SAN FRANCISCO - In just seven years, Google Inc. has morphed from a bare-bones online search engine into a technological octopus that seems to sprout another intriguing tentacle every other week.

The recent success of Amazon's Kindle Fire has given Google hope that the small-screen, inexpensive tablet market is worth pursuing. Google has set the tech world abuzz by announcing its new Nexus 7 tablet, the result of a partnership with ASUS, a multinational computer hardware and electronics company.

SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc. is snapping up YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion in a deal that catapults the Internet search leader to a starring role in the online video revolution.

The world of news and information, in terms of who produces it, how it gets produced and how it is delivered, is exploding with new enterprises popping up almost every day. Traditional media is struggling to find its way in this new world, both in terms of understanding how it works as well as competing in it. If traditional media is to survive it is essential that it understands this new world and to figure out how to carve out a place in it.

Q: I have thousands of songs in my iTunes at home that I would like to listen to at work and I don’t want to pay Apple to use iTunes Match. Any other suggestions? - Nicholas

Q: I have thousands of songs in my iTunes at home that I would like to listen to at work and I don’t want to pay Apple to use iTunes Match. Any other suggestions? — Nicholas

SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. is diving into the business of offering online searches of books and other writings, and says its approach aims to avoid the legal tussles met by rival Google Inc.

When students see computers, their first thought is usually about the games they can play, said Dave Hanlon, a fifth-grade teacher at Scottsdale’s Hopi Elementary School. But directing children to the right online resources can make computers a learning tool.

Q: I’m strongly considering a jump from my iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy S III but concerned about getting all my stuff over. Is this an easy thing to do or is it going to be a nightmare? — Glen

Q. I have a mountain of music CDs that I want to have transferred to my iTunes, but I don’t have the time to get it all in. Are there services out there that will do this for me? — Rob

The arts have not been kind to “big box” retailer Wal-Mart. Witness scathing documentaries (“Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price”) and books such as Naomi Klein’s “No Logo” and Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed,” the latter a minimum-wage indictment that was made into a successful stage production for theater companies like the Valley’s Actors Theatre.

'Willy Wonka Junior’

Ken Colburn, Data Doctors

Ken Colburn, Data Doctors

Ken Colburn, Data Doctors

NEW YORK -- The nation needs to give the same urgency to making sure all Americans have broadband access as the Eisenhower administration did in building an interstate highway system a half-century ago, a report released Friday concluded.

We encourage readers to submit letters to the editor on issues of interest to East Valley residents. Submissions should be no longer than 300 words, factually accurate and original thoughts of the writer. Please be brief and include name, address, city and phone number for verification. Letters and call-in comments may be edited for clarity and length.

NEW YORK - "Wow" hasn't tended to be a big part of Bill Gates' vocabulary, but to hear him speak in the hours before Microsoft Corp.'s planned launch of the long-awaited Vista operating system, you'd never know it.

The wonderful thing about discovering an author you enjoy who writes a series is the anticipation of the next book ... just knowing that as you turn the last page there is another good book on the horizon. And if you discover them after the series has been around a while, you can eagerly go from one book to the next with the characters you have come to love.

You know what they say about Arizona’s weather: It’s paradise, except for the three months when we languish mercilessly in the triple digits. Options for getting out and about do dwindle in the summertime, but we more than make up for it the rest of the year — when we pick peaches, race ostriches, dance at outdoor concerts, browse arts festivals, run foot races and navigate corn mazes.

You know what they say about Arizona’s weather: It’s paradise, except for the three months when we languish mercilessly in the triple digits. Options for getting out and about do dwindle in the summertime, but we more than make up for it the rest of the year — when we pick peaches, race ostriches, dance at outdoor concerts, browse arts festivals, run foot races and navigate corn mazes.