Airwave Concerns Prompt Proposal To Ban Some Wireless Microphones. The Federal Communications Commission is proposing a ban on certain types of wireless microphones and has begun an investigation into how the industry markets its products.

Business Gets Personal Online. TechPost, which looks at people and ideas driving the local technology industry, runs Friday on the WashBiz Blog, at.

Data Breaches Have Surpassed Level for All of '07, Report Finds. More data breaches have been reported so far this year than in all of 2007, according to a report released yesterday by a nonprofit group that works to prevent fraud.

XM-Sirius Vote Hangs on New Conditions. A long-delayed merger between the nation's two satellite radio providers may be facing another hurdle after a key regulator yesterday told the companies they would need to make stronger concessions on pricing and minority programming to gain his support.

Move to Digital TV Faces Language Barrier. The television set in Marisa Orozco's Falls Church living room is almost always tuned to Spanish-language stations. For her parents, who don't speak English, the telenovelas -- soap operas -- and newscasts are a strong connection to their former lives in Colombia. The shows, received through the..

High-Stakes Race to Unlock a Wider Web. The nation's top technology companies have spent millions of dollars and nearly two years building devices, poring over laptops and working in federal labs trying to come up with a new way of providing high-speed Internet to bandwidth-hungry cities as well as hard-to-reach rural regions.

XM, Sirius Deal Nears Finality As Companies Agree to Fines. XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio yesterday agreed to pay nearly $20 million in fines for past technical violations, paving the way for federal approval of a merger between the nation's only satellite radio providers.

Game Boys: When Dad And Son Are Playmates. Q. I think my husband is immature because he wants to be a friend to my son more than a parent, which is causing a tremendous conflict between us. He agrees with my complaints, but he still doesn't change and I resent it.

Sirius XM Chief Says Merger Debt Is 'Ugly'. Sirius XM Radio struck an "ugly" debt deal to close the merger of the only two U.S. satellite radio operators, chief executive Mel Karmazin said.

Casual Friday: Spy Games, Spy Gear. In PC World' s ongoing efforts to celebrate sloth, we're taking a high-tech detour this week. I mean, yes, we'll find cool ways to kill time and slay spies--but how about, as well, some top secret tech that will show you how not to get caught while doing it?.

Insider Deals: Sweet, If You Can Score Them. Savvy Web shoppers are always on the lookout for coupons that can save them money on tech gear. But all coupon codes are not created equal, and most of the best ones aren't distributed to the masses. Here is the scoop on snagging insider deals--offers that are meant for family, friends, employees,..

Creative Zen X-Fi MP3 Player. The Creative Zen X-Fi is beyond question a better all-around digital music player than any of Apple's current iPods. The X-Fi has better sound, superb headphones, an amazing feature set, expandable storage

Checkpoint-Friendly Laptop Bags. Some words seem destined to go together, like "Marco" and "Polo," "Uma" and "Oprah," "rock" and "lobster." Until recently, however, I would never have thought to conjoin the words "checkpoint" and "friendly." But these days, the two seemingly disparate words are locked in a brazen embrace, showing..

Polywell Poly X4800-Extreme Power Desktop PC. Polywell certainly named this power desktop computer correctly. Its 3.2-GHz Core 2 X9770 CPU is Intel's current state-of-the-art Extreme chip, which means that this is an extremely fast desktop. At $4799, it's also extremely expensive. Then again, no one ever..

EnOcean gets funding for expansion. Wireless home automation system developer EnOcean GmbH has received another 4.5 million in venture capital funding.

Mackenzie pulp mill sold. An Edmonton property developer is the new owner of the Mackenzie pulp mill in northern B.C., but the value of the deal remains in question following a controversial ruling Thursday on the mill's chip supply..

Developer building homes with solar panels. Shea Homes, the builder at Trilogy at Redmond Ridge, is rolling out a groundbreaking program.

Freddie Mac courts investors, Buffett passes. Freddie Mac talked to investors this week about possibly buying its stock to raise much-needed capital but billionaire investor Warren Buffett said he passed on an opportunity to help the troubled mortgage giant.The likelihood Freddie will find willing investors took another hit after Moody's Investors Service lowered the company's preferred stock ratings and those of its sister company Fannie Mae to near junk status.Shares of the government-sponsored enterprises tumbled in midday trading.

Buffett says economy's troubles will continue. During a live appearance on CNBC, Buffett said ripples of the credit crunch are continuing to cause problems in financial businesses and the economy.

Billionaires sound cinematic warning. Two billionaires used the screening of a documentary in theatres across the United States yesterday to urge the country to come to grips with its staggering debt load.