Over the summer, iAdvance released a study purporting to demonstrate that regions of the country served by non-Bell carriers -- those with no long-distance restrictions -- tend to enjoy more high-speed Internet backbone interconnection points.

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Game players tend to be early adapters of any new technology, from specialized high-speed graphics chip sets to surround-sound computer speakers, that promises a more complete immersion in the virtual world.

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Of course when the emergency fades, these conditions disappear, and leaders tend to revert back to business-as-usual behaviors, with far less speed, action, and innovation.

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