Combing through hundreds of blog posts and news articles daily, Dirk Klingner, our technology-trend watcher, sifts through the noise to bring you the tech news most important to consumers. If you have a tip on a story you want to share, leave a comment below.

Four in five believe Web access a fundamental right (Reuters)

Respondents in the United States were above the average in believing the Internet was a source for greater freedom and they were also more confident than most in expressing their opinions online…Of the 27,000 surveyed, more than half agreed that the "Internet should never be regulated by any level of government anywhere."

Best Buy turning hundreds of stores into 3D TV meccas this month (ZDnet)

Two hundred and fifty Best Buys will get things started with demos of the Panasonic TC-P50VT20 plasma 3D HDTV and DMP-BD350 3D Blu-ray player, which will show a disc of 3D content Panasonic has pulled together. By March 21 there will be over 900 locations that will display Samsung 3D sets and Blu-ray players.

Google Stats Get Animated with Public Data Explorer (PCMag)

Google on Monday launched a new Labs feature that will let average users turn complex data sets into intuitive, animated charts…Google Public Data Explorer is an experimental feature that will allow people to explore various data sets – from unemployment in the U.S. to education statistics in California.

MIT Researchers Discover New Electricity Production Method (Daily Tech)

>Now, a team of researchers at MIT have announced that they have made a new breakthrough for producing electricity with carbon nanotubes. The discovery may one day lead to a myriad of new devices such as sensors the size of dust that can be dispersed in air to monitor the environment or the tech might lead to implantable devices that produce their own power. The researchers discovered a phenomenon that was previously unknown that produces powerful waved of energy that shoots though carbon nanotubes, producing electricity.

Enough is enough with making viewers pay the price when contract negotiations between networks and TV providers hit a tough patch.

So say our advocacy colleagues at Consumers Union (CU), the parent company for Consumer Reports, after many New York City-area Cablevision subscribers lost the ABC network for much of Sunday, including part of the Academy Awards broadcast. Shut off at midnight by ABC, service was restored some 14 minutes into the broadcast, after the companies announced they’d made progress in resolving their dispute over payments from the cable carrier to the network for carrying ABC.

As the broadcast approached, the FCC was reportedly in touch with the companies, and issued a statement Sunday saying that “consumers should not suffer due to the inability of these two companies to successfully negotiate a deal.” Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Communications Subcommittee, also weighed in, urging the companies to avoid making consumers suffer "collateral damage" from the dispute. 

Pressure from Washington likely helped prompt the companies to settle, as did a barrage of invective from viewers on forums and social media.

But given the serious outcome of this incident, CU says the FCC now needs to do more and earlier in such situations. Our advocates say that program access rules at the FCC should contain a better process to resolve such “carriage disputes” between cable companies and independent programmers. According to CU, the agency needs to develop guidelines with such tools, such as arbitration and a negotiation deadline, to ensure cable companies and content owners negotiate in good faith.

The Oscars fiasco surely won't last such dispute. Fox and Time Warner already went to the brink of a blackout in late December but settled their disagreement in the nick of time. In another case, Cablevision stopped running the Scripps' channels—Food Network and HGTV—for several weeks in January.

Most such disputes follow the same sorry pattern. After rumblings such as statements carried on cable-guide channels, the dispute breaks out into the likes of full-page ads in major newspapers—as with the dueling full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal late last week by ABC and Cablevision. Both sides invariably implore viewers to weigh in on a dispute whose complexities likely elude them, and where which side is at fault, and why, feels like none of their concern. Yet viewers are urged to act, in part because on side or the other threatens an interruption of service. 

With any luck, the PR fallout from the ABC-Cablevision clash will dissuade other companies from escalating such disputes so publicly and so intrusively. But I wouldn’t bet on it. As channel owners seek to recoup revenues being lost by a declining advertising market and cable companies continue to raise rates with impunity, consumers are likely to see these disputes more frequently and they will only result in rising monthly costs. As our CU colleagues say, it may be time for greater regulatory muscle to combat the apparent dysfunction between TV providers and content providers.

—Paul Reynolds

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10
Photo: Panasonic

Panasonic has just expanded its Micro Four-thirds camera line to four models by adding two new models: the Lumix DMC-G2, which replaces the G1, and Lumix DMC-G10. Both are 12-megapixel cameras with large Live MOS sensors (like those SLRs use) and accept interchangeable lenses. Panasonic was the first to introduce this new kind of digital camera two years ago, one that combines key SLR features—a large image sensor and interchangeable lenses—with the smaller size and weight of a point-and-shoot. It’s a category that appears to be on the cusp of getting very hot, particularly since Samsung and Sony said they plan to join Panasonic and Olympus in creating such a small interchangeable-lens type of camera.

The two Lumix models are compatible with SD, SDHC and the new higher capacity SDXC memory cards. Both shoot RAW in addition to JPEGs, can capture HD-resolution video, and offer live-view on a 3-inch LCD with a 460,000-dot count, which should make the display very clear. They also have popup flashes, will ship with a 14-42mm f/3.5-5.8 zoom lens, and run on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2
Photo: Panasonic

Here are some of the specs that distinguish the pricier G2 from the G10:

• The G2 includes a touchscreen 3-inch LCD that can also swivel. The LCD also has some unique focusing features; you can use the touchscreen LCD to help you shoot better photos and video as well as for its face detection and subject-tracking features. The G2 also has a higher quality HD-video setting, called AVCHD Lite, which should produce smoother video footage. Its viewfinder is the same as the G1’s, with a very sharp 1,400,000 dots.
• The G10 is a stripped-down version of the G2, which doesn’t include the AVCHD Lite settings, swiveling LCD, or very high dot-count in the electronic viewfinder. The G10’s viewfinder is only about 200,000 dots, which is what you’ll find on Panasonic’s superzooms. But the G10 is just a bit lighter than the G2.

When we saw a preview of the G2 and G10 at PMA, there was one section of the camera that I thought needed improving: The graphical interface and menu structure. I felt Panasonic needed to take heed of what companies like Apple are doing with interfaces on its iPhone, to produce a cleaner, less cluttered graphical interface.

The older Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 and the DMC-GF1 both remain in the product line. Although pricing has not yet been set, we’re guessing the G2 touchscreen model will run around $800-900, and the more entry-level G10 about $500-600. Both models should be available in late May or early June.

—Terry Sullivan

Today's electronics deals, courtesy of The Consumerist:

• Toshiba Direct: Toshiba Satellite L500 15.6-inch Laptop $399 + $24.99 shipping
• Amazon: Sharp LC19SB27UT 19-Inch 720p LCD HDTV $169.95 + free shipping
• SonyStyle: Sony STR-DA4400ES 7.1-Channel Receiver $799.99 + free shipping
• Amazon: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W290 12MP Point-and-shoot $166.45 + free shipping
• B&H Photo: Kodak Zx1 HD Pocket Video Camera $84.95 + free shipping
• Sony Style : Sony Webbie HD Camcorder - Orange (Refurbished) for $99.99 w/ Free Shipping
• Dell :  Dell 17" Laptop Dual Core 2.1GHz w/ 2GB Memory + 160GB Drive for $449 + $25 Shipping

• Toys R Us : Buy One Game Get One $20 Off (Wii, XBox360, PS3)
• Newegg : Nintendo Wii Game Blowout $6-$15 with Free Shipping Sale

Related: Computer Ratings and buying tips; DVD & Blu-ray player Ratings and buying tips; Pocket camcorder guide; TV Ratings and buying tips; Video game console buying tips and video: "Choosing a video game system"; Digital camera Ratings and buying tips.

Neither Consumer Reports nor The Consumerist receive anything in
exchange for featuring these deals; the posts are intended to be purely
informational. These deals are often fleeting, with prices changing or
products becoming unavailable as the day progresses.

These posts are not an endorsement of the featured products or
the Web sites that sell them—though some of the sites may be included,
and recommended, in our Ratings of retailers for computers and other major electronics (both available to subscribers). Price shouldn't be your only criterion. Be wary of lower-priced deals that seem too good to be true, and check return policies for restocking fees and other gotchas.

For general buying advice for many of the products on sale above, check out our free Buying Guides.

Leonel finally leaves his house, but is abducted by aliens. Samantha’s plan is thwarted by Judge Judy. Dale and Samantha decide to go to Leonel’s house.

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