Internet users at home are not nearly as safe online as they believe, according to a nationwide inspection by researchers. They found most consumers have no firewall protection, outdated antivirus software and dozens of spyware programs secretly running on their computers. One beleaguered home user in the government-backed study had more than 1,000 spyware programs running on his sluggish computer when researchers examined it.

International co-operation in fighting cross-border electronic abuse such as spam, phishing and extreme pornography has been given a boost by a series of meetings and events over the past month.

Stepping up the heated battle of online search and services, Yahoo and Adobe Systems have joined forces to tap each others' customers and put Web search features into Adobe's Acrobat Reader software. The venture, to be announced Monday, is Yahoo's latest maneuver against Google and Microsoft in the fight to put its own search service and Web access on as many desktops as possible.

A group of search engine professionals have formed the Search Marketing Association UK (SMA-UK) with the aim of promoting search optimisation and positioning.

When David Emery set up his urban legends Web site in 1997, he planned to focus on the poodle-in-a-microwave world of bizarre myths and hoaxes. But look at Emery's site in recent weeks, and the list of new entries is stocked with rumors related to the 2004 presidential election: "Has John Kerry Been Excommunicated?" "Did G.W. Bush Refer to a Fetus as a 'Feces' in Right-to-Life Speech?" "Is the Communist Party USA endorsing John Kerry for President?"

Amazon.com Inc.'s days as a hot-shot dot-com may be behind it as the Internet retailer's slowing growth makes its business suspiciously similar to that of its brick-and-mortar peers.

Eric Blumrich is angry. He's angry at President George W. Bush, at the media and at politics in general. Instead of ranting and raving, the 34-year-old unemployed web designer decided to create online videos to tell viewers what he thinks is wrong with the world. Blumrich never imagined many people would be interested in his views. But since he launched BushFlash.com at the end of March 2003, he has had 2.8 million unique visitors, and almost 5 million total visitors, from all over the globe.

Texas Instruments Inc. today announced development of the wireless industry's first digital TV on a single chip for cell phones, code-named "Hollywood."

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom set a goal on Thursday of providing free wireless Internet activity in his city that sees itself as a vanguard of the Internet revolution.

Here's another baseball stat to go with your morning coffee and news that the St. Louis Cardinals have defeated the Houston Astros to advance to the World Series: In October, 613 fans logged onto the Astros' free Wi-Fi network at Minute Maid Park, clocking some 1,500 hours of connection time during the team's most nail-biting moments of 2004.