The .xxx is now officially part of the list of the generic top level domains existing as of present thus, joining other domain names such as those ending in .com, .net and .org. Basically, all the URLs ending in the .xxx will obviously be containing sexually oriented and adult entertainment contents that are verified to be neither fraudulent nor illegal in nature. The approval for this domain name has long been asked by some advocated since the year 2003, but was only approved just recently because of some controversies.

The sale of the .xxx domain name will begin in the Q2 of 2011. As of present, there were already around 230,000 URLs that have been reserved and more adult websites at present are also expected to be forced to buy its .xxx version even if this will not be really something mandatory for them. These new domain names will be registered through the ICM Registry. ICM is expecting to see more traffic as well as higher profits as this new domain is expected to become the trusted brand for porn enthusiasts out there.

There were entirely different reactions on the approval of the .xxx domain name, some are positive and there are also some negative reactions as well. However, only one thing is definitely sure and that is this move will potentially be a great step in boosting the porn industry, which means an increase in revenue as well. But this is not some good news for those conservative groups out there who are against these porn and adult sites.

With the approval of the .xxx domain names, we can expect that more domain name suffixes to be opened in the future as well. So let us just wait and see what will happen next.

IE 9 modified the previous versions of the explorer. With an enhanced Tabs and Tab Page, expect more spontaneity in web navigation. The New tab page provides you the list of your most visited sites. These tabs are color coded for quick and easy visual reference. Users can “pin” a site which they can return to it like a shortcut. The Pinned Sites feature makes your website more like an application widget that is programmed to you PC.

When you open a pinned site, the website icon appears at the top of the browser which directs you to the site’s homepage. Moreover, a security download manager alerts you if a file is a threat to your computer’s security. It also allows you to pause, delete, or restart a download. The Tracking Protection can be turned off as you desire.

But it ain’t all good. IE9 has no built-in spell checker. Add-ons are still to work for. Configuring IE9 can be exasperating as well. There are just too many options of clicking-this-and-that. Chrome and Firefox’s are far more enhanced in this regard.

Although IE9 pretty much resembles its predecessors, it still looks promising for a browser that has been rushed out in under a year.

Surprisingly, lots of net neutrality advocates, Internet providers as well as Republicans are disappointed with the said FCC approval. This may be due to the fact that it did not turn out to be as expected. Although this set of rules prevent those fixed broadband providers from blocking access to certain sites and application, the rule is different when it comes to wireless providers and also did not state clearly what these wireless carriers can or cannot do as most net neutrality advocates expected it.

In response to the draft of the Order, Free Press, a popular net neutrality advocate joined forces with around 80 other organizations by signing an open letter to FCC and asking for the real net neutrality. Written in the said letter are their complaints that the Order makes the wireless carriers out there to become totally vulnerable to application blocking as well as discrimination and also uses unnecessary broad definitions.

Aside from these net neutrality advocates complaining about the said Order, wireless providers also had a problem with the FCC approved rules as well. Republicans also believed that the said rules could lead to job losses and will have a negative effect on various investments as well. For some the said rules approved by FCC is more of a government intervention rather than a rule on the prevention of Internet provider discrimination.

The debates over these rules are getting stronger as the days go by. There is also a considerable disagreement whether the FCC has the legal authority to go forward and implement the said rules. However, these rules are set to take effect early in 2011. The new rules may be the best for some, but for others it may be not.

This is according to communications minister and Conservative member of parliament for Wantage & Didcot Ed Vaizey as he explains that unless a subscriber asks to opt-in, all pornography should be blocked. The idea would be that there will be an age-verification scheme to block sex websites from children. Here, those who are not verified by ISP’s as being old enough to view the sex websites won’t be able to access these sites no matter what.

Vaizey hopes that ISPs will cooperate and act together so they don’t have to legislate, but “we are keeping an eye on the situation and we will have a new communications bill in the next couple of years”. For him, ISPs should do something to protect children from online pornography.

Some ISPs are countering Vaizey’s proposal though by saying that blocking pornography by verification will not be effective as there are other means of distributing pornography online such as instant messaging, P2P, news groups, Facebook and the list goes on. And internet users won’t be stopped in accessing these sites when if the ban will be implemented because they will do anything to get around the ban and access these sites using whatever way. There are also some ISP groups that have tools to help parents and their children manage their access in the Internet. For them, what the government is proposing is not fool proof.

Some civil rights advocates are also saying that if the filtering system will be implemented, those who do online pornography as a business will look to other mediums such as television, films and music.

This just means that pornography, whether online or not, will never disappear no matter what the government will do. It has been in our world for decades and that nothing can stop it yet. I guess it really is up to the parents on how they will control their children in using the Internet in order for them to not access pornography. That is, from the start, their responsibility as parents so they should do it for the sake of their child’s future.

Cricket was also the first company to offer an unlimited wireless rate plan and now with the introduction of the Muve Music, the company is making another first in history. This new service aims to bring together the best of wireless technology and music in such a way that no one has ever done before. Cricket Communications is very confident that this service will bring an ultimate mobile experience especially for those customers who want to have a personal music experience, but without being tied up to a computer and this new service will definitely suit those value oriented customers out there.

The Muve Music Rate Plan will be offered for only $ 55 a month. And those customers who will avail of this service will be enjoying the following:

• Unlimited full track downloads
• Unlimited ringtones and ringback tones
• Unlimited calls nationwide
• Unlimited text, picture and video messaging and e-mail
• Unlimited global messaging
• Unlimited 3G mobile Web and data back up
• Unlimited video

With this unlimited wireless plan, there will be no monthly music subscription as well as download fees. Under this plan, customers will not be also required to use a credit card in order to purchase music. With this new service, customers will be able to enjoy unlimited music without any cables, drivers, synching and complexity. Everything will be made through Cricket’s nationwide 3G network to deliver a solid music experience to music lovers out there.

The Muve Music will be showed off at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that will be held in Las Vegas from January 6-10, 2011. Apparently, this new service from Cricket will be available starting January 2011 at selected Cricket stores and through www.mycricket.com and other partner retail outlets as well.

Basically, the Google Body Browser is a very interesting WebGL supported application that allows its users to explore the human body just like how the Google Earth is exploring the world. Well, at first it seems to be a little impossible to have such an application that can do such thing, but this thing is really for real although it cannot be denied that it works a little bit difficult.

The Google Body Browser actually allows its users to search the human body in three different dimensions. It uses WebGL, a 3D graphics API that runs within the said browser. However, you need to install a beta version of the Google Chrome browser first in order to try it out. After successfully installing it, you need to restart your browser and then you can already try the Body Browser and see how it works.

The Body Browser features a detailed 3D model of the human body that you can zoom in and navigate those body parts that interest you. In this browser, you can simply click a body part in order to know its anatomy or search for muscles, organs, bones and more. This browser would be a useful tool especially for those people in the medical fields, students and researchers out there.

However, this Body Browser is a little bit limited. There is no way to switch from the default female body model and there is also no way to find additional video and other information about the human body as well. Although it is also a bit surprising that this browser doesn’t need a plug-in in order to work.

In spite of the issues raised about this new browser, the fact still remains that this is such a helpful application that will help many in understanding the human body. Google may just need to do a little more improvement and tweak some of its own technology in order to make the Google Body Browser better. So let us wait and see if Google will come out with a better version of this browser in the future.

Those who are into film-making or would-be filmmakers may get into Demo Slam by simply submitting their video to YouTube. And if the video submitted becomes a hit or have a favorable response, then it will make such video a great contender for The Slam of the Week. Google seems to have some sort of competition here where it aims to encourage those people on the internet and show up what they can offer as far as technology is concerned. However, Google is not offering any prizes for the winners in this category, but only exposure. All the winners in the Demo Slam will be featured in its Hall of Demo Slam Champs page.

Well, this Google project seems to be an interesting one. Aside from encouraging people to showcase their creativity and make tech demo videos, people will also have the chance to see what other people know about technology and learn from them as well. This is not only about showcasing what you know, but learning from what others may know as well.

An example of a video submitted for the Demo Slam is the Google Goggles video. Apparently, this video was made by a team called Dan and Jonny. This video actually showcases how tennis superstar Maria Sharapova uses Google Search by Voice on her phone in answering some trivia questions while batting some balls that are being serve by a ball machine. This video also tested technology by making a paper mache model to actually look like Mount Rushmore.

Here is the Google Search experiment with Maria Sharapova:

And here is the Mt. Rushmore paper mache clip:

This Google project will surely enhance the creativity of many people especially those who love technology. Aside from this, the project is also an effective way of highlighting Google products since it will also demonstrate the power of various Google’s tools and apps at the same time.

Here’s how it is done: First step is to install the extansion, then look for the content that you want to share to everyone on your social networking sites, click and then hold. When your mouse comes up with a wheel of options, you flick your mouse in the direction that you want to and there you go! Your content is shared throughout all of your social networking sites.

This is actually good for Internet users who don’t like extra toolbars in their browser and just want to share content without the hassle of going to all sites everytime you use the internet. In terms of design, the new Cortex is like breathing new fresh air for the eyes.

Another feature is that the URLs are shortened and keeps track of a history of all your shares. Users also has the option of sharing even if it is just share an image or specified text. Sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instapaper are available for the Google Chrome Extension.

The only thing that is wrong with this extension is that if you prefer that your content be shared immediately, then we might have a problem with that. See, the Cortex has this feature where every social networking site is placed on different areas, thus it takes seconds to find the buttons. Then, when you log in, it will take around ten seconds which is enough time to back out from sharing your story and content. This will take too much time and it’s quite irritating because you decide you want to share the content, only to be stopped because of a few seconds of loading and scanning. This is not best for users who does not want to even think twice of posting content or statuses.

All in all though, this extension is worth downloading for somebody who wants to share content without logging on to the social networking sites one by one. Google Chrome Cortex has been released recently, and you can actually see a text when you open Google Chrome that asks you if you want to download the extension now, or save it for later. We assure you this is something that you have to get because it will make your life easier in terms of sharing content in the Internet.

For the category of items of interest, some of the top searches are Stephanie Meyer’s book Twilight: New Moon, My Space layouts, Slumdog Millionaire, Susan Boyle, and Michael Jackson. These are the topics where people search in Google out of curiosity or it was triggered by something. For example, Michael Jackson was searched because it is already a year since he died, and New Moon is in the list because Eclipse was shown in theaters a few months ago.

Another category is the news searches, where some of the tops were: Haiti being the most popular because of the earthquake that happened earlier this year. Next were Besiktas, the Turkish sports club, Chile, earthquake, Lady Gaga (I mean, who wouldn’t search for her), Gulf of Mexico oil spill and iPhone 4, being the latest product of Apple.

The consumer electronics is another category in Google Zeitgeist that determines what are the top electronics that people are looking for in 2010. The topmost electronic product people are looking for is the iPad, since it is also one of the hottest Apple gadgets of the year. The other nine are: iPhone 4 (indeed, Apple is ruling the electronics industry), Nokia 5530, HTC Evo 4G, Nokia N900, Blackberry Apps, Duracell MyGrid, an international phone, Otterbox and Pdanet .

Another category is the strangest searches of the year, where, we think, people randomly search out of curiosity or in need of help of something. The top search is “Can a horse have OCD?”, while the last is “Why does my baby grunt?”

And the last category is the fastest rising searches of 2010. The most popular is “Chatroulette” which is a Russian website that pairs strangers from all over the world for a webcam conversation…some sort of a dating site. This was followed by iPad, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, and Friv. The bottom five are Myxer, Katy Perry, Twitter, Gamezer and Facebook. Chatroulette beats 2009 reigning champion Michael Jackson. This fastest rising topics are what people talked about the past months of 2010.

Indeed, people are relying more on Google as their top search engine. Google, on the other hand, takes advantage by finding out the trend of what people are looking for in the net. And this is something to look forward every end of the year.

This Google Maps for Android is believed to be a lot faster because they require 100 times less data than the old version and it will definitely bring significant changes to how the Gmaps looks and works on mobile devices. It will be coming out with new features such as the 3D View, offline mode and new multitouch gestures as well.

And what’s even more exciting with this new version is that you can now use your two fingers to tilt and rotate around the map in addition to the usual pinch-to-zoom and moving features. In addition to this, the maps that you go to most frequently will also be kept in file and also comes with the capability to re-route even it is in the offline mode in Navigation. However, for this feature to work, some additional hardware support that is not present in all multitouch-capable phones will be needed.

Google did not clearly mentioned the specific requirements for the Google Maps 5, but the majority of the Android phones is expected to work with Google Maps for Mobile 5, although not all of them will be able to support all of its features. Some of the Android phones that will fully support the Google Maps Mobile 5 include Samsung I9000 Galaxy S, Motorola Droid, Motorola Droid X, Motorola Droid 2, HTC Droid Incredible, HTC Evo 4G, Nexus S and T-Mobile G2.

This update to Google Map Mobile 5 is soon to be available. However, no specific date as to its availability was mentioned. There is also no information given if such update will be also available for non-Android devices as well. So watch out for more details.