Jailed Indian e-voting researcher wins US award

Hari Prasad Vemuru, a jailed Indian e-voting researcher, is one of the four winners of the 2010 Pioneer Awards of San Francisco headquartered Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a leading civil liberties group.

United plane diverted after bomb threat letter found

Travelers today were frightened when United Airlines flight 741, en route from Denver to San Francisco, was diverted due to a possible bomb threat. It ended up in Salt Lake City.
The reason? A letter was found onboard the aircraft by a flight attendant. She believed the letter was meant as a bomb threat.
The flight attendant handed the note to the pilot, who also felt it was a possible bomb threat. He asked for the flight to be diverted to Salt Lake City.
Once the flight landed, passengers were kept on the plane for a while, before being taken to the international terminal.
All passengers were then detained at the Salt Lake City airport, pending further questioning by the FBI and airport police. The plane was searched and the passengers re-screened. There were 193 passengers and 6 crew members on the flight. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
The Department of Homeland Security is looking into what happened, but it does not believe this was an act of terrorism.
Latest update: The passengers have now been put on another flight and are expected to land in SFO the evening.
Re travel: San Franciscans can fly to Denver, Salt Lake City or other national or international airports

Internet advertising declines in first half of year: study

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. Internet-advertising revenue fell 5.3% in the first half of 2009 compared with the same period last year, as marketers continued to rein in spending thanks to the downturn, according to a study published Monday.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP study reported that despite the overall decline in Internet advertising to $10.9 billion in the first half of the year, online search-advertising revenue actually rose slightly to $5.1 billion.

Companies including Google Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!goog/quotes/nls/goog (GOOG 491.57, +6.99, +1.44%) have depended on marketers' desire for relatively affordable -- and measurable -- search advertising amid the downturn.

However, more costly online-display advertising declined 1.1% in the first half of 2009 to $3.8 billion, according to the study published Monday.

Companies including Yahoo Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!yhoo/quotes/nls/yhoo (YHOO 16.84, -.00, -0.02%) rely heavily on the sale of display advertising, including rich media and brand campaigns.

Yahoo is expected to report earnings for the quarter ended in September later this month. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company to post earnings of 7 cents a share on $1.12 billion in net revenue for the period. That compares with earnings of 9 cents a share and $1.33 billion in net revenue in the same quarter last year.

Google is also expected to report quarterly earnings later this month. Analysts expect the Mountain View, Calif.-based search giant to earn $5.36 a share on $4.2 billion in net revenue, according to Thomson Reuters. That compares with earnings of $4.92 a share and $4.04 billion in net revenue in the same period last year.

"We are in one of the most difficult economic slumps in decades," Interactive Advertising Bureau Chief Executive Randall Rothenberg said in a statement, though he added: "As the economy improves, we're confident that brands will devote an even greater share of their budgets to reaching consumers as they make interactive media a larger part of their lives."