America Online is applying its clout to the world of podcasting. Its AOL.com portal will attract audiences to the increasingly popular medium with original programs, repurposed audio content and powerful search capabilities brought together under the rubric of Podcasting 101. The main page will highlight the 11 most popular podcasts along with a few others chosen by the service's editors. Among those being showcased are content from CNN, KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" and Harry Shearer's "Le Show," the BBC's "Today" and "From Our Own Correspondent," Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica," AOL's own "SportsBloggersLive" and Michael Geoghegan's "Reel Reviews." AOL Music and AOL Radio executive director of music industry relations Jack Isquith said Moviefone's "Unscripted" was a good example of existing programming that he expected to do well as a podcast. "No one's really the interviewer, no one's really the interviewee," he said. "Two of the stars involved in a movie just talk to each other. It's perfect for podcasting. That was created not with podcasting in mind but is a great extension."
Gartner's latest worldwide IT spending forecast exposes a trend every CIO has already felt in budget negotiations. Total spending will climb 14.2 percent in 2026, reaching $6.37 trillion. It seems that the IT infrastructure market is simply having a strong year. However, the more useful insight is how unevenly that growth is distributed. The Headline Number vs. The Real Story Data center systems and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) are absorbing capital at a pace several multiples faster than devices, communications services, and traditional IT services. This is not incremental growth spread across a healthy portfolio. It is a wholesale reallocation of enterprise technology budgets toward AI infrastructure, made on the expectation that demand for AI workloads will justify the outlay before that demand has been fully proven. Where the Money is Going Data center systems are forecast to grow 62.5 percent in 2026, that's up from 51.6 percent growth in 2025, reaching $822 billion....