NASA and Vint Cerf (Google VP, co-creator of the internet, nerd legend) have been working on updating our antiquated radio communications system for space for nearly a decade now, and a recent successful test represents the first step towards the goal of creating a deep space internet. Using software called Disruption-Tolerant Networking (DTN) the team at NASA was able to transmit dozens of space images to and from a science spacecraft located about 20 million miles from Earth.

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According to TechCrunch's "multiple (if thin) reports," Apple may be working on a search engine in the interest of weaning themselves from Google's teet. Given that Apple defaults to Google search on Mac and iPhone versions of Safari, and given that Google is sort of competition now with Android, the rumours make sense...but given that Apple does not appear to be recruiting search programmers from other companies, and given that you need experienced programmers to build your engine, the rumours don't make sense. So I guess that all we can conclude is that there's nothing conclusive yet. [TechCrunch]

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An office tower in downtown San Jose, California has long served as home to McColo--a hosting company whose servers in turn have quietly served as a conduit to a huge majority of the world's spam email, scam prescription drug markets and child porn sites. After investigations by the Washington Post's Security Fix blog identified McColo as supreme baddies and shut them down, web security firms saw spam volumes drop almost instantly by up to 75%.

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Much like the typing speed question I asked over the summer, this question is designed to pit you head-to-head against one another to see who has the biggest e-wang (so to speak). All you need to do is follow this link to test your internet connection speed. The poll after the break is broken down to get a basic range, but make sure to include your exact figures in the comments.

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While AT&T U-Verse lags far, far behind Verizon FIOS in the insane bandwidth race, the boost to 18Mbps downstream for the top tier U-Verse package that starts Nov. 9 nearly doubles the relatively pokey 10Mbps they offered. To put... Read More »

Telstra's been talking up their NextG network for some time as the world's fastest, and for good reason. At 14.4Mbps, it currently is the world's fastest, although there aren't a lot of devices on the market that take advantage of that speed (most HSDPA phones and modems run at 7.2Mbps).

But, at the company's annual Investor Day briefing today, they unveiled a new modem produced in conjunction with Qualcomm, Ericsson and Sierra Wireless, to blow the current network's 14.4Mbps speeds out of the water. The new modem will be capable of 21Mbps, which is the speed Telstra will be taking its NextG network to early next year, with trials starting next month.

The technology, called enhanced HSPA (or eHSPA), will not only offer much faster speeds than are currently available, but will also improve network efficiency and offer increased capacity for all the consumers that will flock trickle over to NextG.

Of course, knowing Telstra, when they do launch this super-fast modem, they'll also price it beyond the reach of us mere mortals. But still, for wireless internet that covers most of Australia and offers near ADSL2+ speeds, you'd expect to pay a premium of some kind, wouldn't you?

[Telstra]

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FCC officials approved a plan for white space wireless broadband in a vote today. For those unfamiliar, white space broadband would take the unused parts of the television broadcast spectrum and make it available for internet data transfer. Details on the specifics have yet to be announced, but this is seen as a boost for companies like Microsoft and Google, who want to provide internet for use in free programs and those in rural, hard-to-reach areas. [Yahoo]

AT&T's bandwidth caps for its high speed internet customers are here. They're conducting a "market trial" in Reno that started on Nov. 1, where users get between 20GB and 150GB a month, depending on their speed tier. Unlike Time... Read More »

Chinese internet users have become the top target for malware, according to a new security report by Microsoft. The company said that about 47 percent of software "exploits" it found, including ones that can record keystrokes and steal passwords, in the first half of 2008 were in Chinese, while only 23 percent were in English.

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Google Chrome Beta version 0.3.154.9 isn't due to drop for a few days, though it can be found over at FileHippo. No major features are introduced here—just security enhancements and bug fixes. But I know some of you love to have the latest and greatest. So enjoy. [FileHippo via Download Squad]