Hamburg - Most computer programs are usually bought in a store stored on a CD or DVD-ROM and packed in a box.

But the ways of shopping are changing and computer users are finding more offers to download software directly from the internet. Experts see many pros to the switch, but also a few cons.

Commercial software downloads were fairly rare until a few years ago, says Daniel Rasch, an editor at the Hamburg-based Computer Bild magazine. Many people did not have fast-enough internet connections to make downloading new applications practical.

"But the variety is definitely picking up now."

Dusseldorf - Playing online poker for real money is an illegal activity in Germany. Gamers who ignore the ban could theoretically even face time behind prison bars.

Practically speaking, however, the real problem for poker fans is enforcing their winnings from providers who are often far away in other countries, says Michael Terhaag, a lawyer in Germany.

In the event of a problem, the gamers "generally have no legal options for suing to get their money back," the expert in internet law told the Hamburg-based Computer Bild Spiele.

Berlin - A boom in netbooks begun by the Asus EeePC is in the early phase as evidenced recently at IFA Consumer Electronics Show in Berlin. Producers are launching smaller, lighter and cheaper versions of notebooks, called netbooks.

The new netbooks include the Amilo Mini from Fujitsu Siemens. The notebook weighs just one kilogram and has a 9-inch display, plus Intel's N270 Atom processor, the company said. It comes in five different colours and with a transparent cover, so users can insert and display their own photographs.

Packed with either a 60 or 80 gigabyte hard drive, Bluetooth and Windows XP Home, the notebook goes on sale in October for 400 euros (570 dollars).

London, Sept 17 : Social networking sites are the biggest drawers, when it comes to Internet searches, dethroning online pornography, according to a new survey, which has provided an up-to-date view of how society is changing.

To reach the conclusion, Bill Tancer, a self-confessed ''data geek'', analysed the search habits of more than 10 million web users.

"There are some patterns to our internet use that we tend to repeat very specifically and predictably, from diet searches to prom dresses to what we do around the holidays," Telegraph quoted Tancer, as saying.

The research shows that elbows, belly button fluff and ceiling fans rank among the things people fear most, as do social intimacy and worries about rejection.

Melbourne, Sept 9: The biggest multilingual free-content encyclopaedia on the Internet, Wikipedia has come under fire for allowing pornographic images and videos in its articles.

In fact, some of the site's own editors have confessed that the objected content is ‘dressed-up porn’.

Using Wikipedia, instead of dictionaries, for looking up dirty words can expose children to images and videos of masturbation, "hardcore" sex and orgies, according to child protection campaigners.