All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Hi everyone. Katie's off. I'm Seth Doane.

You've seen the video: tens of thousands of protesters packing the streets and squares of Tehran One crowd claiming election fraud and demanding a new vote. Another insisting that last week's results were fair and accurate.

This battle is being waged, not just in Iran's capital, but in cyber space. Activists on both sides are getting out their messages by using Twitter, Facebook, and other sites.

Those who dissent risk prison. Iran's government has ordered bloggers to remove anything that would quote, "create tension." But with some Iranian reporters under arrest and foreign correspondents now banned from covering demonstrations in person, these citizen journalists are there to tell the world what they see.

They are passionate and often manage to get around government restrictions on cell phones and the internet by using the technological revolution to fight a political one.

I'm Seth Doane. CBS News.

Over at Tech Talk, our sister blog, science and technology correspondent (and self-proclaimed "digital nomad") Daniel Sieberg has given us a little previewa of his story on tonight's CBS Evening News. It's about grade-school kids using the Web not just to share too much information about themselves - but to share potentially-illegal video tips on how to deceive their teachers and cheat on tests.

Here's a taste:

It's no secret that young people make mistakes; it's a necessary part of growing up. But the Internet - and specifically the rise of video-sharing Web sites - opened a new portal for potential pitfalls. On tonight's CBS Evening News with Katie Couric we're looking at how teens are posting controversial videos on sites like YouTube, often in the hopes of getting noticed or showing off. But in the process they may be setting themselves up for real-world consequences in the future.

For our story we talked to two young people about their decision to post "how to cheat on a test" videos on YouTube. Both of our subjects are unrepentant about their decision - but they also do not want us to use their real names. Both said they're seeking attention and aren't worried about being caught because "adults don't use YouTube."

Wait, adults don't use YouTube? Huh. Somebody must have forgotten to tell Oprah, Charlie Rose, and, or course, Katie. Anyway, check out the rest of Daniel's blog post right here, and don't forget to watch tonight at 6:30 ET.

It's a landmark case in Internet law. You may remember the Missouri woman accused of posing as a teenage boy on MySpace. Using the fake identity, she allegedly began taunting a 13-year-old neighborhood girl who eventually committed suicide.

Lori Drew was called a monster, a predator, a cyber bully ... but she's not charged in the girl's death. Missouri prosecutors said no laws were broken. Instead, Drew is now on trial in Los Angeles for allegedly violating her MySpace agreement. Some say it's a legal stretch, while others can't understand why she isn't being tried for a much more serious offense.

It's a reminder that our laws don't always keep up with ever-changing technology. Every day people post things on-line they would never say in person. But those digital words matter, a lesson Lori Drew found out the hard way, and a 13-year-old girl is dead.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy ushered in the era of the television presidency. Millions watched together as he took the oath of office, declaring "ask not what your country can do for you." The medium proved as powerful as the message.

Today, that medium is the Internet. The number of Americans who get their political news primarily from the Web tripled since the 2004 election.

Barack Obama successfully captured young voters by finding them where they hang out online. The Obama campaign used Facebook, YouTube, and even text messaging to seal the deal.

The election is over, but the new administration has sent signals it intends to stay wired.

If Obama could motivate young people to step away from the keyboards and vote, maybe he could ask them to volunteer, or tutor, or recycle.

All that modern technology could be used to revive a very old-fashioned value, civic responsibility. As John F. Kennedy said, "what you can do for your country."

Government health experts have a new way to try to stay ahead of flu outbreaks across the country. Just Google it.

A new site, Google.org/flutrends, keeps track of search terms like "flu symptoms" or "muscle aches" and produces a map highlighting places where more people are downloading flu information.

A check of the site today shows flu activity is low in most of the nation, but a little higher in Mississippi, Maine, Delaware and Hawaii.

Google thinks it can detect regional outbreaks a week to 10 days before they're reported to the CDC. Last winter, for example, there were more searches about the flu in mid Atlantic states two weeks before the government reported a spike in cases there.

Doctors say this could save lives. We can wash our hands more and take other precautions if we know flu is spreading. With 30 or 40 million case each year, that's nothing to sneeze at.

Daniel Sieberg is CBS News' science and technology correspondent.

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In the age of the Internet, it sometimes seems that nothing's private. But what if EVERYTHING - including gossip, name-calling, and slander - was fair game?

On some Web sites - particularly one popular with college students called JuicyCampus.com - that sort of thing is thriving. Anything goes.

Tonight, I'll take an in-depth look tonight at the Web Site that's giving plenty of college students - and their parents - nightmares.

For an early peek, just click below.

A lot of parents I know are worried about their kids and the Internet - and not just because of chat rooms or porn sites.

At Facebook, for example, you can opt to put an "honesty box" on your page, for anonymous insults from "friends."

Or consider Juicycampus.com, where college kids post anonymous gossip. For the rest of my Notebook, just click on the monitor.

As news broke that Pakistani opposition party leader Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated, supporters erupted in anger and tears, smashing the glass doors of Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Online, the emotion is just as palpable as Pakistanis vent fears and frustrations about the upcoming election and mourn the loss of a political icon who many are now calling a martyr.

Bhutto was a polarizing figure, loved by some and despised by others. As a blogger at Metroblogging Islamabad writes, “Bhutto was not perfect, but at least she was for a democratic process. Democracy once again dies with her.”

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In the latest entry to his PC Answer column, CBSNews.com's Larry Magid says that having the kids home for the Summer is a mixed blessing. He warns that instead of spending the warm Summer months outsides, kids are tempted to spend much of their newfound free time surfing the Internet.

So what's a parent to do? Larry has a few suggestions:

The vast majority of U.S. homes with children now have a broadband connection, which means it's easy for kids to go online to check and update their profiles on MySpace, Facebook and other social networks or to surf the web and exchange instant messages with friends. There is nothing wrong with any of these activities as long as they're done in moderation and with reasonable safety guidelines. To that end, kids should be reminded to:

Be careful what they post: Avoid posting provocative or sexually suggestive photos, avoid personal information that could allow a stranger to contact them, as well as anything that could prove embarrassing now or in the future.

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This week, we've been reporting on internet addiction on the CBS Evening News. And a leading authority tells us we have to especially concerned about our kids. How can we keep them from drowning when they surf the web?

Click the monitor to find out.