Web Pioneer Dertouzos Dies At 64 (MSNBC, August 29th)
A major figure in the history of modern computing, and the founder of the World Wide Web Consortium, which has assisted in standardizing the web in order to create the most powerful and flexible global communications network the world has ever seen, sadly passed away last Wednesday.

Build It Simpler, They Will Come (M-Commerce Times, August 28th)
In a major seachange for wireless firms, who seemed for the past half-decade to be developing products that compete, if not on price, on the number of different features that could be crammed into the little gizmos. Now, realizing the popularity of simple, sometimes single-function devices, firms are noting that the KISS principle is relevant in tech product development also.

It's Just Like 1995 Again (ASPnews.com, August 22nd)
Back in the day, the advent of flexible web browsers, affordable portable computing devices and the hype surrounding Sun's Java led many to prematurely announce the death of the PC. While Java failed to revolutionize computing, XML, Soap, .NET and other languages/platforms/initiatives centered around multi-device compatibility could indeed be the beginning of the end of the PC as the sole and central computing device in most homes and businesses.

Coming Soon: 3D Virtual Clones in 5 Minutes (TeleDotCom, August 22nd)
3D animation software specialist Pulse Entertainment Inc. has developed a technology that will reportedly - and amazingly - have the ability to transform 2D photos of people into 3D avatars, complete with lip-synching and text-to-speech capabilities, but devoid of file sizes that would make the models a burden to download or operate.

Move to Broadband Changes How the Web Is Surfed (CyberAtlas, August 22nd)
Quoting figures sourced from research firms J.D. Power & Associates and Neilsen//NetRatings, this article notes some of the ways in which consumer behaviour is affected by the speed of their net connection. The findings reveal that not only do broadbans users seek richer-media and more demanding interactions than modem surfers, but the speedy crowd view far more pages on a daily basis - suggesting that web publishers will likely see their monthly traffic and revenue tallies increase as broadband technologies become increasingly pervasive worldwide.

US Professionals Choose 'Net Over Other Media (eMarketer, August 21st)
This brief report notes that a survey conducted by BIGresearch has revealed that US-based business professionals spend more time each day exposed to the internet than to any other media. In addition, it found that homemakers, while consuming slightly more network and cable television than internet usage, were also very heavy net users - interacting with the medium for a far greater amount of time than spent listening to radio or browing print publications.

A Tiny Dose of Java Adds Smarts to Phones (WirelessAdWatch, August 13th)
With even the graphical and wildly interactive internet doubted for its abilities to brand by some traditional ad folks, it's no wonder that wireless has had a bad rap as anything more than a location-based promotional medium as far as marketing is concerned. Now, the emergence of a Java platform for phones, known as Java 3 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME) offers advertisers an increased selection of options, while also promising greater flexibility than the much-criticized WAP alternative. This article also rightly notes that the first 'killer-ad-app' for the medium will likely come in the form of Advergames.