New federal funding will improve Ohio broadband. TOT applauded the recent announcement of $795 million in federal grants and loans for increased broadband deployment, including a significant award in Ohio. [Ohio Tech Bits Blog]

More broadband:
Ohio Middle Mile Consortium partner awarded $30 million for broadband stimulus grant. [Ohio Middle Mile Consortium]
Sen. Brown Announces $30 Million to Expand Broadband Infrastructure in Ohio. [Senator Sherrod Brown]
Firm to boost broadband access around Dayton. [Dayton Business Journal]

AT&T picks Akron for $120 million high-tech center. AT&T has chosen Akron to house its ninth mobility center in the country — an investment of $120 million in high-tech equipment. [Akron Beacon Journal]

Expanding the Role of IT: Compellent Technologies. [IT Martini]

Gaps Persist in Evaluation Systems for E-Government Initiatives. [Government Technology]

What’s Behind Twitter’s 800 Million Daily Searches? Twitter’s executives have been touting the number of searches done in their system — a whopping 800 million every day. But what does this figure actually mean? [Digits (Wall Street Journal)]

Broadband use grows in Ohio. Connect Ohio said this week that the number of households in the state with computers rose 4 percent over last year and 9 percent compared to 2008. Broadband use grew even faster– up 6.5 percent over last year and 20 percent compared to 2008. [The Columbus Dispatch, ConnectOhio]

Indians use broadband to reach fans. The Cleveland Indians are using a new section of seats with Wi-Fi connections to reach out to fans who want to blog, Facebook and Tweet during games this season at Progressive Field. [(OH) Broadband in the News]

IT Martini Hour 11 Wrap-Up + PICS. [IT Martini]

Special Report: The end of Apple’s iPod era. After years of serving as Apple’s main source of revenue, the iPod’s influence on the company’s financial health has diminished to the point of being effectively irrelevant as a revenue driver, marking an end to the ‘iPod era.’ [AppleInsider]

Apple Speaks on the Matter of the ‘Death Grip’. [Gadgetwise (NY Times Blog)]

Letter from Apple Regarding iPhone 4. [Apple]

Facebook Changes App Permissions, But Critics Say It’s Not Enough. [Digits (Wall Street Journal)]

CallCopy chief wins entrepreneur award. Raymond Bohac, the CEO of CallCopy, is among the winners of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards for south central Ohio and Kentucky. [Business First of Columbus via TechLife Columbus]

Have a happy and fun Fourth of July!

2010 Ohio Interactive Awards. Apr. 29 at the Arena Grand Movie Theatre, in Columbus’ Arena District.  [Ohio Interactive Awards]

E-lessons could keep Ohio students busy on snow days. [Ohio Tech Bits Blog]

One More Time! Ohio clinches fourth consecutive Site Selection’s annual Governor’s Cup award for states with the most new or expanded private-sector capital projects. [Site Selection Magazine]

Campaign effort for Ohio’s Third Frontier bond issue to emphasize jobs. [Crain's Cleveland Business]

What the iPad Release Means for Apple. [Digits (Wall Street Journal)]

Twitter Passes 10 Billion Tweets. The speed with which the tweet milestone was reached, however, does indicate that Twitter is still growing. [Digits Wall Street Journal)]

NorTech Innovation Awards 2010. Winners: View Ray, InSet Systems, NASA Glenn Research Center, Absorbent Materials, Kent Displays, MesoCoat, RSP Tooling, Catacel Corp., Cleveland State University, Parker Hannifin, Tremont Electric. [Crain's Cleveland Business]

MobileX Marks the Spot. [IT Martini]

Smart Grid Technology: What is it all about? March 10 at FirstEnergy Corporation. [NorTech]

Reminder: NorTech Innovation Awards 2010. Feb. 24 at the LaCentre Conference and Banquet Facility in Westlake. Keynote speaker: Harry Shimp Jr. [NorTech/Crain's Cleveland Business] 

IT Martini: Congrats Columbus. Coverage of the 2009 TechColumbus Innovation Awards. [IT Martini]

Google launches Buzz… [Google]

…Raises privacy concerns. [NY Times Tech Blog]

Bloggers and tweeters take the 2010 Games global. Blogs, Facebook and Twitter streams are considered non-journalistic outlets of personal expression, but there are restrictions. [Vancouver Sun]

Ohio Energy Gateway Fund announced. The fund is a $40 million commitment of Advanced Energy Stimulus funds from the Ohio Jobs Stimulus Plan and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act State Energy Program funds. [Ohio Department of Development]

Ohio Senate passes telecom reform. On a vote of 29-3, the Senate passed the Ohio Telecom Modernization Act of 2009. [Ohio Tech Bits Blog]

TOT applauds Senate vote on Telecom Modernization Act. TOT Executive Director Scott Schweitzer called on the Ohio House to take action on its companion bill. [Ohio Tech Bits Blog]

Twitter Disrupted By Web Attack. Twitter was the target of a cyberattack Thursday that disrupted its microblogging service for many users. [NY Times Tech Blog]

Q&A: “Chief Evangelist” preaches the virtues of a revived Youngstown. [hiVelocity, h/t Advance Northeast Ohio]

Mobile-Payment Services Grow. A handful of mobile-payment start-ups are gaining support from major finance players. [Digits (Wall Street Journal)]

Another One Bites the Dust: 2009 Year in REVIEW. Five IT Martini events were thrown in Columbus and Cincinnati this year, which raised a grand total of $8500 for charity. [IT Martini]

Report touts Third Frontier successes. [Business First of Columbus]

Support telecom reform. The Ohio State Senate is considering the Ohio Telecom Modernization Act of 2009 (SB 162 and HB 276). Click here to take action. [Ohio Tech Bits Blog]

Register for the 2009 TechColumbus Innovation Awards. Event pricing for individuals is $129/TechColumbus member, $169/non-member through Dec. 31; $199/member, $249/non-member after Dec. 31. [Ohio Tech Bits Blog]

How the iPhone Could Reboot Education. [Wired.com]

Yahoo Adds Twitter to Search Results. Yahoo, following similar moves by Bing and Google, began adding Twitter updates to some search results this week. [Digits (Wall Street Journal)]

IT Martini Hour 8 Wrap Up + PICS. [IT Martini]

Facebook’s Privacy Changes Draw More Scrutiny. [NY Times Tech Blog]

Ohio Business Roundtable endorses renewal of Third Frontier. [Dayton Daily News]