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A new study (PDF) says for the first time, more Americans are using fast cable or DSL connections to access the Internet than dial-up accounts.

Nielsen/Netratings says last month there were 63 million people using broadband at home, which amounts to 51 percent of the total U.S. Internet population. In July of 2003, only 38 percent of Americans had high-speed connections at home.

$600 NOTEBOOK PC AT WALMART.COM
Actually, it's $598. For that price, you get a Wi-Fi notebook from Taiwan's Elitegroup Computer Systems. It comes loaded with Windows XP. The machine has some serious shortcomings, including a paltry 128 MB of memory. But budget-conscious buyers will probably overlook that.

VIRTUAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER
Wired News reviews Political Machine, a game which lets you act as campaign manager to real or imagined presidential candidates.

As a concept, Political Machine is brilliant. The American political system has always been something of a massive chess match, but these days, with the advent of sophisticated polling methods and daily updates, the nature of the game has become far more transparent ... The game itself, at least at intermediate levels, is quick-moving and addictive.

DO BRIN AND PAGE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?
After a series of missteps, Businessweek commentator Ben Elgin doubts whether the Google founders have the management savvy to run a public company.

It appears the halo that long adorned Google and its founders has started to fade. To capture the same kind of adulation on Wall Street that it receives from Web surfers, Google will have to address its management shortcomings.

APPLE RECALLS BATTERIES
28,000 users face the risk of spontaneous combustion. So far, batteries have overheated, but have not caught fire.

TEACHERS COMPLAIN OF "GADGET DISTRACTION"
From nytimes.com Circuits:

"I've never been in a lecture where I haven't seen someone checking their e-mail when they were supposed to be doing stuff," said Bill Walsh, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Instant messages, news tickers and games like solitaire beckon too. Joe Huber, the technology coordinator for the public schools in Greenwood, Ind., said that teachers routinely complain about gadget-distraction among students. "It is a huge problem with anyone who teaches with any kind of technology," he said.