The Web has quickly become America's playground. A new study from Nielsen finds that more U.S. Web users are using broadband, going social, and checking out Web videos.

According to Nielsen, of the 195 million active Web users in the U.S, 160.3 million, or 93.3 percent, access the Web with a broadband connection, representing a 16 percent increase over 2008 figures.

Nielsen also found that more Americans than ever are consuming online video content. The research firm said 138.4 million unique viewers watched online video in 2009, up 11.4 percent from 2008. All … Read more

It used to be said that mamas shouldn't let their babies grow up to be cowboys.

In olden times, mamas were right. A cowboy's life can be lonely. You often commune more with animals than people. And then there's the problem of riding a horse in very tight Wranglers.

However, these days, cowboys don't merely pick blackberries, they send raunchy texts on them, too (on BlackBerrys, that is). So some enterprising bejeaned geniuses came up with CowboySyndicate.org.

It's an odd choice of name, sounding as if John Wayne and Marlon Brando had gotten drunk … Read more

People need many things right now, but surely nothing more than the ability to spontaneously see through the clothing of another.

You know this is true. So do the other-oriented folks at Presselite. For they want you to share their pride in an application creation called Nude It, which was approved by the Apple store Komsomol Tuesday.

Antoine Morcos, co-founder of Presselite, admitted in a press release that the creators' inspiration in the development of this astounding technology came from the WhoIsTheBaldGuyBlog. I have embedded a YouTube video in order to give you some relief from feeling that you inhabit … Read more

Everyone is talking security these days. Does this include Facebook?

I ask because a group called "Kill Obama" was on the social-networking site for more than a month before Facebook's attention was drawn to it by CNET late Monday evening.

The group, which appears to have been created in Alberta, Canada, had 122 members and five administrators. Its existence originally caught the eye of Brian Cuban, brother of tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban.

Brian Cuban, who has long criticized Facebook for its attitude toward Holocaust denial groups, used his blog, the Cuban Revolution, to point out the apparent … Read more

It is easy to be cynical when it comes to the Tiger Woods extramarital scandal. So let's try.

Those companies that were merely associated with him for his persona--for example, AT&T and watch maker Tag Heuer--have distanced themselves from the great golfer. However, those whose brands are of the sporting kind--for example, Nike--are banking that Woods will return to sporting glory and will make them even more money.

Which left Electronic Arts to ponder its next move.

Video games are hardly sport, but they depend on sport for much of their amusement. So it is surely no … Read more

BeautifulPeople.com, a social-networking and dating site for "attractive people," announced on Monday that it has removed 5,000 members from around the world for putting on too much weight over the holiday season.

According to the site, "many members posted photos of themselves celebrating Christmas and the New Year--revealing that they have let themselves go. Vigilant members, who take pride in the standards demanded by the site, called for action."

Greg Hodge, the site's managing director, said in a statement that the service "responded to complaints by moving the newly chubby members back … Read more

Google's business side is becoming ever more robust, and ever more, well, business-like. But its doodles are becoming ever more charming, whimsical even. And now, ever more animated.

This heartwarming piece comes as the world organizes parties beneath apple trees to celebrate the birth of Sir Isaac Newton. Sir Isaac, one of the developers of differential calculus and, you know, the first Apple tablet, would have been 367 years old on January 4, 2010.

So Google, at its heart an engineering concern, not only offers us the branches of an apple tree, but, if you wait, an apple gently … Read more

I am sure honest Hollywood agents do exist. It's just that they don't seem to employ the finest PR firms to proselytize their honesty.

This might explain why Oisin Hanrahan, the Irish creator of an iPhone app called SuperAgent, decided that the main character in his game might be a few scruples short of Mother Teresa.

SuperAgent seems to have been well received, a reception that might have led to its being noticed by, well, Hollywood super agents.

According to the Independent, one super agent may have enjoyed a particular interest in this app. His name is Ari … Read more

It can't be easy being a policeman.

Every day you're forced to be in contact with some of the lower beings of the world. Sometimes you have to punch them or shoot them, when you'd rather be out with your lover or at least surfing the Web for a little fun.

As a matter of fact, I have just learned from the very learned Daily Mail that an average of nine police officers and support staff from every British police force have been fired or warned after transgressing the police's IT regulations.

In all, the Mail … Read more