News

FEELING depressed because you missed out on Google's stock bonanza? Not to worry. Just get on the company's shadow payroll. Hundreds of thousands of people have essentially done just that by starting blogs, forums or other informational sites and getting paid for posting ads on Google's behalf. And while the money they earn might not be enough for them to buy, say, a share of Google's stock, such...

After an elementary school girl was killed in Hiroshima on her way home from school last year, the Chugoku Shimbun, a major regional daily, based in Hiroshima, western Japan, has been encouraging its readers to post messages about child safety on its weblog. A mother of two elementary school-aged children wrote, "We are really feeling unrest," while a member of the Parent-Teacher Association at a...

An Internet portal that is said to hold personal files on 90 million people has caused uproar among netizens and panicked online surfers that fear the information may be made available to the public. Since early December, Ucloo.com has provided a service nicknamed "souren," meaning searching for a specific person. By paying one yuan (12 US cents) through one's mobile phone, it is possible to find...

In a move that would dramatically change the Internet, BellSouth Corp. is proposing to charge companies such as Napster Inc., Movielink LLC, Google Inc. and Vonage Inc. for guaranteed fast delivery of online content. The move could ultimately generate millions of dollars in yearly revenue for BellSouth as early as 2007. Companies that pay the new fees would be able to transmit music, video, data...

In his New Year's address outlining his administration's plans for 2006, French President Jacques Chirac focused on plans for a European search engine to rival US internet companies such as Yahoo and Google. Some of the top tech labs in France and Germany are reportedly working on the 'Quaero' (Latin for 'to search') search engine. Those involved in the Quaero project, including Thomson, France...

Businesses that have long relied upon classified advertising in newspapers are starting to experiment with Craigslist, a free online bulletin board that is expanding its reach in Hawaii. Craigslist.org offers free classified advertising in all 50 states and 35 countries. More than 10 million people use the site each month to find practically anything -- cars, apartments, jobs, even sex. With 3...

CHICAGO Police in Palm Beach, Florida have found the body of a 22-year-old man on the estate of former newspaper mogul Conrad Black. Authorities found no sign of foul play. The man, identified as Emmanuel Issac, appeared to have set up a camp near the property's beach access tunnel. The body was found Friday by Black's property manager. A spokesman says Black was not at the estate that day. Black...

BEIRUT: The Gebran Tueni Annual Award, a prize that will be given annually to outstanding journalism students, was kicked off on Saturday at the Press Club in Downtown Beirut. Attended by several political and media representatives, the event also commemorated the passing of one month since the death of Tueni. "This is not some protocol meeting," said the head of the Press Club Youssef Howayek....

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav today announced a contribution worth Rs 11 lakh towards a journalist foundation to be set up by renowned journalist Kuldeep Naiyar. Mr Singh made the announcement after Mr Naiyar sought financial aid from him towards the proposed journalist foundation. Earlier, Mr Naiyar announced to set up the foundation with Rs five lakh given to him by...

HT Media Ltd on Monday said it will invest Rs 385 million to fund its various expansion plans, including the launch of a business newspaper, the Press Trust of India has reported. New Delhi-based HT Media, which publishes the Hindustan Times English daily, said the money would be used for initial investments in the launch of a business newspaper, expansion for a Hindi newspaper in Madhya Pradesh...