lack of human involvement is why hoaxsters love Google News."

By Randy Dotinga | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

"But while press releases and satire are labeled as such, Google News doesn't give users information about the difference between the missions of, say, a respected newspaper and a website devoted to political diatribes.

Publicists and activists aren't the only people interested in using news aggregator sites to their advantage. Earlier this month, another fake press release made its way onto Google News, this one falsely saying comic actor Will Ferrell had died in a hang-glider accident.

'In the old days, to perpetrate a hoax and get it in front of the eyes of the millions of people, you had to be in the media some way or have access to a reporter. Nowadays, literally anybody can do it,' says Alex Boese, author of 'Hippo Eats Dwarf: A Field Guide to Hoaxes and other BS.'

Google News and its rival sites offer pranksters a forum that seems legitimate, adding credibility to fake stories, Mr. Boese says.

Indeed, Internet users worldwide started buzzing in 2003 when a story appeared on Yahoo News about the arrest of a time traveler on charges of insider trading. The story was from a tabloid newspaper called the Weekly World News that is infamous for its casual relationship with truth."

New broadband bill draws fire

~~` I posted alot earlier about the big
Telcoms who are pushing to destroy Internet Network neutrality .
The battle is growing hottter.
This evil must be stopped. ~~~ TP
--------------------------------

MSN Tech & Gadgets:
"New broadband bill draws fire"
By Declan McCullagh,
CNET News.com
Published on ZDNet News:
March 28, 2006, 3:32 PM PT

"Internet companies including Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are protesting new federal legislation that would not strictly regulate how broadband operators can organize their network.

In a letter to Congress on Tuesday, the companies told Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, that his bill to revamp telecommunications laws 'would fail to protect the Internet.' Barton is the chairman of the House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee."

Network neutrality is the idea that the companies that own the broadband pipes may not be able to configure their networks in a way that plays favorites--allowing them, for example, to transmit their own services at faster speeds, or to charge Net content and application companies a fee for similar fast delivery."

Non-Microsoft Patches Issued for IE Flaw

~~ Microsoft ain't known for its rapid response work,
but this is a first. ~~~ TP
=============

Security Fix - Brian Krebs on Computer and Internet Security - (washingtonpost.com):
"Brian Krebs on Computer Security
Non-Microsoft Patches Issued for IE Flaw

"A couple of computer-security companies have separately released free patches to plug a critical security flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser that hacker groups have been exploiting to steal passwords from Windows users.

The third-party fixes from Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based eEye Digital Security and Determina of Redwood City, Calif., came after Microsoft said it did not plan to issue its own update until April 11, the next date in its regular monthly security-update cycle."

Proposed FEC Rules Would Exempt Most Political Activity on Internet

~`Clearly good news for Internet Political Junkies like me. Bring on the Elections!!
I predict now that in 2008 it will be Sen. McCain vs . Sen Clinton for the POTUS.
And that McCain will win.
{ I also picked the New York Jets to win last year's Super Bowl brfore the
last season started, just so you know .}
~~ TP
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Proposed FEC Rules Would Exempt Most Political Activity on Internet:

by Zachary A. Goldfarb and Thomas B. Edsall Washington Post Staff Writers

Saturday, March 25, 2006; Page A04

"The Federal Election Commission last night released proposed new rules that leave almost all Internet political activity unregulated except for the purchase of campaign ads on Web site"

When the law chases the Internet | csmonitor.com

~~~ Cybercrime in Cyberspace.
The Internet will never be a totally safe place.
Just be careful out there !! ~~ TP

When the law chases the Internet | csmonitor.com: "And yet cybercrime is now considered a greater worry than physical crime among US businesses, according to a new IBM survey. Nearly 9 out of 10 companies experienced a computer security incident in 2005, the FBI has found, with viruses, computer theft, and other such crimes costing US firms more than $67 billion a year. And the latest worry to individual PC owners is a type of 'spyware' that can remotely follow a person's keystrokes to steal a password or other vital information.

Google itself is quite aware of potential abuse by new software, and how much governments, from Washington to Beijing, want to control or snoop on Google users.

It is primarily up to Congress to pass new laws that can provide the tools to fight cybercrime while also balancing privacy concerns.

One pending bill would provide national standards for companies to notify customers if personal data on their computers has been breached. About half the states have such laws. Another bill would provide protection against spyware intrusion on PCs."

Introducing Mr. McDean? - Los Angeles Times

~~~Sen. Russ Fiengold is trying to become the next internet sensation. Can he succeed where Howard Dean failed? In the end I think that grassroots door-to-door canvassing , handshake rallies, and a good core activist base is what is needed to win elections.
Remember , in the end all politics are local !
The Internet can help, but good field organization is what gets the vote out. ~~~ TP
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Introducing Mr. McDean? - Los Angeles Times: "
"Feingold clearly is courting the Dean vote as he positions himself to the left of other Democratic presidential hopefuls. He is reaching out to the Internet-savvy, airing video podcasts on the website for his political action committee and holding an online 'listening session.'

'Howard Dean was one of the first people who recognized the power of the Internet as a [political] organizing tool, and absolutely we are picking up that mantle and using those tools,' said George Aldrich, spokesman for Feingold's PAC."

Briton wins Templeton Prize | csmonitor.com

Briton wins Templeton Prize | csmonitor.com: "Barrow says the two fields do not contradict as long as each is kept in its own sphere. '[The Bible] is not attempting to explain the [science] of the origin of the earth,' he says, 'any more than we would use a physics textbook to try to tell people how they should act. That was not the purpose of the Bible, or scriptures in other traditions, and there is a long history of disasters following this type of literal interpretation of the textual materials.'"

Math Professor Wins a Coveted Religion Award - New York Times

Math Professor Wins a Coveted Religion Award - New York Times: "Dr. Barrow said that in contrast with the so-called culture wars in America, science and religion had long coexisted peaceably in England. 'The concept of a lawful universe with order that can be understood and relied upon emerged largely out of religious beliefs about the nature of God,' he said."

Chicago Tribune | Internet blows CIA cover

~~~ QUESTION: How do we know if the names discovered by the Tribune
are not plants by the CIA ?

ANSWER: Because we know the Bush / Cheney  CIA is not that smart.~~ technopolitical
--------------------------------------------------

Chicago Tribune | Internet blows CIA cover: "Internet blows CIA cover
It's easy to track America's covert operatives. "
All you need to know is how to navigate the Internet.
By John Crewdson
Tribune senior correspondent
Published March 12, 2006
"

Web Directory of Congressional Bios Debuts - Forbes.com

~~~ COOL ! ~~ TP

Web Directory of Congressional Bios Debuts - Forbes.com:
via Associated Press

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL , 03.04.2006, 02:45 AM

Official congressional biographies have been online for years. Now, all the information in the new directory, including Cabinet officials and lists of lawmakers by state and session, is searchable online.

Those who want their congressional trivia on paper can still pay for it, at $99 a copy, but it's free to those who want to download its 2,218 pages from http://www.gpoaccess.gov.