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According to new measurements by Akamai and reported by ZDNet, World Cup fervor has translated to record Internet traffic levels.

The Akamai Web traffic meters have classified the action as "heavy" since yesterday, with traffic to news sites around the world reaching a peak of 12.1 million visitors per minute (vpm) yesterday at noon.

After dipping in the afternoon, traffic held at after 6 million vpn, 130 percent higher than average, with above average traffic coming from every continent but most notably from Europe and Africa.

The traffic numbers seem to imply that traffic to news sites was most active during the South Africa vs. Mexico game, but remained strong for the France vs. Uruguay game.

Previously, the record for vpm was 8.5 million, which was set on the day of President Obama's election.

The international newspaper The New York Times has announced today that the word "Tweet," used to describe the action of writing a message on Twitter, has been banned from the paper, in print and online.

'Tweet' can of course, still be used to describe the sound a bird makes, notes Phil Corbett, the Times' standards editor, who announced the change. "Someday, 'tweet' may be as common as 'e-mail,'" says Corbett, but for now it is banned "outside of ornithological contexts."

The ban was made because the word tweet, outside of bird noises, isn't "standard English and standard English is what we should use in news articles," adds Corbett.

Additionally, Corbett says that not everyone uses or has even heard of Twitter and therefore may not be familiar with the new use of the word "tweet."

How will The NY Times describe tweets now? "Let's look for deft, English alternatives: use Twitter, post to or on Twitter, write on Twitter, a Twitter message, a Twitter update. Or, once you've established that Twitter is the medium, simply use 'say' or 'write.' "

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has launched a probe into an incident that led to the exposure of personal information of AT&T Inc. customers. Among the affected customers were White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and the mayor or New York City Michael Bloomberg.

A group calling itself Goatse Security was able to get information on over 100,000 AT&T iPad subscribers by exploiting a major bug on a script at an AT&T website. The group simply needed to insert an ICC-ID as part of a HTTP request to the vulnerable script which then returned the e-mail address associated with the specific iPad device.

AT&T has stressed that only e-mail address data was actually retrieved by the group and nothing more sensitive was at risk. Still, a collection of 114,000 active e-mail addresses has value by itself without even including the personal e-mail addresses of celebrities or government officials that were revealed.

"The FBI is aware of these possible computer intrusions and has opened an investigation to address the potential cyber threat," FBI spokesman Jason Pack said. Apple's iPad, which launched in April this year, has already sold over 2 million units.

The U.S. International Trade Commission has revealed that it will investigate a patent infringement complaint made against Apple Inc. by Taiwan-based HTC Corp. The ITC is an independent, bi-partisan U.S. federal agency that has powers to protect U.S. industries from unfair trade practices. Its powers include the ability to block imports from foreign sources.

HTC Corp. is seeking an injunction on imports of Asian-manufactured iPhones, iPods and iPads into the United States, alleging that the Apple products infringe five patents held by HTC. The ITC announced on Friday that it has decided to investigate certain portable electronics devices and software related to the complaint.

Apple Inc. sued HTC Corp. for alleged patent infringement in March. The Cupertino-based iPod-maker filed a lawsuit in a US District Court in the state of Delaware against HTC, alleging infringement of 20 Apple patents related to user interface, hardware and architecture associated with its popular iPhone products. It also filed a complaint with the ITC at the time.

ComScore has reported this week that both Yahoo and Microsoft "gained" share in the U.S. search market for May, although both companies appear to be using gimmicks to distort the numbers in their favor.

By the numbers, Google remained the clear leader but share fell from 64.4 percent in April to 63.7 percent in May. Yahoo gained share, from 17.7 percent to 18.3 percent. Microsoft's Bing jumped to 12.1 percent, from 11.8. AOL fell marginally from 2.4 percent to 2.3.

BusinessInsider reports, however, that both companies are "gaming" the stats, by placing thousands of links on their respective homepages that are search queries pretending to be content.

Additionally, the companies have been creating image slideshows as search engines, as well, in an effort to get additional clicks.

Analyst Ben Schachter of Broadpoint Amtech says without the tricks, real search traffic numbers would have shown Yahoo falling to 16.6 percent, Microsoft holding flat at 10.8 percent and Google gaining to 66.4 percent.

President of Turkey Abdullah Gul has used his Twitter account to voice his disapproval for some web blocking practices carried out in the country. Google services such as YouTube are subject to blocks because of content posted by users and deemed offensive by Turkish authorities.

Turkey blocked YouTube in 2008 after videos surfaced describing Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, as a homosexual and an alcoholic. The country has been scrutinized by human rights watchdogs who urge it to reform restrictive Internet laws unexpected of a country seeking membership of the European Union.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) revealed earlier this year that Turkey is blocking some 3,700 Internet sites for arbitrary and political reasons. Turkey, however, maintains that websites are blocked for offenses that include child pornography, encouraging suicide or insults against Kemal Ataturk.

"I know there are lots of complaints about bans on YouTube and Google," President Gul said in a tweet. "I am definitely against them being closed down. I have ordered responsible institutions for a solution. I asked for a change in regulations on merit."

Microsoft has said they expect to sell "at least" 5 million Project Natal systems by the end of year, a large number for the device which has not even gotten its official name yet.

The expectations come from two "insider sources" cited by the WSJ.

The insiders would not provide the exact launch date (which has been rumored for late October) but did note that the pricing model was "aggressive."

Asian manufacturers Foxconn and Flextronics are also rumored to start shipping the device in August, giving more fuel to the rumor that the system will launch in October.

Earlier today, a new study by OTX GamePlan found that videogame consumers have little interest in Microsft and Sony's upcoming motion control systems, with under 10 percent willing to purchase Project Natal or Sony's rival PlayStation Move.

A Google engineer has been targeted with harsh criticism from security researchers everywhere for releasing code to exploit a vulnerability in Microsoft operating systems.

Tavis Ormandy has been criticized for releasing code to exploit an unpatched hole in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

Critics take issue with Ormandy releasing the code needed to exploit the vulnerability five days after he alerted Microsoft of the problem. Generally, software vendors are alerted to the problem and once a patch is prepared and is available for end users to download and install - and only then - is the vulnerability in all its details made public.

Microsoft Corp. is not known for fixing such issues quickly, and doesn't often release such updates outside of its normal "Patch Tuesday" schedule. Ormandy, according to his own writing afterward, didn't seem convinced that Microsoft would actually fix the problem unless there was exploit code freely available in the wild as motivation to do so.

Adobe announced the release of Flash Player 10.1 on Thursday for Windows, Linux and Mac operating systems (as well as promising a release for Android later this month). The anticipated Flash update is geared toward improving performance, power management and video abilities, as well as adding some new features. It's also important to note that Flash Player 10.1 fixes a whole host of security issues affecting the previous version.

Video improvements in Flash Player 10.1

Sticking with AfterDawn roots, we should mention what Flash Player 10.1 means for video before anything else. For Windows users (for now), Flash Player 10.1 introduces hardware-based (GPU) acceleration of H.264 video content, offloading the task from the CPU which could greatly improve playback.

The addition of HTTP Dynamic Streaming expands the delivery options for high quality live and on-demand media with full adaptive bitrate functionality. This new option enables media publishers to leverage standard HTTP networking infrastructure to help increase capacity, reach, and quality of service for video delivery using standards-based MP4 fragments.

Firefox 4, the upcoming major new release of the Firefox web browser, will feature WebM support following the resolution of a licensing issue. The VP8-based video format was introduced at Google's I/O developer conference, and only last week the Internet search giant added WebM support to its own Chrome web browsing software.

Google acquired the VP8 technology in its $106.5 million deal with On2 Technologies last year, and revealed at the time it would use its new codec technology to make the Web experience better for all users. It serves as an alternative to H.264, which for the moment can be used royalty-free. However, the MPEG LA consortium has said that it will only remain royalty-free until December 31, 2015.

With support added to the Chrome browser and Microsoft adding WebM to its upcoming Internet Explorer 9 release (when a user installed the VP8 codec), Mozilla's dedication to it serves as another milestone and WebM is now available in the Firefox nightly builds.

While there are daily rumors about the upcoming Droid Xtreme and Droid 2 devices, Verizon has not forgot about the original Motorola Droid device, which the carrier says still has excellent sales.

The carrier has dropped the price of the device to $149.99 with two-year contract, while concurrently running the BOGO (buy one get one free) promotion on the device.

Analysts are viewing the move as a way to slowly but surely clear out inventory of the device, to make way for the anticipated launch of the Droid X in July, and the Droid 2 sometime later in the summer.

The device had been selling for $199.99 with contract, and with retail stores selling at that price after mail-in-rebate, which can be a hassle. Ordering from the site removes the rebate part.

What is known (unconfirmed) of the Droid X is a large 4.3-inch screen, 16GB of internal storage, a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, an HDMI-out port, an 8MP camera and 720p video recording.

According to a new study by OTX GamePlan, videogame consumers have little interest in Microsft and Sony's upcoming motion control systems, with under 10 percent willing to purchase Project Natal or PlayStation Move.

2000 console owners were polled over the last month and 8 percent said they intended to buy Natal while only 6 percent said they were willing to buy the PlayStation Move.

Move and Natal are likely to take center stage at the upcoming E3 event next week, with Microsoft finally giving more official details on their system. Natal is still just a codename given to the system.

The horrible consumer response is likely due to this lack of information on the systems, but that should change after the upcoming week. So far, only prototype games have been shown off that use the motion control systems, with no significant third-party titles attached.

GamePlan's study seems to agree with that notion, as only 15 percent of the entire console market is even aware that the systems are in existence.

Wal-Mart has announced that it will be one of four retailers with the iPhone 4 for sale on launch day, June 24th, confirming previous reports.

The other places with the much-hyped device are Best Buy, Radio Shack and Apple stores. Obviously, the smartphone will also be available through AT&T.

Pre-orders for the device begin on June 15th and Apple is expecting to sell over 1 million units during launch weekend.

While Wal-Mart is known for having cheaper prices than competitors, Apple does not allow retailers to charge lower than the MSRP. That being said, the 16GB model will cost $200 and the 32GB model will sell for $300.

The iPhone 4 has a 3.5-inch multi-touchscreen with a 640x960 resolution, runs the iOS 4.0 and has a 1GHz Apple A4 processor. The new OS allows for multitasking.

Additionally, the iPhone 4 has a 5MP standard camera and a 1.5MP front-facing camera for video conferencing.

Motorola Co-CEO Sanjay Jha was recently asked about his thoughts on the Apple iPhone 4 and while most of the comments were generic, Jha did manage to promise a Motorola device running Android that will include a 2 GHz processor.

For comparison's sake, today's most powerful smartphones use a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, including the HTC EVO 4G and the aforementioned iPhone.

Jha made the comments during a speech at the Executives Club of Chicago.

The phone will also have a Nvidia Tegra-based GPU with Flash 10.1 hardware acceleration. Additionally, the device will have 720p video output through HDMI, "HD screen resolution" and an 8MP camera.

Thom Yorke, the lead singer of Radiohead has warned young artists to stay away from the big record labels, as the recording industry (as we know it) is dying.

Yorke says talented artists should try to make it on their own without going to record labels for help as the industry is within years of completely dying.

Radiohead's frontman went as far as to say that when the industry dies it will be "no great loss to the world." Young artists should do their best to not "tie themselves to the sinking ship."

It may be "only a matter of time — months rather than years — before the music business establishment completely folds," adds Yorke.

Radiohead released 6 albums through major label EMI but decided to release their seventh album, "In Rainbows," as an Internet download with no specific price set. Allegedly, over 60 percent of downloaders did not pay anything for the album but the "experiment" still netted the band over $1 million, which did not have to be shared with the labels, who are known to take most of profit from CD sales.