Reuters, Pope goes digital to better connect with youth, 7 May 08 "The Pope will text daily messages of inspiration and hope during the six-day Sydney event while digital prayer walls will be erected at event sites and the church will set up a Catholic social networking Web site akin to a Catholic Facebook."

UPI, Polish priests warned on plagiarism, 26 Apr 08 "The Roman Catholic Church in Poland has warned priests who use the Internet or other sources for their sermons they could be fined or imprisoned for plagiarism.

"The church has published "To Plagiarize or Not to Plagiarize," a guide that provides sermon-writing tips while warning priests about the consequences of stealing intellectual property."

AFP, New technology triggers battle for information from Tibet, 18 Mar 08 "Blogs, chatrooms and mobile phones have helped information about Tibetan protests to stream out faster than ever, but China is also harnessing technology, as well as fear, to stem the flow."

CNN, Nations dropped from Monopoly site after Jerusalem fuss, 22 Feb 08, "An Israeli lobbying group, One Jerusalem, is driving an Internet campaign that pushed the city to 5th place in the Monopoly vote -- guaranteeing Jerusalem a spot on the board -- before Hasbro made the leaderboard a secret to add mystery to the final days of voting."

Reuters/Yahoo, Orthodox gays in Israel find support in Web site, 14 Feb 08 "An underground movement of gay Orthodox Jews in Israel has created a Web site to help homosexuals cope with living in a strict, religious community that is often hostile to their lifestyle.

"The site is the first public forum in the Jewish state where gay members of the Orthodox community can seek support and advice."

Here's a link for information on the film Orthodox Stance (shown on BBC4 on 12 Feb 08), about boxer Dmitriy Salita. "As he fights in New York in front of Russian immigrants, Hasidic Jews and hard-core boxing fans, Dmitriy's celebrity grows and he is ultimately invited to the White House for President Bush's Hanukkah party. Through his uncompromising devotion to boxing and Judaism, and comfort and confidence with who he is, the film shows how Dmitriy is part of these very different worlds on his own terms, in ways that feel both true to him and new to us." The film features a performance by Matisyahu.

AKI, Vatican: Bid to sell sacred bones in online auction provokes outrage, 11 Feb 08 "Sacred bones allegedly belonging to dead saints and other religious figures are being sold on the online auction site Ebay despite complaints to the Vatican.

"According to the Italian daily, La Stampa, two organisations, the International Crusade for Holy Relics and the Italian Telefono Antiplagio, have complained that the bones, known by the Latin term 'ex-ossibus', are being sold on the English and Italian Ebay sites respectively."

The Register, Israel gets kosher phone service, 6 Feb 08 "Bezeq's new service is aimed at the ultra-Orthodox customer. It's been endorsed by leading rabbis, but they are expecting to be able to sell it to a much broader audience including concerned parents. The service is far from unique in Israel, though as the dominant operator Bezeq's move into the market is significant. It is interesting to see the use of religious endorsement to sell the service to secular parents - it's hard to imagine the Church of England (or Scotland) being trusted to endorse a pornography-free communications service."

Guardian, Hackers declare war on Scientologists amid claims of heavy-handed Cruise control, 4 Feb 08 "The hackers were infuriated by the removal from YouTube last month of a Scientologists' video clip featuring Tom Cruise. They have alleged that Scientologists forced YouTube to remove the embarrassing footage, in which the actor hailed the religion as "a blast"."

AFP/alarabiya.net, Mourn online with Israeli e-funerals, 31 Jan 08 "Israel's main Jewish burial society, Khevra Kadisha, has launched a unique service allowing funerals to be broadcast online and for mourners to view them all over the world."

Threat Level from Wired.com, War Breaks Out Between Hackers and Scientology -- There Can Be Only One, 23 Jan 08 "A loose confederation of online troublemakers who call themselves Anonymous have declared war on the Church of Scientology by flooding its servers with fake data requests, describing the attacks as punishment for the Church's alleged abuse of copyright laws and alleged brainwashing of its members."

AP/Yahoo! News, Apparent suicides shock Welsh town, 23 Jan 08, "Police say there appears to be no common link between the deaths. But at least one newspaper published a photograph of two of the dead together, fueling speculation of suicide pacts struck among friends linked by Internet social networking sites."

Reuters, Rabbis play online cupid to help Jews marry Jews, 21 Jan 08, "Marrying outside the faith is an issue for many in the U.S. Jewish community who are concerned about dwindling demographic numbers, family tensions and the pressures on children pulled in different religious directions."

AFP, Israeli scientists put Bible on chip smaller than pinhead "Israeli scientists said on Tuesday they have created the world's smallest Bible, fitting a Hebrew-language version of the holy book on a gold-coated silicon chip smaller than a pinhead."

Via Guardian, 15 Nov 07 "Beliefnet is beta-testing a social networking service for spiritual people." Check it out here: Beliefnet Community Beta

BBC News, Bible download for mobile phone, 2 Oct 07 "A line of religious mobile phone products has been launched by a Monmouthshire firm - including downloading the Bible for £6."

Guardian, Now available online: Pope John Paul II's robes, 24 Sept 07 "Supplied without charge, the circular dots of cotton, measuring about 4mm in diameter, come pressed into a postcard bearing a photo of John Paul on one side and a prayer on the other. They are available by clicking a link on the website of the diocese of Rome and filling in the email application."

AFP, Technology puts Myanmar protests in international eye, 26 Sept 07, "Myanmar's swelling protests are in the global spotlight with the help of hi-tech gadgets in the era of YouTube -- a stark contrast to the 1988 uprising in the pre-Internet age."

Reuters/Yahoo News, Online shrines for "death networking", 2 Sept 07 "Candy's virtual memorial to her daughter was one of the starting blocks for what some call the latest "e-trend" in Britain.

"Candy now runs a Web site, www.alwaysberemembered.co.uk, on which she offers the bereaved a way of paying tribute to their dead. Users create a memorial page with pictures, poems and tributes which can be visited, viewed and added to by anyone who feels a need." Very interesting article on this sensitive issue, UK based, links to other sites as well.

Skanda Vale, home of Shambo, a temple bull that tested positive with Bovine TB (although that diagnosis in itself was controversial), led a vigorous campaign to save it. This attracted international media coverage, such as in the Times of India, Sacred bull Shambo slaughtered. and hundreds of other media outlets (listed by Google News). This is a 'local' story for me, so has generated substantial interest.

MidEast News Source, Google Your to Way to God, 17 May 07 multi-faith approach to the subject, quite an interesting overview: "Technology has influenced religion in other ways as well – the Internet has created a global community for worshippers of all faiths, connected by just a click of the mouse."

washingtonpost.com, BBC v Scientology: A YouTube Story Starring John Sweeney, When Reporters Attack L. Ron Hubbard "While the verdict may still be out as to whether Scientology is a brainwashing cult or not, after a recent run-in with the BBC, two things are abundantly clear: Scientologists can't stand being called cult members, and they have the power to drive even seasoned journalists absolutely insane." Author Emil Steiner also suggests it would make a good South Park episode (discuss).

BBC News, Reporter's fury caught on tape, 14 May 07 [Media clip] Also see BBC News, Row over Scientology video, 14 May 07 Discussion on the row surrounding a BBC programme on Scientology. The Scientology and me programme will be shown on BBC One at 2030BST [it will also be available on the Panorama website]. Also see the official Scientology website

icwales, Sacred bull to be worldwide net star, 14 May 07"Sacred bull Shambo is to become a worldwide internet star – a webcam is being set up in the temple where he is on death row." Known as MooTube... Details can be found at the Skanda Vale website, which includes an online petition.

Guardian, GodTube - where the rightwing Christians surf, 30 Apr 07 refers to GodTube

The Guardian, Nuns get into internet habit, 27 Apr 07 "The 12 Cistercian nuns of the 13th-century Santo Spirito convent in Agrigento have set up a website and are happy to take questions about what it is like to pray for hours in silence every day.

"The sisters, who speak to visitors, if pushed, through a grille, are being bombarded with inquiries at santospiritoag.com, said Sister Maria, who agreed to answer questions over the phone."

The Guardian, Let us pray ... at St Pixels, the virtual church with bar and bouncy castle, 12 Apr 07 "St Pixel is an imaginary character with no place between SS Pius X and Polycarp in the encyclopaedia of saints. But he presides over a real internet community, which has persuaded the BBC to broadcast its proceedings." St Pixels can be found here

The Slate, Schwing Tone, The religious war on cell-phone porn, 26 Feb 07 Commentary: "North America's first cell-phone porn service surrendered to a Catholic boycott". Full story: canada.com, Telus backs away from wireless pornography, 21 Feb 07

New and apparently selling well: Brian Bailey & Terry Storch's The Blogging Church (Jossey-Banks). The book's page is here. There is a Blogging Church video promo. Also see Bailey's LeaveItBehind blog. I haven't read this one yet, so await reviews with interest.

RevolutionNYC/Sundance/YouTube, One Punk Under God Commercial

Some stories that I missed, which cropped up on WWRN's pages:

• Faith group urges eBay boycott over relic sales
• Beliefnet gives spiritual melting pot new shape
• Boston cardinal starts new Vatican blog
• eBible is latest sign of Web faith
• Intimate Confessions Pour Out on Church’s Web Site
• Divine Inspiration From the Masses
• Cyber-savvy pastors turn to the blog to reach new, younger audience
• Divine inventions: Gadgets hot source of spirituality
• Religion Today
• 'Godcasting:' Love that new-time religion
• Religious blogs test beliefs, power structure
• Downloading God: Churches use podcasts to spread the gospel; faithful turn up volume
• Website attacks Da Vinci Code
• Atheist gives eBay bidders a chance to save his soul
• Life’s age-old mystery: What’s it worth to you?
• A More Intimate Sabbath
• St. Blog's cyberpews packed
• A Pulpit Online for Critics of 'The Da Vinci Code' Film
• D.C. church's 'Daniel' blog seizes preachable moment

Nuns on the web: The Sunday Times, Confessional blogs of the internet nuns, November 26, 2006 "Sister Julie Vieira, from Monroe, Michigan, wrote in her blog, A Nun’s Life: "More and more religious communities are getting ‘wired’ . . .. to spread the Good News and to tell people about who they are and what they stand for." Here's a link to A Nun's Life. There was also an earlier, related article in Time Magazine, Today's Nun Has A Veil--And A Blog, 13 Nov 06 which notes, in relation to the website of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, that "There's also a downloadable song of the month donated by a Christian artist, in response to the focus groups' revelation that "music was one of the highest ways to communicate with" young people, says vocation director Sister Julie Ann Sheahan. Thus the order's radio and TV ads feature a theme song based on a Franciscan hymn. The tune is also available on the website as a ringtone. Its title: Called to Be."

Blogger speaks (albeit briefly): BBC World Service, Heart and Soul, Sunday 22nd October Listen Again by following the above link until next weekend. Contains contribution from myself and alt.muslim re. religious podcasting in Islamic contexts.

smh.com, Jesus in cyberspace - you'd better believe it, 17 Oct 06 "Sydney Anglicans have appointed their first web evangelist to oversee a new, internet-based ministry."

Cardinal blogs one post, and hits Reuters headlines: Reuters, Boston cardinal adopts new habit with Vatican blog, 21 September 06 Also see Cardinal Seán’s Fall Trip To Rome

Reuters/Yahoo!, Desperate Catholics find "rent-a-priests" online, 30 Aug 06. "Roman Catholics shunned by the official church are "renting" married priests in times of crisis and celebration.

"They turn to http://www.rentapriest.com, a Web site with 2,500 Catholic priests in a national database known as "God's Yellow Pages.""

AFP, China shuts blog by Tibetan author that wished Dalai Lama happy birthday, 31 July 2006

BBC, Is the new Superman meant to be Jesus?, 28 July 2006 "Is the Superman Returns movie meant to remind us of the Bible? And if so, is it blasphemy?

"Well here's the story."

Reuters/yahoo!, Ancient Asian beliefs spin new Web for India online, 26 June 2006, "Firms in India are now turning to the ancient philosophies of vaastu shastra and Chinese feng shui, used for centuries to bring balance and harmony between man and the environment, in a bid to boost their businesses through "balanced" Web pages."

BBC News, Spiritual challenge for gamers, 4 June 2006 refers to the Christian Game Developers Foundation. I guess some games are difficult to 'sanitize' whilst retaining their excitement, unless you play sports or driving games (like myself - although I'm hardly proficient.

AFP, Devil theories spread across Internet on '666', 6 June 2006, "Websites devoted to 666 were the reference point for rumours of meteors smashing into earth or of pregnant women trying to avoid giving birth to prevent their babies being born with the mark of the devil."

Reuters/Yahoo, UCLA Egyptologists launching online encyclopedia, 28 April 2006, "Frustrated with the poor quality of many Web sites dealing with ancient Egypt, a professor at the University of California has decided to create a massive online encyclopedia devoted solely to Egyptology."

MSNBC/WWRN, At the comics shop, religion goes graphic, 25 April 2006, refers to ComicBookReligion.com and also includes quotes from Greg Garrett, the author of Holy Superheroes! Exploring Faith & Spirituality in Comic Books - which sounds like an interesting volume.

USATODAY.com - Let my people download! Passover texts available online, 6 April 2006 "Online texts particularly attract young Jewish adults who no longer live near family or in a neighborhood where bound Haggada texts are free or easily purchased, says Roger Bennett of Reboot (www.rebooters.net), a creative network of Jews in publishing, music and film."

USATODAY.com - Long-lost gospel of Judas recasts 'traitor', 6 April 2006 this includes a link to the document at National Geographic, The Lost Gospel of Judas

ContractorUK, Man tries to sell his soul online, 8 April 2006, "According to Reuters, Taobao had no set terms and conditions for soul-selling but cancelled the auction, citing not enough proof the goods could be delivered.

"Porter Erisman, spokesman for Taobao's parent, Yahoo-backed Alibaba.com, told the news agency that they were not against the auctioneering of souls, in principle."

AP, 'Kosher' Phone Merges Technology, Faith, 31 Mar 06, "It sounds like the setup for a punch line: What do you get when you cross an ultra-Orthodox rabbi with a mobile phone? But the "kosher phone" is real and its developers are serious about looking beyond the religious enclaves of Israel. Some Arab companies even have inquired about the phone's main feature: keeping out sex lines and other worldly temptations."

USA Today/yahoo, Christian group backs off case against blog parody, 24 Mar 06 "A Christian group that promotes heterosexuality Thursday quietly dropped its beef against a blogger who poked fun at it."

South Park has been generating internet traffic recently with the controversy surrounding a 'Scientology Episode' [easy to locate via Google]. Details on the story here from the Guardian, Isaac Hayes quits South Park after it satirises Scientology, 15 Mar 06. Official Church of Scientology site here. Huffington Post 'discussion' here . Isaac Hayes' site here.

USATODAY.com - 'Godcasts' spread word on the Web, 16 Mar 06: "Increasingly, houses of worship and individuals are using the Internet to reach adherents and those outside their communities, in a trend sometimes called 'Godcasting.'"

A couple of items which caught my attention today: Mission Network News, Christians website are attracting many from the Muslim world, February 16, 2006 "While hard-line Muslim nations make accessing Christians websites difficult, it's not impossible and these websites are making an incredible impact for the kingdom.

"Strategic Resource Group (SRG) helps organizations reach out to the lost inside the 10/40 Window. SRG reports Christian websites are receiving nearly 9 million hits per month from the Middle East. One Christian organization hosting chat rooms for Arabic-speaking web users estimates that more than 42,000 people visit those sites daily."

Also this excellent article in today's Guardian, which has a small reference to the web: The Guardian, Everybody's kung fu fighting, February 16, 2006 "Like most of his generation, Shi has meditated a great deal on politics, business and technology. He is a part-time deputy in the National People's Assembly, where he says he was chosen as the first representative of the nation's Buddhists. He set up Shaolin's website, which was one of the first institutional homepages in the country when it went online in 1996. More recently, he has pushed the commercial, legal and public relations interests of the monastery."

Wall Street Journal/WWRN, Zoroastrians use Internet dating to rescue religion, 6 Feb 06, "To replenish their ranks, followers of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster, who is thought to have lived about 3,500 years ago, are extolling not just the modern benefits of fertility clinics but also those of Internet dating.

"The high-technology push to connect and reproduce Parsis comes as education and work opportunities pull a younger generation into the global work force, delaying love, marriage and children. Like other ethnic groups, Parsis in India are trying to adapt to a changing world without changing too much themselves."

CNN, Review: 'The Bible Game' is a testament to your knowledge, January 13, 2006

Mzansi Afrika, Jewish community in Uganda which in turn linked to BBC, Photo journal: Uganda's Jewish community

NYT/International Herald Tribune, Never on the Sabbath: For some online retailers, it works, 10 Jan 06 " Jewish eBay sellers who observe the Sabbath and have eBay stores, Steinberg said, often use "vacation settings" that delist products on the Sabbath." I haven't really explored the commercial sector in my research to date, but it certainly has potential, as this provoking article proves.

'Shake it out for Jesus': Churches co-opt hip-hop | csmonitor.com

A TV pilot with Jesus as co-pilot | csmonitor.com

The Register, Jews for Jesus sue Google, 23 Dec 05

Youth Curry - Insight on Indian Youth , Buy, all ye faithful, 19 Dec 05 thorough 'religion and shopping' article looking at global trends (Mecca Cola, Buerger King, etc.)

baltimoresun.com, Faith-based Web sites help spread the word - Judaism site among millions of online religion resources that serve devout believers and curious newcomers, 19 Dec 05 refers to MyJewishLearning.com

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Youths reveal racy Bible calendar, 3 Dec 05 "A German Protestant youth group has put together a 2006 calendar illustrated with erotic scenes from the Bible.

"The 12 re-enacted passages feature a bare-breasted Delilah cutting Samson's hair and a nude Eve offering an apple."

Guardian Unlimited | Arts features | After the 'Family' broke us apart, 26 Nov 05 interesting story about <"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Spencer"> Jeremy Spencer (ex Fleetwood Mac) and his family (and The Family cult). Spencer's children have formed a group called Jynxt.

New York Times, A Party Girl Leads China's Online Revolution, 24 Nov 05: "Chinese Web logs have existed since early in this decade, but the form has exploded in recent months, challenging China's ever vigilant online censors and giving flesh to the kind of free-spoken civil society whose emergence the government has long been determined to prevent or at least tightly control."

Telegraph | News | 'There's no such thing as the perfect sermon. Thank God', 20 Nov 05 "So entrenched has the fixation with perfection become that a growing number of preachers log on to internet sites such as www.sermoncentral.com to download pre-formated sermons, in the manner of desperate A-level students on an essay deadline."

The Cult of Mac Blog: "Zen IPod Docks From Japan Made of Stone" [scroll down for this gem]

Al-Ahram Weekly | Heritage | Scene set for Coptic studies

heraldtribune.com, School Web filter blocks faiths, 8 Nov 05 "Nathan Robinson, 16, was pulling together the horoscopes for the student newspaper when he ran into an eye-opening problem: The school's Web filter blocked him from getting any information on astrology because it fell under the state's filter for cults and nonmainstream religions."

The Cult of Mac Blog, 25 Oct 05: "Designer Scott Wilson, the brains behind the $13 iBelieve iPod-crucifix-lanyard, said it celebrates both Jesus and the iPod." An interesting discussion on the iBelieve i-Pod accessory, which may be authentic ... [scroll down for full story]

CNN.com - 'God blogging' workshop spreads faith - Oct 17, 2005: "What would Jesus blog? That and other pressing questions drew 135 Christians to Southern California this weekend for a national conference billed as the first-ever for 'God bloggers,' a growing community of online writers who exchange information and analyze current events from a Christian perspective."

It's only rock'n'roll: oregonlive.com, Priest sends tunes, tenets over Web site, 16 Oct 05: "The Rev. Bailey Clemens flips a switch, and a blast of guitars and drums pulses through the massive tree-shaded stone walls of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church.

"It's pop rock with a Catholic message, zooming into cyberspace on its way to teenage listeners in Saudi Arabia, France, Japan, Brazil and wherever else Clemens' Web site is tuned in.

"'I guess it is edgy for a Catholic priest,' he says of his Pendleton-based Internet vibes, and he might be right: 'Ave Maria' this is not. More like Audio Adrenaline, Seven Day Slumber and Superchick."

Guardian Unlimited | Young, free and kosher, 11 Oct 05

Opinion piece and commentary on net dating:

"If there's one thing Jews love, it's other Jews. JDate, a giant temple in cyberspace, is the "World's largest Jewish singles community"; an online dating service where Jewish singles can meet, mate and continue the tribe."

CNN.com - Bible group spreads word by SMS - Oct 6, 2005: "'In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth,' according to a new version of the Bible translated into the text message language of cell phone users."

sfgate.com, Chinese Internet vs. free speech / Hard choices for U.S. tech giants, September 18, 2005: "U.S. tech giants are helping the Chinese express themselves online -- as long as they don't write about democracy, Tibet, sex, Tiananmen Square, Falun Gong, government corruption or any other taboo subject. "

BBC NEWS | Technology | Storm help flows from 3D worlds, 7 September 2005

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Yahoo 'helped jail China writer', 7 Sept 05 "Reporters Without Borders said Yahoo's Hong Kong arm helped China link Shi Tao's e-mail account and computer to a message containing the information."

Guardian Unlimited | Online | And The Word is: Godcasting, 10 Aug 05 "Some Godcasts, however, prove problematic, said Business Week's Olga Kharif, noting the LamRim show (mostly speeches by Buddhist religious leaders). "Interested listeners can also download meditations but," she said, "they are just a lot of dead air.""

Asia Times Online, Indian police get mobile over porn, 28 July 2005: "The long arm of the law silently watches over the shoulders of people to catch them "red-handed" watching porn, which is not illegal, but any form of promotion by forwarding/hosting (the technical word is multimedia messaging or MMS) can invite a jail sentence and a heavy fine."

Wired News: Blogs Taking Off in Cambodia, 20 July 05

Scientologists drop copyright case | The Register, 8 July 2005: "A day before the Dutch Supreme Court was to deliver its final verdict, the Church of Scientology has dropped its controversial case against writer Karin Spaink, who hyperlinked to what the church believe is copyrighted material. However, Spaink wants the case to continue, as it will establish a freedom of speech precedence for the internet and ISPs in particular."

Encyclopedia of Religion, Communication, and Media, Internet and Cyber Environments Heidi Campbell's article is available online as a sample entry for the Encyclopedia.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Microsoft censors Chinese blogs, 14 June 05: "Chinese bloggers posting their thoughts via Microsoft's net service face restrictions on what they can write."

Wired News: New Tech Protects Ancient Torahs, 6 June 05

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Row as hospital Bibles linked to bug, 4 June 05: "Anne McGregor, head of communications, said the infection control team was considering whether the Bibles might contribute to the spread of MRSA and other infections, while the equality panel was looking into whether there was equitable provision of religious material suitable for Leicester's multifaith community."

BBC NEWS | Wales | South East Wales | Wireless broadband goes to church, 31 May 05: "A vicar in Cardiff is offering wireless broadband access from the pews of his church, alongside traditional weddings, christenings and Sunday services."

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Christians purge video game demons, 24 May 05: "The Devil, they say, has all the best tunes. Until now he has also had the video games market sewn up."

BBC NEWS | Technology | Sims creator takes on evolution, : "The creator of the hugely popular Sims game is working on an ambitious title in which you can truly be God."

Australian IT - Gospel groups target gamers (Reed Stevenson in Los Angeles, MAY 18, 2005): "So far, games such as 'Spiritual Warfare' and 'Exodus: Journey to the Promised Land' have drawn a loyal following by combining biblical themes with mild action. Users can travel through biblical lands, solve puzzles based on Bible scripture and, in some games, slash demonic foes. "

egypttoday.com, The Guardian: How the president of the Jewish Community of Cairo is keeping the memory of her forefathers alive as she struggles to preserve the nation’s Jewish heritage sites: "Some, particularly a group of Jews of Egyptian descent who now live in America, have no faith in Carmen Weinstein, let alone in her mission, claiming the Jewish community of Cairo is for all intents and purposes extinct. As she badgers the nation's antiquity authorities, organizes social activities for the women of her community and tends to her popular website (www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/5855/bassai.htm), it's a claim she dismisses as insignificant. As she sees it, the community will endure, in one form or another."

The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > Basics: Now, Audio Blogs for Those Who Aspire to Be D.J.'s, 13 May 05 [subscription channel]: "Another, more high-minded site, Catholic Insider (www.catholicinsider.com), links to podcasts of Pope Benedict XVI from Vatican Radio. "

BBC NEWS | Technology | Crime time for Chinese net users: "Around 20% of the world's hijacked computers sending out spam, attacking websites and hosting unsavoury material are in China, says a report. "

Apologetics research resources on cults, sects, religions, etc. I have visited this one several times; it is regularly updated, and has some interesting recent material.

reuters/latimes.com, Man Says He Won't Link XVI to XXX on Net, 21 Apr 05 "An American who registered the Internet domain name BenedictXVI.com before the new pope was chosen said Wednesday that he had not decided what to do with it, but he ruled out pornography and doubted that he would accept an offer from a gambling site."

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Profile: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger

Chicago Tribune | Cardinals in cyberspace, 15 Apr 05 "The cardinals won't be toting laptops when they assemble Monday in the Sistine Chapel to pick a new pope, but the information highway constructed since the last papal conclave in 1978 could steer them in new ways." Discusses the possible impact of the internet on the papal conclave.

CNN.com - Students re-enact Red Sea crossing -- with wine - Apr 13, 2005: "Student engineers sent their gadgets whirring, spinning and buzzing across a pool of water Wednesday in a competition to re-enact the biblical Jewish crossing of the Red Sea and pour a ceremonial glass of wine -- all without anyone touching anything."

The New York Times > Books > Scholar of Judaism, Professional Provocateur Jacob Neusner profile - strictly non-tech

BuzzMachine... by Jeff Jarvis features the Pope Blog - a very detailed set of resources

Peshmerga Women

Newsweek: 'Go With God', 10 Apr 05: "Today official patriotic-church leaders maintain discreet contacts with Rome, while the faithful keep abreast of news from the Vatican on shortwave radio or the Internet."

U.S. cardinal opens up on choosing a new pope: "Noting that Tettamanzi is No. 1 on a popular Internet pope pool, George said he doubts he is even included in the brackets."

East Valley Tribune | Daily Arizona news for Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe, Mesa, Scottsdale, 7 Apr 05: "A world history textbook used by seventh-graders at Scottsdale's Mohave Middle School was pulled from classrooms mid-semester amid growing criticism of the book's portrayal of Islam.

"The removal came on the heels of a slew of angry emails to Scottsdale Unified School District officials and entries on conservative Internet Web logs."

AFP/WWRN, China blocks Internet comments on the pope, 4 Apr 05 "China's web portals have blocked prayers, blessings and other comment on the death of Pope John Paul II from being posted on the Internet, officials said.

"While popular portals such as Sina.com and Sohu.com's on-line discussion forums were flooded with messages about the pope Saturday, no messages could be seen Monday."

Reuters/Wired, SMS, E-mail Announce Pope's Death, Apr 3, 2005 "Just a quarter of an hour after the Pope was pronounced dead Saturday at 9:37 p.m., the Vatican sent journalists an SMS message alerting them to a pending statement. Television networks across the globe were already on standby a minute later when the e-mail communiqué was beamed to a sea of handheld computers, purchased by journalists at the suggestion of the Vatican."