Providing further evidence that Google is everywhere, now it's coming to the rescue of victims of Hurricane Katrina. In an effort to help displaced hurricane victims and their families, ad hoc communities of Internet users are using mapping technologies from Google to track storm damage, analyze aerial photos and try to make sense of what little information is available.

Despite the loss of most public utilities, at least one hosting company in hurricane-battered New Orleans is still online, fighting against time and the odds to keep part of the internet humming. Occupying the 10th floor of a downtown Big Easy office building, Zipa is a typical web-hosting and co-location center, with one key difference: It's sitting smack dab in the middle of some of the worst devastation the United States has ever experienced.

Victims of Hurricane Katrina struggled to communicate with each other and the rest of the world yesterday, using everything from text messages to ham radio as most telephone service in New Orleans and coastal Mississippi remained devastated.

There is some welcome relief today for those people left wading through the remains of New Orleans - T-Mobile has announced it will offer free Wi-Fi access across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama until the end of the week, and "possibly beyond that if the situation warrants it".

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into reports of fraudulent online solicitations of funds for hurricane relief. A spokesman for the FBI warned of e-mails making bogus appeals for support, a practice known as phishing.

Sprint Nextel Corp. could cut the price of its high-speed wireless service after bigger rival Verizon Wireless slashed its price by 25 percent, a top Sprint executive suggested on Wednesday.

If Google Desktop 2 were a guy I was dating, I'd be enamored with his style and determination, but annoyed by his forgetfulness.

Local community websites have sprung into action to assist hurricane Katrina survivors with everything from blankets to offers of shelter in their homes.

The devastation from Hurricane Katrina has forced the U.S. Postal Service to stop accepting any Standard mail or Periodicals mail from any source addressed for delivery to parts of New Orleans and parts of southern Mississippi.