- Syria violence kills over 40 AMMAN (Reuters) - Security forces killed over 40 people in Syria on Friday, activists and residents said, as people in Homs mourned 14 members of a family they said were slain by militiamen in one of the worst sectarian attacks in a 10-month revolt.
- Libyan commander says will retake Bani Walid SADADA, Libya (Reuters) - A militia commander whose troops were driven out of the Libyan tribal stronghold of Bani Walid this week said on Friday that his forces were massing to recapture the town but were holding back at the government's request.
- Sudan says to release ships seized from South Sudan ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Sudan will free ships carrying cargos of crude it seized from South Sudan to ease tensions between the two countries, Sayed El-Khatib, deputy head of negotiating team said on Saturday.
- Egypt plans to send delegation to U.S. as NGO furor mounts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Egyptian military team plans to visit the United States next week as Cairo's crackdown on pro-democracy organizations has called into question the future of U.S. aid to Egypt, American officials said on Friday.
- Five dead in poll violence in India's Manipur state GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - Five people were killed in election related violence in India's isolated, northeastern state of Manipur, police said on Saturday.
- Strong quake jolts eastern Japan, no tsunami warning TOKYO (Reuters) - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 jolted eastern Japan on Saturday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage and no tsunami warning was issued.
- Protests sweep through Senegal after poll ruling DAKAR (Reuters) - Street protests spread through towns across Senegal overnight on Saturday after a top legal body said President Abdoulaye Wade had the right to run for a third term in elections next month.
- Cuban Communists to consider term limits for leaders HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's Communist Party will consider reforms this weekend that could impose term limits on its leaders in what would be a striking change on an island that Fidel Castro ruled for 49 years and was succeeded by his brother.
- Boko Haram leader tape threatens Nigeria forces KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) - In an audio tape posted on the Internet, the purported leader of the violent Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram threatened to kill more security personnel and kidnap their families, and accused U.S. President Barack Obama of waging war on Islam.
- Iran hits back at EU with own oil embargo threat TEHRAN (Reuters) - Fighting sanctions with sanctions in a test of strength with the West over its nuclear ambitions, Iran warned on Friday it may halt oil exports to Europe next week in a move calculated to hurt ailing European economies.
- Close Ties to Goldman Enrich Romney’s Public and Privat... Goldman Sachs, which manages Mitt Romney’s family’s fortune, is also his largest source of campaign contributions.
- No More Nice Guys: Fans Love ‘Nuclear Newt’ The qualities of the bombastic, take-no-prisoners candidate are the same ones opponents cite in concluding that Newt Gingrich is too hot-headed and undisciplined to win the nomination.
- Syria Armed Force Helps Rebels Gain Ground The growing assertiveness of a loosely organized force in Syria hinted at the expanding role of the armed opposition in a movement that began peacefully more than 10 months ago.
- When Twitter Blocks Tweets, It’s #Outrage Twitter’s announcement that it would agree to block certain messages in countries where they were deemed illegal prompted outcry, argument and even calls for a boycott.
- Azarenka Wins Australian Open Women's Title Victoria Azarenka beat Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 Saturday to win the Australian Open and take over the women’s No. 1 ranking.
- Wildlife Activists Follow Lone Wolf’s Trek Into California The young male, tracked with a GPS unit, is believed to be the first gray wolf in California in decades, raising hopes that the endangered species may once again thrive there.
- Many Pardon Applicants Stressed Connection to Mississippi... A look at the clemency applications of felons who were pardoned reveal that many contained personal appeals from friends of Gov. Haley Barbour and major Republican donors.
- The Welsh Economy Slips, but London Cushions the Fall The British government’s so-called money transfers prop up its poorer regions, keeping them from the kind of collapse suffered in euro zone nations like Greece.
- Latin America Sees Own Past in West’s Economic Crises After years of hearing lectures on fiscal prudence from the West, many in Latin America are left with bewilderment, and even a little schadenfreude, at the West’s problems.
- Growth Accelerates, but U.S. Has Lots of Ground to Make Up Whether the American economy, which grew last quarter at its fastest pace in a year and a half, can sustain that momentum is critical to millions of people out of work.
- UN discusses Syrian resolution as violence continues The UN Security Council met behind closed doors Friday to discuss a European-Arab draft resolution on Syria.
- 12 dead, 17 missing in Rio building collapse Rescue workers feverishly dug through the wreckage of three buildings in downtown Rio de Janeiro Friday, hunting for survivors of a collapse that killed at least 12 people and left 17 more missing.
- Philippines eyes US military ties, not bases The Philippines would conduct more joint military drills with the US, and not bring back the American military bases.
- US economy grows 2.8% in Q4 The US economy increased 2.8 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2011, the fastest pace of the year.
- Bomb attack in Baghdad kills 24 At least 24 people were killed when a bomb exploded near a Baghdad marketplace on Friday in the latest attack on a mainly Shi'ite neighbourhood since a political crisis erupted in December.
- Iran remains defiant despite mounting pressure Despite mounting political and economic pressure, Iranian officials have maintained a defiant tone on European and US threats of more sanctions.
- Romney, Gingrich face off in debate Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich exchanged fires Thursday night in the final debate before the Florida primary.
- Pentagon cuts reshape military, trim costs The Pentagon unveiled a 2013 budget plan that would cut $487 billion in spending over the next decade by eliminating nearly 100,000 ground troops, mothballing ships and trimming air squadrons.
- AL chief to go to UN over Syria Chief of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al- Thani will go to United Nations Saturday for support of an Arab initiative.
- Greece confident of debt swap deal Greece appeared confident of a positive outcome over a Greek debt swap deal by the weekend, as crucial talks with private creditors aiming to avert a devastating default were due to resume.
- Police make arrests, raid offices of News International Four arrests have been made in connection with allegations of inappropriate payments to police, London's Metropolitan Police Service said Saturday, with a police officer among those detained.
- Call for EU to control Greek budget The German government wants Greece to cede sovereignty over tax and spending decisions to a eurozone "budget commissioner" to secure a second ?130bn bail-out, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by the Financial Times.
- Portugal to give $2 billion in aid to Madeira, leader says Portugal signed an agreement to grant $2 billion in aid to Madeira to enable it to meet its social and financial obligations, the island's officials announced.
- Bahrain government refutes claims over protester deaths Bahrain's government has refuted opposition claims that security officers were responsible for the deaths of anti-government protesters, saying they died of natural causes.
- Shipwreck hunters stumble across mysterious find Deep down on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, Swedish treasure hunters think they have made the find of a lifetime.
- Death toll rises as hopes fade in Brazil buildings collapse The death toll in the collapse of three buildings in Rio de Janeiro rose to 15 Friday night as rescuers found two more bodies, state media reported.
- Tribal clashes kill at least 7 in Kenya Clashes between two tribes in northern Kenya left at least seven people dead this week, a local government official said Saturday.
- Sandusky asks judge to let him visit with his grandchildren Despite being accused of child sex abuse, Jerry Sandusky is asking a judge to modify the terms of his bail so he can see his grandchildren, according to court documents.
- Iran's envoy to IAEA is hopeful on eve of nuclear watchdo... Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday he is hopeful that the recent planned visit by representatives of the nuclear watchdog will "resolve any ambiguity and show (our) transparency and cooperation with the agency."
- Etta James funeral set for Saturday The funeral for Etta James, the legendary singer whose earthy vocals bridged genres from blues to rock, was set for Saturday at a Southern California cemetery, the family said.
- Ghada denies wearing the hijab Egyptian actress Ghada
Abd Al Raziq denied rumors that she has worn the Islamic headdress Hijab after
a photo of her wearing the hijab and reading the holy Quran was circulated over
the internet. Once the photo was circulated, Ghada denied wearing the hijab and
© 2012 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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- Diet forbids Summaya from accepting new roles Egyptian actress
Summaya Al Khashab has revealed that she turned down numerous offers to star in
different television dramas in order to continue a strict regime she is
currently on. Summaya stated she intends to lose at least 20 kilos to return to
© 2012 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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- Yara’s fans criticize Fadel Shaker Lebanese singer Yara’s fans were the first to criticize recent
insulting statements made against her and other singers by Lebanese singer
Fadel Shaker. In a recent interview Fadel said that Yara is like other singers,
© 2012 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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- Saber Ribaee in grand finale of Arab Idol Tunisian singer Saber Ribaee will be the guest of honor on the
final episode of the popular talent show Arab Idol, to be aired on the Arab
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- Over 100 dead in Syria clashes At least 102 people were killed Friday in clashes across Syria. For the first time since the anti-regime protests started in mid-March 2011, at least 12 people were killed in riots in Aleppo, Syria's second largest city.
Among the dead were also women and children, said activists.
However, most of the dead were reported in the cities of Hama and Homs.
© 2012 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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- At least 28 dead in Baghdad attack In an attack Friday on a funeral ceremony near a hospital in the Iraqi capital Baghdad at least 28 people have been killed. About 50 people were injured, said a doctor at the hospital. According to eyewitnesses, a suicide bomber in a car blew himself up.
The funeral was held for an Iraqi man, his wife and son who were killed yesterday in the predominantly Sunni Yarmouk district of the capital.
© 2012 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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- Home users to drive major demand for tablets
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- Syria: Over 30 dead as regimes slams Arab regimes At least 34 civilians, including ten children, were killed Thursday by security forces in Syria, according to Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR).
In addition, seven or eight army deserters were killed Thursday in clashes, including a colonel in Homs, the London-based organization.
In Homs, government forces launched an offensive on Thursday night at the district of Karm al-Zeitoun, killing 26 civilians, including nine children, and leaving dozens injured.
© 2012 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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- Dubai airports top 51m passengers but 2012 looks a toughe... Dubai airports handled a record 51 million passengers in 2011, up eight percent on the previous year. But cargo volume fell 1.5 percent to 2.2 million tons as the global economy slowed down.
Many passengers use Dubai as a transit airport for onward destinations with the government-owned Emirates Airline offering the world’s largest longhaul flight network.
New A380 concourse
Copyright 2012 Peter John Cooper All rights reserved
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- Power problems in Lebanon There has been a national outcry, from the south to the north, over the latest electricity problems. People are fed up with the promises and excuses of their leaders regarding an issue that is so vital to their livelihoods.
Copyright © 2012, The Daily Star. All rights reserved.
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- TEEN FICTION: 'Talent In New York'
This is a regular column featuring original fiction by and for high school students, provided by Figment.com, an online community writing site for young people.Lindsey Grant.I barely recognized her, but she wasn't washed up; not quite, not completely. The scuffs on her shoes were telling, but she wasn't nearly as far gone as the rest of the girls that came to see Roger.Read More...
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- High School Graduation: Four Students Discuss Obstacles T...
This is a teen-written article from our friends at Youth Communication, a nonprofit organization that helps marginalized youth develop their full potential through reading and writing.Rafiat, 19, says that five years from now, she hopes to be âheading into my first year of getting my masterâs degree.â She hasnât always been as committed to education. After several years of cutting school, she moved to Texas, caught up, and is now finishing her final semester in Brooklyn, New York. She will graduate in June.Matthew, 21, fell behind in school, but caught up just in time. The age limit for New York high school students is 21, and Matthew will graduate in June. He hopes to become a chef, a lawyer, or a child psychologist.Read More...
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- Mary-Pat Hector: Teen Impact: Finalist #6 I created a national campaign, Shake Off Violence, beginning with a 90-day ceasefire. The purpose of the campaign is to raise public awareness about youth violence and to promote peace.
- Imran Cronk: Teen Impact: Finalist #7 If more people my age are empowered to impact the world for the better by being given positions of leadership and responsibility, we will form a tidal wave of change and social good.
- Antara Afrin: Music Makes Us Who We Are Everyone should be allowed to seek their story through their music, be it rap or country -- it is still a way of expressing ourselves.
- Kevin White Dead: Former Boston Mayor Dies At 82
BOSTON — Former Mayor Kevin H. White, who led the city for 16 years including racially turbulent times in the 1970s and was credited with putting it on a path to prosperity, died Friday, a family spokesman said. He was 82.White, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2003, died peacefully at his Boston home surrounded by his family, spokesman and friend George Regan said.Read More...
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- Sarah Costa: Pregnant and Displaced: Double the Danger It's time we all step up our efforts to ensure that women everywhere can decide freely if and when they want to have children, that all mothers can deliver their babies safely and services are available for women who have suffered violence.
- Alona Elkayam: Icon of the Day: In Search of Lost Time Wi... While Woody focuses on the idea that every generation thinks the previous generation was simpler, Ms. Stern focuses on something less debatable: Lost time. All Ms. Stern wants is for us to put our iPhones down.
- Nancy Pelosi Lays Plan To Regain House Speakership
Washington -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is predicting that Democrats will recapture the House in November, a move that could open the possibility of the San Francisco Democrat regaining the speakership and becoming the first politician to return to that office after a defeat since Texas Democrat Sam Rayburn in 1955.Pelosi, 71, needs a net gain of 25 Democrats nationwide, a goal she calls her "Drive for 25." She has predicted gains as large as 35, produced in part by a Democratic romp through California, where the redrawing of legislative districts by a nonpartisan citizens commission promises the biggest shakeup in the state's congressional delegation in two decades, along with gains in Texas, New York, Illinois and Florida.Read More...
- Shakil Afridi, Pakistani Doctor, Provided Key Information...
WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is acknowledging publicly for the first time that a Pakistani doctor provided key information to the U.S. in advance of the successful Navy SEAL assault on Osama bin Laden's compound last May.Panetta told CBS's "60 Minutes," in a profile to be broadcast on Sunday, that Shakil Afridi helped provide intelligence for the raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.Read More...
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- Tibet protester tells China cops: Come get me A young man posts his photo with a leaflet demanding freedom for Tibet and telling Chinese police, come and get me. When they arrive, neighbors rise up to defend him.
- UN weighs action on Syria The Security Council began closed-door negotiations Friday on a new Arab-European draft resolution aimed at resolving the crisis in Syria, but Russia's envoy said he could not back the current language as it stands.
- Warm socks sent to North Korea by balloon South Korean activists sent warm socks and messages of love attached to balloons toward North Korea Saturday, according to the AFP news agency.
- Poll ruling sparks street clashes in Senegal Protesters hurled rocks at police who retaliated with tear gas in Senegal's capital Dakar on Friday after a top legal body said President Abdoulaye Wade could seek a third term.
- France wants faster NATO Afghanistan exit France and Afghanistan agree NATO should speed up by a year its timetable for handing all combat operations to Afghan forces in 2013, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday, raising new questions about the unity of the Western military alliance.
- Sources: No rescue planned for kidnapped American U.S. officials say they have no plans for now to try to rescue an American hostage kidnapped over the weekend by Somali pirates.
- Wrecked cruise ship passengers offered $14,460 Passengers who were on the Costa Concordia are being offered $14,460 apiece to compensate them for their lost baggage and psychological trauma after the cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany.
- Holocaust remembered across the world The world marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday. In Great Britain there was a promise never to forget the genocide at Auschwitz during World War II.
- Australia PM reunited with shoe lost at protest Julia Gillard is on firm footing again. A blue suede shoe that she lost during a protest by aboriginal-rights activists has been returned.
- Barrier proposed as Israel border? Israel is proposing to essentially turn its West Bank separation barrier into the border with a future state of Palestine, two Palestinian officials said Friday, based on their interpretation of principles Israel presented in talks this week.
- Selling the ‘Supply-Side’ Myth Exclusive: Any rational assessment of America’s economic troubles would identify Ronald Reagan’s reckless “supply-side” economics as a chief culprit, but that hasn’t stopped Republican presidential hopefuls, led by Newt Gingrich, from selling this discredited theory to a gullible GOP base, reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Despite Newt Gingrich’s claim that “supply-side” economic theories have “worked,” the truth is that America’s three-decade experiment with low tax rates on the...
- Whitewashing History in Arizona The dispute over Arizona’s shutting down of ethnic studies programs that cite white exploitation of Chicano and Indian communities has focused on the impact on Mexican-American children, but the new policy also affects students from Native American communities, as Bill Means explains to Dennis J. Bernstein. By Dennis J. Bernstein Arizona is closing public school ethnic studies programs that accuse whites of oppressing Chicanos and Native Americans on the grounds that these historical lessons...
- Arizona Shuts Mexican Studies Classes Amid Arizona’s crackdown on people of Mexican descent, state officials are closing down Mexican-American studies programs and banning history books that tell of white oppression against Native Americans and Chicanos, a topic that Dennis J. Bernstein discussed with author Rodolfo Acuña. By Dennis J. Bernstein Dr. Rodolfo Acuña — author, educator, historian and social activist — has been on the front lines in the battle over Arizona’s banning of books on Chicano history and the...
- What Kind of Christianity Is This? Though founded by a pacifist, Christianity has justified some of the most brutal slaughters in human history, from the wars of the late Roman Empire to the Crusades to the Inquisition to world wars to genocides against “heathens,” Muslims and Jews. Yet, Gary G. Kohls says the essence of Christianity can still be reclaimed. By Gary G. Kohls From time to time, I read about condemnations of religion coming from non-religious groups, especially concerning the all-too-common violence perpetrated in...
- US/Israel: Iran NOT Building Nukes Exclusive: Recent comments by U.S and Israeli military leaders indicate that the intelligence services of the two countries agree that Iran has not decided to build a nuclear bomb, a crack in the Western narrative that the U.S. press corps won’t accept, as ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern explains. By Ray McGovern Has Iran decided to build a nuclear bomb? That would seem to be the central question in the current bellicose debate over whether the world should simply cripple Iran’s economy and...
- The Ever-Revolving Revolving Door The Wall Street banks may have crawled back from the cliff of 2008 – and may have trimmed their bonuses a bit as they adjust to a more austere America – but they still get to place ex-employees in key government jobs, close to the ear of power, as Bill Moyers and Michael Winship note. By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship We’ve already made our choice for the best headline of the year, so far: “Citigroup Replaces JPMorgan as White House Chief of Staff.” When we saw it on the website...
- The Fiscally Reckless Mitch Daniels Exclusive: Delivering the GOP rebuttal to President Obama’s State of the Union, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is hailed as a “fiscal conservative,” but his actual record as George W. Bush’s budget director was one of fiscal recklessness, taking America from surpluses to massive deficits, as Robert Parry reports. By Robert Parry The Republican Party has tapped Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to deliver the response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address – and the hearts of Official...
- Reagan’s Hand in Guatemala’s Genocide Exclusive: Guatemala has begun a politically difficult process to make human rights violators of the 1980s accountable for their crimes, including genocide inflicted on Indian villages, but the United States still heaps praise on the killers’ chief American accomplice, Ronald Reagan, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Guatemala is taking steps to hold an ex-dictator accountable for genocide committed against Maya-Ixil Indians in the 1980s, even as the United States continues to honor...
- Spanish Front in War on Truth Those who want true democracy favor a well-informed public, but those who simply want power understand that a smart electorate is a dangerous thing, so they seek out and destroy truth-tellers, as is now happening to a crusading judge in Spain, as Lawrence Davidson reports. By Lawrence Davidson Among the numerous wars that are perennially being waged worldwide is the one between truth-tellers and those who would suppress the truth. I have alluded to this war in prior analyses that took up the...
- UK Silences Iran’s Press TV During the Iraq War, the U.S. took aim at AlJazeera. Now, as the information wars heat up between the West and Iran, British regulators have ordered Iran’s Press TV off the air, a move that Danny Schechter says further limits public information about the next looming crisis. By Danny Schechter The British media regulator OFCOM has pulled Press TV’s license to be seen in the United Kingdom, the same regulator that has done so little to police the methods of Rupert Murdoch’s media practices or...
- iPhone 4S's Siri Is a Bandwidth Guzzler
Frankie70 writes "'Siri's dirty little secret is that she's a bandwidth guzzler, the digital equivalent of a 10-miles-per-gallon Hummer H1.' A study by Arieso shows that users of the iPhone 4S demand three times as much data as iPhone 3G users and twice as much as iPhone 4 users, who were identified as the most demanding in a 2010 study. 'In all, Arieso says that the Siri-equipped iPhone 4S "appears to unleash data consumption behaviors that have no precedent."'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Android Malware May Have Infected 5 Million Users
bonch writes "A massive Android malware campaign may be responsible for duping as many as 5 million users into downloading the Android.Counterclan infection from the Google Android Market. The trojan collects the user's personal information, modifies the home page, and displays unwanted advertisements. It is packaged in 13 different applications, some of which have been on the store for at least a month. Several of the malicious apps are still available on the Android Market as of 3 P.M. ET. Symantec has posted the full list of infected applications."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Sea Water Could Cause Uranium Pollution From Nuclear Fuel...
New submitter Required Snark writes "UC Davis researchers have found a mechanism where the sodium in sea water can cause uranium nano-particles to be released from nuclear reactor fuel rods. Normally the uranium oxide compounds composing the rods are very resistant to leaching into water. This could have serious consequences for the Fukushima disaster, since sea water was used for emergency cooling."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- How Allan Scherr Hacked Around the First Computer Password
New submitter MikeatWired writes "If you're like most people, you're annoyed by passwords. So who's to blame? Who invented the computer password? They probably arrived at MIT in the mid-1960s, when researchers built a massive time-sharing computer called CTSS. Technology changes. But, then again, it doesn't, writes Bob McMillan. Twenty-five years after the fact, Allan Scherr, a Ph.D. researcher at MIT in the early '60s, came clean about the earliest documented case of password theft. In the spring of 1962, Scherr was looking for a way to bump up his usage time on CTSS. He had been allotted four hours per week, but it wasn't nearly enough time to run the detailed performance simulations he'd designed for the new computer system. So he simply printed out all of the passwords stored on the system. 'There was a way to request files to be printed offline by submitting a punched card,' he remembered in a pamphlet (PDF) written last year to commemorate the invention of the CTSS. 'Late one Friday night, I submitted a request to print the password files and very early Saturday morning went to the file cabinet where printouts were placed and took the listing.' To spread the guilt around, Scherr then handed the passwords over to other users. One of them — J.C.R. Licklieder — promptly started logging into the account of the computer lab's director Robert Fano, and leaving 'taunting messages' behind."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- January 28 is Data Privacy Day
An anonymous reader writes "A bit early, but just a reminder that January 28 is international Data Privacy Day in the U.S., Canada, and many European countries. Various events are being held around the globe: the head of the FTC opened a weekend forum on the topic by calling out Facebook and Google, the Ontario Privacy Commissioner is holding a symposium on 'Surveillance by Design', and of course Google recently announced they'll be tracking you more thoroughly in the future."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Mars-Bound Probe Serves As Radiation Guinea Pig
sighted writes "This week's huge solar storm will benefit future astronauts, thanks to the rover Curiosity, now on its way to Mars. The rover is equipped with an instrument that measures the radiation exposure that could affect a human astronaut en route to the Red Planet. Scientists are just starting to pore over the data from the blast of particles. Don't worry about the poor robotic geologist, though: 'No harmful effects to the Mars Science Laboratory have been detected from this solar event,' says NASA."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- USPTO Declares Invalid Third of Three Critical Rambus Pat...
slew writes "This is a followup to this earlier story about 2 of 3 of Rambus's 'critical' patents being invalidated. Apparently now it's a hat-trick."
There's something that seems unsavory and wasteful about a business environment in which a company's stock value "fluctuates sharply on its successes and failures in patent litigation and licensing." The linked article offers a brief but decent summary of the way Rambus has profited over the years from these now-invalidated patents.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- White House Chief Technology Officer Steps Down
New submitter Krazy Kanuck writes "The White House is running a story on their OSTP blog that Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra is stepping down after being appointed to the post by President Obama in 2009. There is some mention of him returning to his home state of Virginia, and the Washington Post suggests a possible bid for lieutenant governor."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- DARPA Funding a $50 Drone-Droppable Spy Computer
Sparrowvsrevolution writes "At the Shmoocon security conference, researcher Brendan O'Connor plans to present the F-BOMB, or Falling or Ballistically-launched Object that Makes Backdoors. Built from just the disassembled hardware in a commercially-available PogoPlug mini-computer, a few tiny antennae, eight gigabytes of flash memory and some 3D-printed plastic casing, the F-BOMB serves as 3.5"-by-4"-by-1" spy computer. With a contract from DARPA, O'Connor has designed the cheap gadgets to be spy nodes, ready to be dropped from a drone, plugged inconspicuously into a wall socket, (one model impersonates a carbon monoxide detector) thrown over a barrier, or otherwise put into irretrievable positions to quietly collect data and send it back to the owner over any available Wi-Fi network. O'Connor built his prototypes with gear that added up to just $46 each, so sacrificing one for a single use is affordable."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- North Star May Be Wasting Away
sciencehabit writes "The North Star, a celestial beacon to navigators for centuries, may be slowly shrinking, according to a new analysis of more than 160 years of observations. The data suggest that the familiar fixture in the northern sky is shedding an Earth's mass worth of gas each year."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Using bundles of PVC pipes to make motion-blurred sculptures Kang Duck-Bong is a Korean sculptor who makes pieces from bundled PVC pipes that appear to be in rapid motion. Disguise 1: pvc pipe, urethane paint, 90x28x55cm, 2011 (via Kottke)
- Lego Moleskine notebooks I already have a lifetime supply of notebooks, but I'll be buying these Lego Moleskines just in case there's a mortality cure coming down the pipes.
- Twitter, partnering with Chillingeffects.org, publishes a... From an article by Jake Brodkin at Ars Technica: "Twitter has taken the unusual step of making DMCA takedown notices public, in partnership with Chilling Effects, a project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and several universities. The site shows 4,410 cease and desist notices dating back to November 2010." Here's the database on Chillingeffects.org. (Twitter's effort [...]
- Nada Surf - "Waiting For Something" (MP3 download) Sound it Out # 15: Nada Surf "Waiting for Something" Nada Surf has been playing intelligent and catchy guitar-based rock music for two decades. Their records are lush and beautifully written, and the constant sense of wonder and optimism throughout is a joy for this cynic to discover each time. Nada Surf always makes me [...]
- EFF: "What Does Twitter’s Country-by-Country Takedown S... An explainer from Eva Galperin at the Electronic Frontier Foundation on Twitter's "country-based tweet takedown" news. The key point here, which has been missing in much of the initial coverage, is that the policy announcement is specifically related to the company's global expansion: Twitter is opening offices in more countries around the world. A US-based [...]
- Best practices for fair use in libraries Pat Aufderheide sez, When is it OK for me to put copyrighted material on e-reserves for students? I've got an ancient VHS and the company that made it is defunct. Can I copy it to DVD for a prof's class? A student's thesis analyzes advertisements and includes some of them. Can I put the thesis [...]
- Video for "Brothers," by The War on Drugs [Video Link] Amy Seidenwurm says: "'Brothers' by The War on Drugs was possibly my favorite song of 2011. They just released a supremely creepy video for it."
- Trailer for Ethos: the truth about the U.S. Government an... [Video Link] Sounds like this documentary explores the same kind of mass psychological manipulation that Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays invented to convince Americans that it was a good idea to get involved in World War One, as well as convince women that they'd become socially powerful if they smoked cigarettes. Directed by filmmaker Pete McGrain [...]
- Klaus Schulze, live Moog madness from 1977 Klaus Schulze pilots his Moog spaceship through the composition "For Barry Graves" live in 1977. The track can be found on "La Vie Electronique Vol. 5." The Klaus Schulze La Vie Electronique series, which started in 2009, are reissues of The Ultimate Edition, a CD box set from 2000 that contained a staggering 50 discs, [...]
- Here's the utterly inconsequential recording that resulte... Juha Saarinen sez, 2Johns2Cups by goldenturkey New Zealand media were raided by police last November just before the general election, after the incumbent centre-right Prime Minister John Key made a criminal complaint over a recording of a conversation in a cafe between him and far right-wing politician John Banks during a staged media event. The [...]
- A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Jan. 28
- Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry Documents Artist's Social...
- SEC Goes After Online Trading Firms That Unwittingly Help... In an effort to crack down on hacker/stock traders who hijack brokerage accounts and exploit the stock market for gain, the Securities and Exchange Commission has, in a novel move, gone after four online trading companies and eight executives who they say helped a Latvian hacker make more than $850,000 from fraudulent trades.
- Apple's New iBooks Won't School College Bookstores Any Ti... On its face, matching iPad textbooks with college students seems almost perfect. But Apple's plans for its new iBookstore, from the way it's structured book purchases to its development strategy for multimedia e-books, doesn't seem like it's well suited for the college textbook market at all ? if it even has that target in mind.
- Solar-Storm-Fueled Auroras Make for Awesome Backyard Phot... The sun is waking up. After several quiet years, it bombarded the Earth with a one-two punch of solar storms this week, which generated consecutive nights of spectacular auroras.
- Twitter Censorship Move Sparks Backlash: Is It Justified? Internet scorn for Twitter's announcement that it would censor tweets was swift and unforgiving. But even free-speech and other experts were divided on the service's move that it might censor tweets if required by law in "countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression."
- Simulate Daylight to Combat SAD
- Pentagon Confused by Its Own 'Subs vs. Terrorists' Plan It's the Pentagon dream that won't die: hitting enemy targets with missiles anywhere around the world within mere hours. (Too bad it could trigger a nuclear war.) Now that the brass swears it's got a technological fix for the ambitious missile project, it's got a bigger problem: the Pentagon can't seem to decide how it should actually work.
- Microsoft Kinect Could Make Its Way to Laptops The ability to control a Windows desktop with a simple hand gesture could become reality sooner than we once thought. The Daily got a sneak peek at two Microsoft-developed Windows 8 notebook prototypes with built-in Kinect sensors. The system would allow for gesture recognition in portable devices for the first time.
- Lark Wristband Reveals the Best Lifestyle Choices For a G... The Lark isn't the first wearable device to track one's sleep patterns, but the system adds a clever coaching element that other sleep trackers don't include. It's an important addition, as competing devices tend to smother the user in sleep data, but don't provide many tools to make sense of the data in an actionable way.
- Wiki joins rating game Wikirating aims to be the opposite of a conventional rating agency. The organization, which is still in its infancy, claims to be completely transparent and untainted by the realities of capitalism
- RIM's America problem could go international Analysis: Are the U.S. failings the canary in the coalmine for RIM, a harbinger of impending international doom?
- Why that condo rental might not work Before you jump on board the condo wagon, know that supply has jumped up in major markets like Toronto, making rental increases difficult to pass on
- Scattered results Family Finance: An Alberta couple, both self-employed as consultants, have come to a point in their lives in which they have a good deal of unencumbered cash flow
- 'Dark shadow' over Northern Gateway process, green group ... Ecojustice said Friday it asked a joint review panel reviewing the Northern Gateway pipeline to look into whether comments made by Ottawa in recent weeks have damaged its process
- Fitch axes credit ratings for Italy, Spain, others Fitch Ratings on Friday downgraded the sovereign credit ratings for Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia and Spain
- Facebook may file for IPO next week Facebook plans to file documents as early as Wednesday for a highly anticipated IPO, according to a Wall Stret Journal report
- Energy regulatory upgrade 'priority issue': Joe Oliver Canada needs a robust regulatory process that offers a precise timeline and does not allow radicals to 'game' the system, Joe Oliver said Friday
- Obama administration expands homeowner lifeline Obama administration expands homeowner lifeline
- Pressure mounts on Greece The European Union and IMF want Greece to push through more budget cuts and implement a series of long-agreed austerity reforms before they agree on a new bailout the country needs to avert bankruptcy
- Few banks to follow UniCredit share sale example LONDON (Reuters) - Markets will breathe a sigh of relief as beleaguered Italian bank UniCredit completes its 7.5 billion euro ($9.7 billion) rights issue on Friday, but few expect it to prompt a...
- Elpida shares tumble on $1.2 billion April-December loss ... TOKYO (Reuters) - Shares in Elpida Memory Inc shed 6.6 percent in early trade on Friday after the Nikkei business daily said the memory chip maker is likely to book an operating loss of around 90...
- Wal-Mart plans to sell new drink machine NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc plans to start selling a new single-serve beverage maker, a move that could threaten the U.S. dominance of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc's Keurig...
- Mead Johnson profit beats Street; shares rise (Reuters) - Mead Johnson Nutrition Co , the maker of Enfamil baby formula, posted a slightly higher-than-expected quarterly profit but said a contamination scare could mean lower market share at...
- Caterpillar profit jumps 58 percent (Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc reported a 58 percent rise in quarterly earnings that blew away Wall Street expectations on record sales of construction and mining equipment, and projected strong growth...
- E*Trade shares tumble 11 percent after soft results (Reuters) - Shares of E*Trade Financial tumbled 10.7 percent after the company reported a surprising loss late on Wednesday, due to higher-than-expected loan provisions in its troubled banking unit...
- 3M profit tops Wall Street estimates (Reuters) - 3M Co reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday as demand from industrial and transport markets offset weak sales to makers of consumer electronics.
- Carnival sued by crew member over cruise ship disaster (Reuters) - Carnival Corp, whose luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy, was sued by a crew member in a first of what may be multiple U.S. lawsuits seeking class-action...
- Time Warner Cable to buy back more stock, shares up (Reuters) - Time Warner Cable Inc raised its quarterly dividend and surprised Wall Street by announcing plans to buy back $4 billion of its stock, sending shares up more than 8 percent on Thursday.
- RIM shares bounce back after shuffle-related drop TORONTO (Reuters) - Shares of Research In Motion rose 8.6 percent on Wednesday, rebounding after two days of declines on disappointment over the choice of an company insider as the BlackBerry maker's...
- Unsold goods weigh on future growth The economy perked up late last year as factories ramped up production. Unfortunately, a lot of what those factories made is still in warehouses and on store shelves.
- Economy picked up pace as 2011 ended U.S. economic growth picked up speed in the final three months of 2011, expanding at the fastest pace in 1-1/2 years, according to new data released Friday.
- CEOs make huge sums when companies go bankrupt CEOs and other top executives of companies that go through Chapter 11 receive robust compensation in the form of salary, stock grants and other benefits.
- Facebook poised to file for IPO next week Facebook looks set to file papers for its public stock offering by as soon next Wednesday, CNBC reported Friday.
- Too little, too late? Factory jobs making comeback President Barack Obama is on the road this week touting a plan to bring jobs back to the United States, in part by bolstering manufacturing here. It’s no secret that’s a tough challenge.
- Tight-fisted mortgage lenders pressure home sales Home prices have fallen by a third since the 2006, creating tremendous bargains for home buyers. Mortgage rates are at rock-bottom lows, making houses more affordable than they have been in decades.
- Obama's Chrysler on eBay — yours for $1 million President Obama is on cruise control toward his party’s nomination to run for reelection, but Tim O’Brien is hoping to capitalize on Obama’s old cruise-mobile — a 2005 Chrysler 300C
- Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter! We here at The Bottom Line strive to offer you the latest in business and economic news, and we want to hear your thoughts and ideas, too. Now we offer a new way to let your voice be heard -- a Facebook page specifically for msnbc.com business news.
- Facebook sues to stop 'likejacking' scammers Spammers have come up with a sneaky new way to distribute their message via social media. Facebook and Washington have filed separate lawsuits to stop the scammers.
- Almost half of young Spaniards unemployed There's no doubt that the U.S. unemployment rate of 8.5 percent (as of December) is painful for Americans. But pain can be relative.
- Thompson: Jay Paterno finds comfort
Joe Paterno's son soaks in the surroundings of grief and finds comfort
- LeBron, Wade help Heat take down Knicks
LeBron James scored 31 points, Dwyane Wade scored 28 in his return from a sprained right ankle, and the Miami Heat beat the 3-point-obsessed New York Knicks 99-89 on Friday night.
- Manning, Irsay seek to 'dispel misperception'
Peyton Manning and Jim Irsay "had a long talk" Friday, coming to terms with comments made to the media this week, first by the Colts quarterback and then by the team's owner two days later.
- Source: Oswalt likely to sign with Cards 'soon'
It seems free-agent pitcher Roy Oswalt has elected to remain in the National League and is likely to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals "soon," a major league source said late Friday night.
- U.S. blanks Costa Rica; qualifies for Olympics
The U.S. women's soccer team qualified for the London Olympics on Friday night with a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica.
- Thomas: White House flap 'all media-driven'
Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas, who has become something of a political lightning rod lately, weighed in Friday on his beliefs that the federal government is "out of control."
- Broncos hire ex-Jaguars coach Del Rio as DC
The Denver Broncos announced Friday night they had agreed to terms with Jack Del Rio to become the club's new defensive coordinator.
- Hornets actively trying to trade center Kaman
The New Orleans Hornets are actively trying to trade center Chris Kaman, according to sources close to the process.
- Selig expects extra wild cards to start this year
Commissioner Bud Selig expects baseball to expand its playoffs this season.
- Mickelson misses cut; Stanley leads at Farmers
The tougher South Course at Torrey Pines suited Kyle Stanley just fine Friday in the Farmers Insurance Open.
- Canada to France: keep your election to yourself For the first time, about 200,000 French citizens who live in Canada and the U.S. will elect a legislator to the French National Assembly later this year
- U.S. defence cuts may jeopardize Canada’s purchase of F... Pentagon cuts will affect U.S. plans to purchase the troubled F-35s, likely threatening Canada’s timeline for acquiring the stealth fighters as well
- Alberta donations scandal is wake-up call Jesse Kline: A scandal over improper political donations in Alberta has been brewing for months, and new details dug up by the opposition Wildrose Party are further evidence of a systemic problem
- Ottawa’s energy policy, as ghost-written by Beijing Terry Glavin: Just how Sinopec became co-author of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s new foreign policy and energy strategy isn’t a question any of us are supposed to be asking
- Shafia victims’ trivial ‘sins’ behind killings, pro... Christie Blatchford: Prosecutor Laurie Lacelle was giving her closing address to jurors managed to imbue the dead with some of the dignity they were denied in life
- Pickton inquiry evidence points to failure of individual ... Brian Hutchinson: Vastly experienced officers were apparently deaf to warnings, sounded by underlings, that one man could be responsible for so many missing women
- Canada pushing to remove Syria from UN board Canada is working with key allies behind closed doors to have Syria expelled from a UN committee charged with investigating human-rights abuses
- McGuinty puts his faith in good nature of unions. Oh, dear Kelly McParland: Whatever the knock on Dalton McGuinty, no one can deny the man’s an optimist. In a speech Tuesday, he professed his faith in the sense of community responsibility he is certain dwells in the hearts of union bosses
- The maddening pace of justice in Canada Chris Selley: When it comes to Léon Mugesera’s epic lost battle to avoid deportation to Rwanda, the number most people fixate on is 18 years. But the component numbers that add up to 18 tell a more useful story
- Tribute talks to Daniel Radcliffe at the Woman in Black T... Daniel Radcliffe has taken on his first post-Harry Potter film role with The Woman in Black, in which the 22-year-old plays the father of a little boy. To promote the scary new thriller, whose tag line is “Do You Believe in Ghosts?”, Daniel came to Toronto to Scotiabank Theatre to walk the red — or in this [...]
- Tyrannosaur worthy of wider audience Paddy Considine, who started out as an actor in films such as 24 Hour Party People, In America, Cinderella Man and Hot Fuzz, has stepped behind the camera for his first full length feature as a director. Tyrannosaur is the story of Joseph, an angry man who lives a life filled with violence. One day he meets Hannah, a [...]
- Oprah the godmother? Not yet If Oprah is the godmother of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s baby girl Blue Ivy, as online rumors were suggesting, it’s news to her. Winfrey’s best friend, Gayle King, cleared up the confusion on CBS’s The Early Show this morning. “It’s absolutely not true that she’s the godmother,” King explained. “She’s friends with them, of course, and [...]
- Ashton Kutcher shows sympathy for Demi Moore Ashton Kutcher may have appeared unconcerned about Demi Moore’s condition according to recent posts on his Twitter account, however he has since shown sympathy since her release. According to celebrity gossip guru Perez Hilton, Kutcher is very concerned and wishes all the best in her recovery despite their recent divorce. Moore was rushed to the [...]
- How George Clooney will sabotage Brad Pitt For the past couple years, George Clooney has been plotting against his Burn After Reading co-star and off-screen buddy Brad Pitt. Clooney has gained quite the reputation of being a prankster on set and Pitt seems to be next on his hit list with a prank so big, Clooney says it could affect his career. [...]
- Miley Cyrus licks x-rated birthday cake Look out Liam! Miley’s got her eye on something sweet. Inhibitions out the door, pop star Miley Cyrus, 19, celebrated her boyfriend Liam Hemsworth’s 22nd birthday at Club Icon downtown Los Angeles last Saturday. We all know through past experience that Miley is a free spirit, especially when she’s repeatedly been caught doing things such as [...]
- Ashton Kutcher unconcerned as Demi Moore remains in hospital While Demi Moore remains in the hospital where she’s being treated for substance abuse, her daughter, Rumer Willis, was photographed pacing outside, visibly distraught and worried as she smoked a cigarette and talked on her cell phone. Meanwhile, Ashton Kutcher, who’s in Sao Paulo, Brazil, shooting a clothing advertisement with supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio, has been living it [...]
- Khloe Kardashian’s dad may be her mom’s hairdresser The rumor mill has been buzzing with speculation since it was reported a few weeks ago that Khloe Kardashian may not have the same father as her two older sisters, Kim and Kourtney. A report from gossip site Hollywoodite is claiming that Khloe’s real father may be her mother’s hairdresser of 30 years — Alex Rodan [...]
- Rihanna gets thug tattoo Rihanna will now be waving thug life every time she passes by after a visit to a famous tattoo parlor in Hollywood yesterday. The singer tweeted a mean mug shot honoring the late great Tupac Shakur with a new pink tattoo that reads “THUG LIFE” across her knuckles. The 23-year-old graced Mark Mahoney’s Shamrock Social [...]
- Hospital has to return $500K to Garth Brooks A jury has ruled in favor of Garth Brooks getting back the $500,000 he gave to an Oklahoma hospital. The country superstar filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Integris Canadian Valley Regional Hospital in Yukon, Oklahoma, stating that the hospital had promised that the donation, which he made anonymously, would go towards putting his late mother’s name [...]