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European broadband adoption has lagged behind American to this point. But with their numbers growing in the second half of 2002 at a pace that outstripped their U.S. counterparts, gaming forums and online game platforms are seeing huge growth abroad. Nielsen//NetRatings found that the number of Europeans visiting game sites in January doubled from the year before, from 2.8 million to 5.9 million. The company says that the rise in broadband has a direct correlation to this spike. Two of the top European nations in broadband delivery, France and the Netherlands, also have some of the top growth in online gaming. In Sweden, the United Kingdom, France and Spain, online gaming is the most popular activity for more than 10 percent of the online population, bettering streaming audio usage for the No. 2 spot (using file sharing networks is No. 1). Most European game players are men, who outnumber women 2.5:1, and most are ages 12-24.
Coming soon to Everest, a chance to log on
Just what the world’s highest mountain needed: An internet presence. The grandson of one of the first sherpas ever to scale Nepal’s Mount Everest has decided to open an internet cafe at the base camp of the mountain. It will be, needless to say, the world’s highest café of its type. Gyaltsen Sherpa helped the team of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the summit of the 29,040 Everest in 1953. In anticipation of a huge number of visitors for the anniversary, Tsering Gyaltsen will open the cafe in March. The nearest non-mobile phones to Mount Everest are about four days’ walk from the base camp, which sits at 17,400 feet. But a popular tourist attraction has become to bring satellite phones along in order to update web sites or email friends and family. Though the Nepal government has yet to approve the plan, Gyaltsen actually has a humanitarian goal. He wants to use the cafe’s profits to help clear Everest of the many tons of trash left behind by slobby tourists each year.
Online sales tax not hurting Wal-Mart's numbers
The new online sales tax instituted this month by eight major online retailers has not hurt business, at least at one site. Wal-Mart’s online division reports no complaints about the new system. The company, which had charged online sales tax in nine states before, began charging all 50 on Feb. 1. The head of the company said that the online division had received no complaints about the change, which is supposed to better co-ordinate operations between online and offline. Wal-Mart wanted to make it easier for customers to buy online and pick up at the store. The move to taxation is fully voluntary. The government has not approved any proposals to force states to tax their online retailers, although brick and mortar stores have argued that this puts them at a disadvantage.
Rabbi nabbed arranging date with underage IMer
Sadly proving that pedophilia isn't just the realm of Catholic clerics, an orthodox rabbi from Highland Park, N.J., was arrested Friday after attempting to meet an online companion he believed to be a 13-year-old girl for a cybersex date. An undercover detective posing as “Katie” met 54-year-old Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum in a chat room called I Love Older Men. The two had several instant messaging sessions before Kestenbaum allegedly asked Katie to meet him at a Starbucks. When Kestenbaum was apprehended, cops said they found condoms and K-Y jelly in his bag. A subsequent search of his home and work allegedly found child pornography images. Prosecutors say he also was talking to another underage girl online. Kestenbaum’s attorney denied all charges.
February 24, 2003© 2003 Media Life
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