Internet Computer Network

A sex video made by actor Colin Farrell and a Playboy Playmate surfaced Tuesday on the Internet despite a court injunction blocking its release. Word about a website carrying the video featuring Farrell and his then-girlfriend, Nicole Narain, Playboy magazine's Miss January 2002, rapidly spread on the Internet through other websites, including IDontLikeYouIn ThatWay.com, which also posted what it said were video stills of the Irish actor and Narain engaged in sex acts.

"Community," NBC's quirky Thursday night comedy, has been a slacker in the ratings. The sitcom about misfit community college students, starring Joel McHale and Chevy Chase, has averaged about 4 million viewers an episode this season, not enough to guarantee survival in the dog-eat-dog world of network television. The tepid ratings prompted NBC to put the show on hiatus. Still, despite its struggles, the series is headed toward the promised land of syndication. Just a few years ago, a syndication sale for a modest performer like "Community" would have been unthinkable.

Bringing the information highway ever closer, one of America's largest cable television operators said Tuesday it will offer direct access to the sprawling Internet computer network through its video system. The new service, from Boston-based Continental Cablevision Inc., will give subscribers an ocean of information through their personal computers, allowing them to tap into university libraries, discussion groups and other services from around the world.

With 21.5 million Netflix streaming subscribers set to lose access to Starz's movies and television shows in February, the premium cable channel is planning a big digital push of its own in 2012. Starz President Chris Albrecht said at an investor presentation in New York on Thursday that his network would launch an HBO Go-like application to allow subscribers to watch its content on a variety of digital devices. Also, for the first time, the executive indicated a willingness to offer Starz directly to customers and not as part of a package of cable television channels.

In her flowing crimson cape, thigh-high leather boots and metal-studded red leather bustier, Cardinal is a bow-and-arrow-toting femme fatale. But not only is Cardinal not real--she's a character in the popular computer game "Ultima Online"--she's not really female. Cardinal is the alter-ego of Kenn Gold, a 33-year-old former Army sergeant with thorny green-and-black tattoos covering both of his muscular arms.

When it comes to choosing broadband Internet providers, you can't always get what you want. But with certain limitations, you can get what you need. If you use the Internet regularly, chances are you already have broadband -- that is, a high-speed hookup, usually through your cable television provider or phone company. But are you getting it at the right speed and right price? There are more choices than ever, even though you typically have to go with a provider that serves your neighborhood.

Television actress Alyssa Milano recently won several legal skirmishes in her crusade to stop Internet sites from posting nude pictures of her. Two operators of nude celebrity Web sites have agreed to remove the pictures of Milano and settle suits she filed against them, according to Milano's attorney, Mitchell Kamarck. He declined to specify how much money the sites agreed to pay except to say that the total is "in the five figures."

Gizelle Studevent was a 13-year-old eighth-grader at prestigious La Jolla Country Day School when the harassment began. She returned from a basketball tournament to find an unsigned note in her suitcase: Addressed to "Senorita," it mocked the girl's skills on the court and suggested she go home to Mexico. Over more than two years, an anonymous band of bullies tormented Gizelle. Their acts grew increasingly cruel -- on the Internet, in notes and around school. Finally, she transferred.

The human race seems to be falling for the space aliens' devious scheme: We're watching more television than ever, according to a report released Monday. If you've seen that Hulu.com commercial starring Alec Baldwin, you know that TV is a plot devised by aliens to turn our brains into mush so they can scoop them out and eat them. Computers, the ad says, are making our brains even mushier by giving us more places to watch TV. The Nielsen Co.'

After putting in a full day at his computer technician job, a 30-year-old Internet game player known as Ebaid went home, logged on to a game called "EverQuest" and started his night job. His game character donned armor, slapped on his sword and began slaying beasts so he could make some real money. Hail the rise of yet another strange creature of the Internet revolution--the professional online game hunter. Ebaid played for hours, slaying every computer-generated monster on his screen.

The questioner reads evenly from a script. "Please give me your name and your age. " "My name is Sameh Eldesoky and I am 21 years old. " Eldesoky sits back, hands on his knees, trying to relax, trying to forget that a tiny microphone is clamped to the front of his shirt. "When and how did you first hear about the demonstrations of Jan. 25?" "Through Facebook and friends. " "Had you been involved in demonstrations before or political organizing?" asks the interviewer, a young woman with a soft, soothing voice.

Thousands of years after Moses led his people out of Egypt, the Passover story is going digital. At Monday's Seder meal, dozens of families will be reading the traditional tableside ceremony from a Haggadah, a text guiding the Seder, that they have personalized by uploading family photos to replace stock illustrations of Pharaoh and the slaves. Behrman House, a Jewish educational publisher in Springfield, N.J., has sold more than 100 sets of the cyber-assisted version of its Family Haggadah.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday signed a measure to cut business taxes for Internet-based firms, many of which last year saw their tax rate jump from the lowest in the city to the highest. The change, unanimously approved by the City Council on March 5, will affect about 1,400 businesses in Los Angeles. Some of those companies had threatened to leave the city if the tax rate was not reduced. Villaraigosa signed the ordinance at the Westside Internet firm Shopzilla, one of the companies that had considered relocating.

U.S. citizens reported losing more than $550 million in 2009 in Internet fraud, falling prey to a variety of increasingly sophisticated scams, according to a report by the Internet Crime Complaint Center. The loss was more than twice that reported in 2008, according to the agency, a partnership of the FBI and the privately funded National White Collar Crime Center. Based in West Virginia, the center tracks Internet crime around the world. "Criminals are continuing to take full advantage of the anonymity afforded them by the Internet.

The Los Angeles City Council on Friday voted to cut business taxes for Internet-based firms that had been socked with a mammoth increase last year after the city changed their tax rate from the lowest bracket to the highest. The council unanimously approved the measure despite concerns by some members that the tax break would be applied retroactively to Jan. 1 and cost the city $3.4 million in revenue. They argued that L.A. could not afford to lose that money at a time when the city faces a $212 million budget shortfall.

NBC anchor Brian Williams' train was just pulling into Washington's Union Station on Thursday afternoon when he read an urgent bulletin on his BlackBerry: U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was contemplating stepping down, according to a report on RadarOnline. "It struck me as odd," Williams said. "What I know about Radar does not include their Supreme Court reporting." Still, the possibility that President Obama would have to fill another opening on the bench put Williams, a Supreme Court buff, into breaking-news mode.

Money-minded travelers wondering about the Internet should check out the "Snooze You Lose Specials" at Best Fares Online to see just how cutthroat airline pricing can be. You may not find the flight you want, but it's hard not to be impressed by the list of low fares, many of them unadvertised.

Sister Mary Martin and Sister Ann rise at 5:30 each morning, meditate and eat a simple breakfast in silence. For the cloistered nuns on an isolated hilltop in Ortonville, Mich., every day begins with prayer. But after morning worship the two sisters move on to a less traditional activity: They check their e-mail. The two women are Dominican nuns, but online they are known as the WebNuns, and their monastery has its own Web site.

The online indie craft scene is getting crowded as home-based entrepreneurs move beyond craft fairs or networks of friends to tap customers from around the globe. Merchants offering handmade items are flocking to online websites such as Etsy, ArtFire and 1000 Markets to find buyers. Etsy said last week that it now has about 400,000 active online shops. They offer items ranging from the kitschy to the sublime. Most sellers, some who own more than one online store, don't typically make a living from their handiwork, whether that's hand-painted silk scarves or hand-painted cow skulls.

The crisis began when college basketball fans downloaded a free March Madness application to their smart phones. The app hid spyware that stole passwords, intercepted e-mails and created havoc. Soon 60 million cellphones were dead. The Internet crashed, finance and commerce collapsed, and most of the nation's electric grid went dark. White House aides discussed putting the Army in American cities. That, spiced up with bombs and hurricanes, formed the doomsday scenario when 10 former White House advisors and other top officials joined forces Tuesday in a rare public cyber war game designed to highlight the potential vulnerability of the nation's digital infrastructure to crippling attack.