Digiteen

"TWO years ago, eBay Australia tried to force sellers to use PayPal as the only available payment option on the online auction giant's local site. That attempt went horribly wrong and, apart from the bad press, eBay found itself in trouble with the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and the Reserve Bank." From July 14, eBay will require sellers to offer at least one of three safe payment methods -- PayPal, Paymate and merchant credit cards.

Why would consumers object to being forced to make online payments through only one service, that being PayPal?

"Google Australia will today be sent a "please explain" letter from two local privacy organisations demanding to know why the company has been collecting personal Wi-Fi network data from Australian homes alongside the images it takes with its Street View cameras."

Does Google collect data about wireless Printers, computers, mobile phones and other devices found in a street? Why would people be concerned about their privacy?

"Square, a new venture from a co-founder of Twitter, has launched a free application that allows anyone to accept credit card payments on the iPhone, iPad and Android phones."

Why would this appeal to people in business? How secure are the transactions?

"A US judge has ruled in favor of 13 music companies in a copyright case against popular online file-sharing service LimeWire."

the evidence establishes that LimeWire users directly infringed plaintiffs' copyrights, and that LimeWire engaged in purposeful conduct intended to foster that infringement

''Children are confiding and communicating with their friends online and don't realise the potential for that information to be picked up by others,'' Ms Versey said. ''We don't want to stop them using the internet and social networking sites but we want them be conscious of what . . . the consequences might be.''

UK citizen Paul Chambers has been convicted this week of sending a 'menacing' tweet via Twitter, with the British Court fining him £1000 and slapping him with a criminal record.

Chambers lost his job after being arrested, and appears to be the first person to ever be convicted of a crime just for tweeting.

"The conventional wisdom suggests that everyone under 30 is comfortable revealing every facet of their lives online, from their favorite pizza to most frequent sexual partners. But many members of the tell-all generation are rethinking what it means to live out loud. "

"Woolworths Ltd's discount department store Big W has launched its online store, allowing web-based shoppers to access to more than 4000 items from the outlet's range including 600 items that are not available in store."

Apparently, Big W is not online yet... will be soon.

"Young victims of cyber bullying and tormenting classmates will be given legal protection under new anti-harassment laws to be introduced by the federal government. The changes will mean victims under the age of 16 will be able to use sexual harassment laws to pursue their tormentors. ''These are sensible changes but they reflect the fact that young people are, unfortunately, the victims of sexual harassment,'' Minister for Women Tanya Plibersek said."

The anonymity of [the internet] gives people a licence to behave very, very badly but the effect of it on the victim is very, very public

"WHY do people turn to the web to get TV shows, movies and music without paying for them when they know they should? We asked more than 7000 illegal downloaders to tell us just that. Here's the breakdown of their answers."

The Premier Kristina Keneally does not rely on a notebook to communicate with the public - she uses Twitter. Some MPs use the social networking site to simply make announcements, but the Premier actively engages Twitter users who make contact with her.

Is twitter becoming a new way to communicate in politics? For it to be effective, does there have to be 2-way communication?

"We want to ensure that the Google you use today is better than the one you used yesterday, and these latest changes open up many possibilities for future features and enhancements."

Are you 'Google Literate' enough to make use of its new features?

Virgin Blue has launched a revolutionary, innovative new process to check in and board on domestic flights via a traveller's mobile called "Check-Mate". Gone are the days of booking the flight in advance at a desktop computer, getting to the airport, lining up to check-in and getting a printed boarding pass, with the new Check-Mate process eliminating all paper boarding passes in favour of electronic boarding passes on mobile devices including mobile phones, BlackBerry Smartphones and iPhones.

Will this speed up boarding an aircraft? How? Is this considered an innovation in 2010?

For many users of Facebook, the world's largest social network, it was just the latest in a string of frustrations. Related On Wednesday, users discovered a Facebook glitch that gave them access to supposedly private information in the accounts of their friends, like chat conversations.

Is private data in Facebook actually safe? Perhaps not. Making use of the privacy settings properly would be part of digital literacy as well as safety.

Google Editions will allow you to download and read books using only your Web browser. That means any device that can surf the Web is fair game: your laptop, your computer, even your Kindle, Nook, or iPad. No separate apps or interfaces will be required.

An example of possible innovation.

Despite warnings from privacy advocates to protect your personal information while online, many adults are still engaging in risky behavior via social networking sites, according to a new study from Consumer Reports.

Apparently, the adults are not getting the safet message. Are young digital citizens getting it?

Today, the entire public school system of Oregon will embrace Google Apps. 400,000 Students, teachers, and administrators will have access to a common e-mail and chat system, cloud-based collaboration tools, and a robust multimedia streaming service.

How can students use digital technologies to take best advantage of opportunities in education? Will there be new 'basic' skills to learn?

Anthony Orsini, the principal at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, sent out an e-mail Wednesday morning asking parents to help him get all of his students off social networks and keep careful track of their text messages.

An interesting article about the use or not the use of technologies within schools. do you have an opinion?

THE federal government has moved a step closer to its aim of using web technology to promote transparent administrationThe taskforce, which reported its findings to the government in December, was established to come up with ways to use the internet to make public service information more readily available and promote stronger engagement between government and citizens.

An example where perhaps departments within a government may become more transparent.