One of the newest online rages is “cyber begging” or “cyberbegging” (or heck, even “cyber-begging”, for those who are sticklers for proper hyphenation). Whatever you call it, it boils down to cyber panhandling – Internet begging. The way it works is that, instead of standing on a street corner, down and out people do their panhandling online, through a site such as CyberBeg.com. Unfortunately, for those who really are in need, Internet panhandling is more likely to lead them to lose what little they have, and to be scammed for their trouble.

We’re not sure what Miss Manners would have to say about the correct way to apologize to someone whom you’ve just shot, but we’re pretty sure that she would not say that it’s ok to apologize by text message. Then again, given that the victim might not want to see your mug – except on a ‘wanted’ posted with “apprehended” stamped over it – maybe she would. While this may sound like an “only in the movies” scenario, it actually played out in real life in Orange County, California.

Technology is dangerous.  At least that’s the message of two claims this week (one that’s heading to a lawsuit).  A 24 year old womanr has claimed that tumbling off her Wii fit has created an insatiable urge to tumble into bed as it made her a nymphomaniac.  And a teen girl has claimed through her attorneys that having a handheld barcode scanner flashed at her face has given her Tourettes Syndrome.

There’s been a lot in the news this week about the National Broadband Plan, and while it was first inserted into public awareness nearly a year ago, many were not aware of even the possibility of a National Broad band Plan, let alone the reality of it, until recently. At its broadest, the American Broadband Plan is about making sure that the U.S. has a robust, and wicked-fast, broadband infrastructure, to not only keep up with – but to keep ahead of – the rapidly changing Internet landscape and demands. It looks at allocation and reallocation of parts of the wireless spectrum, it considers redefining Federal funds currently earmarked to ensure that everybody has access to basic telephone service to include broadband access as well, and it looks at who ought to be paying for all of this broadband development and access. But it also has aspects that are much more personal, and hit much closer to home for the average American.

It’s important to choose your battles wisely, and to know what’s important when it comes to whether or not to argue over something. Which do you consider the more important issue? Ginger or Maryann? Emacs or Vi?

An Irish college student has proven that journalists are using Wikipedia as a primary – and indeed only – source for their stories, without doing any fact checking whatsoever. By inserting and then tracking a fake quote in the Wikipedia entry for French composer Maurice Jarre, who died in March, 22-year old Shane Fitzgerald determined that even such august media outlets as the BBC are susceptible to the “it’s on Wikipedia, it must be true” fallacy.

That darling grapevine of the 21st century, Twitter, is being socially indicted and implicated in the increasing panic over the currently-anticipated swine flu epidemic. According to Evgeny Morozov, a fellow at the Open Society Institute, in an article published on the website of the Foreign Policy magazine, “having millions of people wrap up all their fears into 140 characters and blurt them out in the public might have some dangerous consequences.”

People are looking all over online for it – so here it is: the full text of President Obama’s address (it’s not a “State of the Union Address” as that officially happens after his first year in office, although for all intents and purposes it was a State of the Union – or, rather, a State of the Economy or State of the Economic Recovery address) that he gave on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

You may have heard a lot of talk about “the triple bottom line” lately, and you may be wondering just what the triple bottom line is. The triple bottom line (also expressed as TBL, 3BL, or “people, planet, profit”) is a way of measuring an organization’s social and enviromental impacts as well as its financial health. But what about a triple bottom line analysis of the Internet?

The Postmaster General has said that the United States Postal Service may have to cut out one day’s delivery a week as more and more people turn to the email inbox, instead of the post office, to deliver their correspondence.

The Detroit News and Detroit Free press have conceded defeat to the Internet, and are cutting home delivery of the print version of their newspapers to just three days a week, and supplementing them by emailing a digital version to subscribers instead. “The dynamics of delivering information to audiences has changed forever due to technology,” said David Hunke, publisher of the Detroit Free Press. “We’re fighting for our survival.”

Esther Dyson has gone on record as comparing the choice to remain anonymous on the Internet to abortion.

A new study conducted by the unlikely pair of Cosmo Girl and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy has found that teens are “going sex crazy in cyberspace.” Teens and cybersex are, apparently, a natural combination. So, why not encourage it as an alternative to in-person sex, which is so much riskier?

Abraham K. Biggs, known as Candy Junkie on the BodyBuilding .com forums that he frequented, had threatened to commit suicide many times. However, last week, he really meant it. And so it was that Abraham Biggs downed an overdose of anti-depressent medications, and hundreds of people watched his webcam while he died.

If you have ever thought “Gee, I wish that we could vote by Internet,” well, your wish has just come true. This year, Internet voting has become a reality, as the very first voting by Internet system for a U.S. general election goes online. Unlike other electronic voting machines, the electronic voting machines used for Internet voting are basically just stripped-down, secured, laptops. Assuming it works as planned, it will be perfect for, for example, absentee voting.