Ben Charny

A Dell Computer spokesman was unable Friday to confirm whether it was a Dell-made laptop that exploded last week in Japan. Photos of the incident, plus an eyewitness account, were published June 21 at The Inquirer Web site. A witness identifying him or herself as Gaston claims the device was a Dell. Dell isn’t the […]

Google can’t be a big fan of FIFA’s World Cup, the month-long futbol extravaganza. The reason? Hundreds of millions of people are watching the matches on television, and hundreds of thousands are expected to attend the games in person. For Google, and other Internet companies, that translates into less Internet activity in general, which in […]

Dearest Bleacher Creatures: It’s about the comments you leave below the postings on this blog. I’ve occasionally written some dumb stuff, so I expect a good whacking by those choosing to leave some pearls of wisdom below a story of mine. I’ve also drawn lots of story material from the dialogue; perhaps the best part […]

Google’s book search engine has put together a William Shakespeare section, which in practice is a Web page where people can read a lot of Shakespeare’s works, cover to cover. The page was set up to coincide with the 50th summer of Shakespeare In The Park, the series of free performances in New York City’s […]

Google Earth’s become a forum for editorializing via Google SketchUp, a relatively new feature that lets you create 3-D images that appear on Google Earth’s satellite maps. The sometimes haunting pictorials demonstrate the beauty and challenge of letting consumers have a direct hand in the look and feel of an Internet-based feature. As with Google […]

Google’s unveiled an updated version of Google Maps, its mapping feature. Along with all the new bells and whistles, there’s also now fee-based licensing and support for businesses that wish to add Google Earth to their Web sites, or use the mapping facet on their computer networks. Prices begin at $10,000, according to Google. Google […]

Imagine paying to use Google search. The notion is deservedly absurd right now. But that landmark day may come, and it may be traced to present-day legislative and legal wrangling over how neutral the Internet is to be. The ongoing net neutrality fight, in U.S. courts, the Senate and Congress, is over whether companies that […]

Google’s got quite a predicament in China to contend with. Perhaps most importantly from Google’s perspective, its locally operated Internet search engine (found here) is losing market share to Baidu, China’s No. 1 Internet search engine. Combined with its declining fortunes, Google’s also in a showdown right now with the Chinese government about whether it […]

Google’s gone on the offensive to try and allay any privacy and coverage concerns about a wireless Internet network it plans to switch on later in June in Mountain View, Calif. The message Google’s been delivering recently via local media interviews and meetings with local businesses and citizens is, to paraphrase, “don’t worry, just surf.” […]

Google’s the latest leading Internet concern to turn to its consumers for help in the fight over net neutrality. Loosely-defined, net neutrality guarantees that Internet users have unfettered access to any Internet application or service. Next week, both the U.S. Congress and Senate will address the issue via a vote on pending legislation and an […]