Apple Computer Inc. on Thursday responded to RealNetworks' creation of iPod-compatible software by calling it the technological equivalent of breaking and entering. "We are stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod, and we are investigating the (legal) implications of their actions," Apple said.

Here are email terms you're most likely to come across as you deal with the email process, building your list, creating and sending messages, or dealing with your IT department or broadcast vendo

IBM Corp.'s research arm on Friday will debut a new spam filtering test platform called SpamGuru at the first Conference on E-Mail and Spam in Mountain View, Calif. The new offering will make its way to the enterprise with the release of IBM's Lotus Workplace Messaging 2.0 product later this quarter.

Our recent story Pop-up goes the commission reported on allegations that 180solutions' permission-based search assistant application Zango may have been dowloading itself onto users' computers without their knowledge. We further reported on allegations that 180solutions "violated the policies of two affiliate marketing networks by soliciting commissions from merchant members, and redirecting to itself commissions that should have gone to other affiliates". Here is 180solutions' reply to the charges, which we reprint here in full:

Click fraud -- the practice of clicking on a text advertisement served by a search engine for the sole purpose of forcing the advertiser to pay for the click -- is emerging as an important concern for search engine marketers.

At the Black Hat Security Briefings in Las Vegas, the talk turns to e-voting security, tougher tools and RFID hacking. Meanwhile, Check Point shores up its network software.

"My life, My thoughts, My world," writes Shanee from Newport News, Virginia, about her life tales. Welcome to the world of blogging. For a few years now, blogs have given tech-savvy individuals a platform to publish directly to the Internet their personal opinions on everything from relationships to politics. Thousands of blogs, characterized by some as the height of self-importance, are posted daily.

Much has been written about the inventory management problems Web publishers face. Inventory is hard, if not impossible, to predict. Network latency and underdelivery constantly plague the ad operations process. And managing potential conflicts between multiple campaigns competing for the same section or same audience is a problem just beginning to be addressed by vendor solutions, such as Solbright's AdSuite.

Traditional ad agencies are still shunning online advertising, forcing media owners to go direct to clients, despite the massive increase in online ad spend.

Time Warner said yesterday that its AOL unit saw strong advertising sales growth in the second quarter after nearly three years of declines, thanks to help from its Google search partnership.