09/05/06 |
Who's investing in broadband?
The Universal Service Fund you've been paying into on your phone bill was designed to help telcos fund phone and broadband service in rural and high-cost areas. It's been around for decades, but still broadband service is far from universal. What’s the holdup?
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08/21/06 |
The campaign for straightforward billing
Verizon Online's billing patterns are out of whack. We know DSL providers like to tack on surcharges, but this summer, some DSL bills rose by $15 in June, then decreased $14 the next month. What on earth is going on?
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08/08/06 |
How free is your broadband?
The best way to study a thorny problem is from a distance. That's why Matt Lake is looking at his own stateside broadband issue from 3,000 miles away. In many ways, he envies U.K. broadband consumers the problems they face.
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07/24/06 |
Is .mobi only half a whale?
Mobile Web users need more help to make the Web a mobile-friendly place. But does the dot-mobi domain space fit the bill, or is it just another excuse for domain registrars and ICANN to extract money from content providers?
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07/10/06 |
Tales from the Yellow Chair
Want a grassroots way to convert free Wi-Fi access into a sense of community? Move over, municipal Wi-Fi: a yellow chair on the sidewalk is about to take it to a new level.
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06/26/06 |
VoIP on cell phones: all roads lead to savings
The Internet is all about providing multiple paths for data to travel. At first, it was about surviving network outages. With mobile VoIP, it's all about spending as little as possible on phone calls.
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06/12/06 |
Microsoft Office Live: the first hit is free
With Office Live set to host 100,000 domains before it even officially goes live, Microsoft proves once again that as long as you're not charging, it's easy to make a product launch a success.
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05/30/06 |
I'm the Internet. Fly me
Despite racking up an impressive number of hours wedged in airplane seats and bored out of his gourd, Matt Lake thinks the FCC's auction of air-to-ground Internet channels does not bode well for the future of civilization.
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05/15/06 |
Net on the road, cell phone style
Matt Lake's on the road and needs to pick up his e-mail, but he refuses to carry a BlackBerry. Never fear. With a cell phone, a cable, a notebook, and a dial-up Internet access account, the Internet is only a call away. It won't fit in on his belt like a BlackBerry, but who cares?
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05/01/06 |
Welcome to my spam nightmare
Matt Lake not only gets spam in his mailbox every day, his domain just got hijacked into sending the stuff out, too. If there's a bright side to spam, it's not in his mailbox.
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04/17/06 |
Coasting along in Net neutrality
Should the law ban ISPs from giving certain content providers exclusive access to zippy network traffic while bumping others over to a slowpoke lane? Matt Lake thinks so, but many lawmakers say nay.
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04/03/06 |
Some assembly required
The broadband Internet access market is not a two-horse race divided between DSL from your local phone company and cable access from your local media giant. Some places have additional options--sometimes incredibly cheap ones--but as with many bargains, some assembly is required.
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03/20/06 |
ICANN's valentine to Verisign
There is much grumbling among domain registrars. ICANN has granted what some call a sweetheart deal to the definitive source of dot-com domains, Verisign. Are domain price hikes really on the way?
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03/06/06 |
Skype out your bandwidth
Matt Lake listens to himself over VoIP and thinks of David Bowie…and not in a good way. He also discovers a new tool for judging whether you have enough bandwidth for what you need.
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02/21/06 |
Domain? No sale
Matt Lake finds that selling domains is not as easy as he thought. Instead of flogging toys on eBay, it's more like selling a house for a few hundred dollars.
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02/06/06 |
Domain for sale
Matt Lake decides to sell one of his domain names to the highest bidder. But how does he find the big spender, and what price range should he set?
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01/23/06 |
It's signal! It's noise! It's DSL…plus!
Verizon customers suddenly discovered last month that they had become Verizon Yahoo customers. When they clicked to "upgrade," they found a whole mess of new features. But how much of this fun pack is useful and how much is just clutter?
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01/09/06 |
Internet socket rocket
Wi-Fi is insecure and unreliable. Ethernet ports are few and far between. That's what makes Telkonet's iBridge platform so attractive: the service uses power lines to spread broadband through hotels and apartment buildings.
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12/12/05 |
The gift of a domain
In a desperate rush to get the gift that keeps on giving (and taking), Matt Lake registers a domain. And wraps it--sort of.
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11/28/05 |
Buying someone else's domain
CNET's domain man Matt Lake swims the muddy waters of the domain aftermarket and feels like taking a shower afterward.
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11/14/05 |
Get the drop on expiring domains
Matt Lake explains how to find and register Web sites with expiring domain names.
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10/31/05 |
Keep a grip on your domains
Like fussy plants in your garden, your domains can expire without the right care and attention.
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10/17/05 |
A tale of two wireless cities
It's the best of times, it's the worst of times: San Francisco and Philadelphia have both made big announcements about municipal Wi-Fi. But one of the announced plans has more weight behind it than the other. Has Matt Lake got it the right way round?
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10/03/05 |
Google is a verb
The buzz about Google WiFi is getting pretty loud, but should we think about Google as a wireless access provider yet? Should Google even consider it? Matt Lake has an opinion about this...and a strange feeling of déjà vu.
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09/19/05 |
Things that endure
The .info domain experienced a lot of growth last year, but will any of those registrations survive into a second year? And will any of them outlast the stalwart domain registrar and Katrina survivor DirectNIC.com?
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09/06/05 |
Broadband needs a better name
There are a lot of inexpensive broadband offerings on the market, but how cheap are they really? Matt Lake looks into the dollars and cents of low-cost high-speed broadband.
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08/22/05 |
IM and the future of e-mail
If IM is the future, is e-mail the past? Studies show that kids rely less on e-mail than their parents do and may be turning IM into the messaging technology of the future.
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08/08/05 |
Paperback browser
Mobile browsing and e-mail platforms are coming down the pike thick and fast. But are any of them really suited to the task? Is any one of them as revolutionary as the Penguin paperback book?
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07/25/05 |
Geeks with tweaks
Your Windows network settings may actually be slowing down your Internet connection. Or they may not be. Here's how to figure out whether you're doing all right or whether you should tweak a setting or two.
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07/11/05 |
Get a move on!
Don't have DSL? Don't despair. Summer's here, and while the kids are eating up the neighborhood's bandwidth with streaming videos from Live 8, Matt Lake offers some tips to speed up your Web connection.
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06/27/05 |
Another fine mesh
The unstoppable leviathan of municipal Wi-Fi keeps on moving. But even though citywide mesh networks are technically feasible (and desirable), legislation is limiting who can implement them. Phone and cable companies are welcome. Townships are not.
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06/13/05 |
I'm Wi-Fi. Fly me
It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's a Wi-Fi hot spot! Wireless Web access has finally been approved by the FAA, and United Airlines will offer it in 2006. Of course, it's been a working reality in Europe and Asia for a year already...
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05/31/05 |
Just browsing
The Internet is falling! The Internet is falling! Or is it just that the most common browsers are falling apart? Matt Lake examines a wave of browser problems, some solutions, and a way out of the mess.
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05/16/05 |
Should cities offer free Wi-Fi?
Commercial ISPs have failed to deliver broadband to the masses. Now cities are doing it for themselves, raising the ire of big telecommunications companies. Should cities bridge the digital divide on their own?
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05/02/05 |
Naked DSL: no shoes, no shirt, no service
Tempted by offers of naked DSL that got past his spam filter, Matt Lake sets out to strip down his DSL subscription, losing voice service while holding onto his broadband Internet account. As many DSL subscribers looking to switch to a VoIP phone service may discover as well, naked DSL is more promise than reality at this juncture.
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04/18/05 |
Kicking the tires of cable and DSL providers
Matt Lake's search for a new (used) car reminds him of his hunt for a broadband service provider. Which features and extras should you care about and which can you ignore? Follow CNET's On the Dot columnist as he kicks the tires of cable and DSL providers.
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04/04/05 |
The cellular solution to mobile browsing
Matt Lake finds himself in an old inn that trades Internet connectivity for quaint, old-world charm. Without panicking, our intrepid On the Dot columnist attempts to turn his cheapo cell phone into a modem. Find out if his efforts met with success in this week's On the Dot.
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03/21/05 |
Not free, but ad-free, low-cost Web hosts
Matt Lake scopes our your low-cost Web hosting options and finds four such services that'll registrar your domain and host your site sans ads for $40 or less per year. Read this week's On the Dot to find out how much storage and bandwidth you get at this price level and which features you can expect to see.
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03/07/05 |
Riding the rails with Wi-Fi: hit or miss?
Matt Lake leaves town without his trusty cell phone. In its absence, he attempts to connect to AT&T Wireless hot spots at various Amtrak stations throughout the Northeast Corridor. Read this week's On the Dot to find out whether he was able to ride the rails with Wi-Fi in tow.
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02/22/05 |
The land of the free domain: does such a place exist?
In this week's On the Dot, Matt Lake explores Catalog.com's free Onesite service. Chanting the consumer-advocacy mantra, "Where's the catch?" as he went, our incredulous columnist scoped out Onesite, looking for loopholes.
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02/07/05 |
Verizon: good telco, bad telco
Matt Lake doesn't mind if his DSL bill increases as long as the company is up front about the amount it's really charging him each month. When Verizon added yet another tax to his broadband bill, our intrepid On the Dot columnist investigated the source of this latest fee.
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01/18/05 |
Is municipal Wi-Fi doomed in the United States?
Last September, Philadelphia launched a plan to build a citywide Wi-Fi network. The project is technologically and financially feasible, but there's one huge impediment: Pennsylvania House Bill 30. On the Dot columnist Make Lake doesn't like what the bill portends for the spread of Wi-Fi in the United States.
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12/20/04 |
Wrestling the beast: how to share large files on your Web site
Who among us hasn't at some point tried to burn a handful of huge files containing the key to career advancement to a CD-R only to discover that the darn thing was unreadable? Big files are inherently frustrating: e-mail servers balk at large attachments, and e-mail itself is insecure. Matt Lake has the answer--as long as you have a Web site.
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12/06/04 |
How domain owners can avoid direct marketers
When Matt Lake got an automated sales call from BulkRegister a few years ago, he knew the age of domain-dipping registrar marketing had begun. After all, owning a domain leaves your contact information blowing in the wind. But now, there's a solution. Find out more.
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11/22/04 |
Why it's easier than ever to lose your domain
If you're not paying attention, you just may lose your domain. Earlier this month, ICANN changed its policy regarding domain transfers. It's now easier to pull the domain out from underneath someone's feet. In this week's On the Dot, Matt Lake explains what you can do to protect yourself.
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11/08/04 |
Get search engines to sit up and take notice
Got yourself a Web site? Congratulations. But how do you get the word out to people on the Web that you exist? In this week's On the Dot column, Matt Lake shares a few tips on how to get your site noticed by search engines.
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10/25/04 |
Step in the right redirection
Found yourself a new Web host and a site with a new and improved
domain name? Don't abandon loyal visitors to your current Web site.
Instead, leave a forwarding address. Matt Lake shows you how in this
week's On the Dot column.
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10/12/04 |
Are .net and .info domains a .complete waste of time?
Registrars are offering free or next-to-free .info domains. But in this .com world, should you bother with an alternate domain extension? Matt Lake mulls this question over in this week's column.
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09/28/04 |
Let's go hot-spot hopping
This week, Matt Lake hits the road to test out Wi-Fi hot spots in the greater Philadelphia area. With a wireless laptop in tow, he judges how fast and easy hot spots are to find and use, from the Hilton and Starbucks to Kinko's and Borders, in this week's On the Dot column.
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09/13/04 |
Keep hot-spot hackers at bay
In this week's On the Dot column, Matt Lake explains some steps you should take to keep your notebook safe from hackers lurking at wireless hot spots.
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08/31/04 |
What to do with a domain?
In this week's On the Dot column, Matt Lake explains the difference between a domain and a domain name. Plus, he tells you how you should go about choosing a place to register both.
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08/16/04 |
Pick a registrar, any registrar--even a cheap one
In this week's On the Dot column, Matt Lake explains how we went from one registrar--Network Solutions--to the many hundreds offering their services today and what it means to domain name seekers.
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08/03/04 |
E-mail acrobatics
Matt Lake wears many hats and juggles and forwards many e-mail addresses in CNET's biweekly column on how to get online, On the Dot. Along the way, he's learned a few tricks about how best to manage his multiple e-mail addresses. He shares them with you this week.
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07/19/04 |
The need for more Net speed
In this week's On the Dot column, Matt Lake discusses Verizon's soon-to-be-released premium DSL service. It promises faster speeds than current DSL service, and Matt Lake ponders how it might compare to his current DSL service, as well as to the two cable providers in this area.
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06/29/04 |
I was a teenage wardriver
In this week's On the Dot column, Matt Lake takes a drive with a teenager, a wireless notebook, and software to spot wireless networks. They quickly find dozens of wireless networks, the vast majority of which are unprotected. Did they break any laws during their travels?
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06/14/04 |
Where to go when your Internet access goes out
In this week's On the Dot column, Matt Lake loses his broadband connection, visits with neighbors, stops by the library, and swings by a bookstore in search of an Internet connection. In the end, he finds cheap, reliable Internet-access backup for the next time his broadband cable connection goes down.
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06/07/04 |
Why domain registrars can be worse than the DMV
In this week's On the Dot column, Matt Lake sets out to transfer a few expiring domain names and ends up reliving the painful days of DOS command-line computing. He found that for some domains, you must undertake extra steps for the simple act of transferring a domain from one registrar to another.
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05/17/04 |
Hit the road with the Web in tow
In this week's On the Dot column, Matt Lake gets himself lost as he searches for the remains of General "Mad Anthony" Wayne. Needing Web access with no Wi-Fi hot spot in sight, he turns to the Gomadic ComCube to get online.
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05/03/04 |
Don't lose your domain name to pool sharks
This week, columnist Matt Lake explains how easy it is to lose a precious domain name and what to do to keep your special Web address safe and sound.
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