SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bill being considered by the House. It would expand law enforcement’s authority to fight the online sale of counterfeit products, as well as the trafficking of bootleg movies and music. PIPA is the Protect IP Act, the Senate’s version of the same bill. Wikipedia, as well as other sites like Reddit, are going dark to drum up opposition to those bills, in part because they feel they could be in violation of what the new laws would establish. Also, Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang has resigned from the company’s board of directors. It could be a sign the company is about to be sold.

24 million accounts at Zappos.com have been hacked, according to notifications sent out to customers. According to the online shoe retailer, which is owned by Amazon.com, no credit card information was stolen, instead it was personal data like names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails, as well as the last four digits of a credit card number (traditionally used for verification).

Is Google’s new search system illegal and an invasion of privacy? The company’s social networking tool Google+ is getting very prominent placement in Google’s recently revamped search results, and some aren’t happy about it. It begs to question: What is it positioning itself to be — a portal to somewhere else or a destination in and of itself? Also, a $10 million prize is being offered for anyone who can invent a real live tricorder, like the one used on “Star Trek.”

The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, is a proposed law that would basically block access to websites that feature or distribute copyrighted content without permission. Hollywood loves the rule. The Internet community hates it. Reddit.com says it’ll black-out its site on Jan. 18th to protest the legislation. Wikipedia is considering doing the same. If other major sites follow, it could make an impact.

This week’s CES is a showcase of products, but there’s one company out there who wants you to make your own. Makerbot is the latest in 3D printing, a technology that is still quite expensive but also beginning to become more mainstream. Also at CES, there’s the major effort and investment being put in to keep you amused — screens are becoming more ubiquitous in modern life, and companies are trying to find ways to keep up with it.

Cars didn’t used to have much in the way of electronics. There were gears, sure. There were carburetors and pistons and belts. But there weren’t a lot of computers until the last several years. The cars of tomorrow, however, will likely make the computerized  cars of today look like Model Ts by comparison.

All the companies have talked it over and they’ve decided that your TV is really pretty stupid. I know, I know, it hurts to hear that. Everyone likes to think that their TV is some kind of precocious genius. According to the electronics company, your TV just doesn’t measure up. Don’t take it personally, they feel that way about a lot of TVs.

The Consumer Electronics Show is underway in Las Vegas and there will be plenty of hype and hooey regarding a zillion new tech products being displayed. Some of the products already being talked about: ultrabooks and iPod thermostats.

With a near first-place finish in Iowa, Rick Santorum has a lot more name recognition going in to New Hampshire than many would have expected from him a few weeks ago. Many people who haven’t been following the former Pennsylvania senator very closely may be unfamiliar with him and, given his recent success and fame, may be tempted to go to Google and try to find more about him by searching “Santorum.” The results may surprise. Also in the show, the classic video game Flight Simulator is back.