Will you rent your ride to a stranger? Peer-to-peer ‘carsharing’ arrives

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We’ve already told you about the ability to use the Internet to find nearby lodging (Airbnb); pet sitters (DogVacay and Rover.com) and sports tickets and other goods (Zaarly). Now, residents in Washington state — due in part to changes in insurance laws instituted by the legislature earlier this month — will be able to easily… Read More…

Clearwire tops 10M customers, continues to pile up losses

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Clearwire Corp. said Wednesday that it was one of the fastest growing telecommunications companies in the country last year, reporting revenues that jumped 143 percent to $1.25 billion. Wholesale revenue — in which the company resells access to its high-speed wireless network — represented $493 million of the company’s revenue. The Kirkland company, which lost $236… Read More…

Ben Huh’s love affair with the Internet (Or why we need to protect our greatest creation)

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Cheezburger CEO Ben Huh appeared today at the In NW social media conference in Seattle, offering an impassioned plea on the importance of protecting the Internet. Or, as the Internet entrepreneur dubs it: “The greatest thing that mankind has ever created.” Huh, who was instrumental in the recent fight against the Stop Online Piracy Act… Read More…

Analysis: 96 percent of Washington state residents have access to ‘broadband’

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The Washington State Broadband Office today released a comprehensive report about the state of broadband in the state. And here’s the upshot: Things are getting much better for those who have a need for speed. The authors of the report declared that 2011 was a “watershed year for broadband connectivity in Washington” with public and… Read More…

This Internet thing is gonna be pretty huge after all: Nearly half of the planet’s population to become Web users by 2016

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In case you need a friendly reminder, The Boston Consulting Group just came out with projections for how the Internet is transforming the way we conduct commerce, communicate and, basically, live our daily lives. The latest survey indicates that  by 2016, roughly 45 percent of the world’s population, or three billion people, will be using… Read More…

With SOPA on the ropes, opponents taking their campaign to the streets

Ben Huh (Randy Stewart photo)

The controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) suffered a pair of blows over the weekend, as the White House spoke out against the specifics of the bill and sponsors said they would strip the legislation of a provision requiring Internet Service Providers to use DNS to block access to overseas sites accused of piracy. The news… Read More…

Planking, Pepper Spray Cop and other top Internet memes of 2011

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Cheezburger is the master of memes, and 2011 created some memorable moments for lovers of Internet culture. From planking to Pepper Spray Cop, Cheezburger has been tracking all of the silliness and offbeat humor. What’s your favorite Internet meme of the year? Cheezburger community members liked My Little Pony, 60s Spider-Man captioning and the Nyan… Read More…

Stop Online Piracy Act: An important step, or the worst Internet legislation ever?

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Stephen Colbert rarely books two guests to (more or less) seriously debate hot topics, but that’s precisely how “The Colbert Report” tackled a particularly contentious geek topic late last week — the recently proposed Stop Online Piracy Act. Proponents say SOPA will help protect American intellectual property by providing legal tools to combat mostly foreign… Read More…

Seattle suburb getting nation’s fastest home Internet

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Highlands Fiber Network, the Internet service for the Issaquah Highlands community east of Seattle, says it will be upgrading its network on Dec. 1 to allow for download speeds as high as 1 Gigabit per second — which it believes will be the fastest residential Internet service anywhere in the country. Residents of the neighborhood… Read More…

Hiring boom continues at Google as shares soar on profit and revenue increases

Google's Kirkland campus

Google engineer Steve Yegge may think some things are messed up at Google. But the search giant continues to deliver, with the company announcing today that net income for the third quarter blew by analysts estimates to $2.73 billion on net revenue of $7.51 billion. The stock is surging in after hours trading as a… Read More…