After nearly a week of hype, I regret to inform you that the interview with Jonathan Sasse, the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Slacker, has been postponed due to illness. Expect to see the interview sometime next week. In the mean time…

Worldwide access to the Internet has passed a major milestone last December. According to a new poll by comScore, the so-called “global Internet audience” over the age of fifteen has officially past the one billion user mark. The Asian/Pacific region is by far the most “wired,” with 41.3% of its residents reporting that they have regular access to the Internet. China leads the “country” charts, coming in with 179.7 million users, or 13.5% of its country’s population. By comparison, runner up United States has 163.3 million users, or 53.74% of the population, online. ComScore is also reporting that Google is the world’s favorite site, clocking in 776 million unique hits.

Sticking with China for a moment, the controversial nation will be expanding their online censorship efforts in the near future. According to State Council Information Office deputy director Liu Zhengrong, the latest rash of censorship is simply to “protect its citizens from harm.” Human rights activists, however, believe that the government is trying to silence critics of China’s Communist regime. Not surprisingly, Deputy Liu doesn’t see it that way. “[The censorship is] aimed at creating a healthy Internet environment for all young people and making the Internet in China safer and more reliable… We will not abandon efforts to clean up the Internet environment under any circumstances.”

In other news, it seems as if Microsoft is interested in accquiring the Yahoo search engine. Published reports suggest the deal is due in part to the business-related relationship between Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer and new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz. Many within the industry believe the deal is to artifically “bulk up” Redmond’s own search properties, which are not necessarily in the best shape right now. As fans of the Free Line already know, this is not the first time a Yahoo/Microsoft merger has been discussed. The details of the offer has not been made public at this time.

Elsewhere, YouTube users can now toggle between the standard and enhanced video presentations simply by clicking a button. The new option is located in the menu box in the lower right hand corner. While the higher quality videos have been available for a few months, users who wanted to take advantage of the improved clips had to add a few extra commands into the address bar. The new, easier to use option is available now for all videos that have the “higher quality” settings enabled.

And finally: Consumer watchdog oganization the Better Business Bureau has issued a warning focusing on the various scammers and con artists that inhabit Facebook. “Scammers know that they can take advantage of [social networks] by masquerading as friends, families, and coworkers in order to easily disseminate viruses or steal personal information such as bank or credit card numbers,” says BBB spokesman Steve Cox. While phishing is the most common attack, Facebook scammers have been known to diseminate everything from fake “help me” messages to malware. According to Mr. Cox, the best defense against the black arts of the web is a highly effective combination of vigalence, research, and old-fashioned common sense.