Kuwaiti journalist jailed for Twitter 'insults'

KUWAIT CITY (AP) — A Kuwait newspaper says an online journalist has been sentenced to two years in prison for posts deemed "insulting" to the Gulf nation's ruler — the second such ruling this week.The decision reflects a widening social media crackdown across the Gulf Arab states to quell perceived political dissent.Kuwait's pro-government Al Watan newspaper reported Monday that Ayyad al-Harbi, a...

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Mark Zuckerberg faces fine in Germany over Facebook privacy violations

Facebook (FB) founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg could face a fine of $26,000 for not allowing German citizens to maintain anonymous identities on Facebook, The Guardian reported. Thilo Weichert, the data protection commissioner for the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, said that Facebook is breaking a German law by requiring users to provide their identities, adding that “it is unacceptable...

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181,354 People on Twitter Think They're Experts at Twitter

Do you tweet a lot? Do you post everything on Facebook? Do you #hashtag #complete #sentences #like #this? Do you describe yourself, variously, as a social media "maven", "master", "guru", "freak", "warrior", "evangelist" or "veteran"? (Yes, a social media veteran. As if Tumblr were a deadly war you narrowly survived.) Well: you've got company! There are more than 181,000 such individuals on Twitter,...

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Insight: Security fears dogged Canada debate on China energy bid

OTTAWA (Reuters) - In September, two months after China's state-owned CNOOC Ltd made an unexpected $15.1 billion bid for Canadian energy company Nexen Inc, Canada's spy agency told ministers that takeovers by Chinese companies may threaten national security.The rare warning from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which was disclosed to Reuters by intelligence sources, did not stop...

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Huawei shows off 6.1-inch Android phablet ahead of CES [video]

It looks like things are going to get worse before they start to get better. Further blurring the line between a smartphone that is too big to be used comfortably and a tablet the is too small to be used efficiently, Huawei has plans to unveil a new smartphone-tablet hybrid device at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January. The Android “phablet” was recently shown off by a Huawei executive...

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Iran says defeats cyber attack on industrial sites

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Internet virus attacked computers at industrial sites in southern Iran, in an apparent extension of a covert cyber war that initially targeted the country's nuclear facilities, an Iranian official said.Iran, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, has tightened online security since its uranium enrichment centrifuges were hit in 2010 by the Stuxnet computer worm, which Tehran believes...

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Iran media report new cyberattack by Stuxnet worm

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian semi-official news agency says there has been another cyberattack by the sophisticated computer worm Stuxnet, this time on the industries in the country's south.Tuesday's report by ISNA quotes provincial civil defense chief Ali Akbar Akhavan as saying the virus targeted a power plant and some other industries in Hormozgan province in recent months.Akhavan says Iranian...

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Phablet wars heat up with ZTE’s quad-core Nubia Z5

2013 is shaping up to be the year of the “phablet” with virtually ever major handset maker preparing to challenge Samsung’s (005930) impressive Galaxy Note lineup. While there’s no clear definition on how large a phablet is, most tend to have screens that hover in the 5-inch range, though Huawei’s upcoming 6.1-inch smartphone will only push that boundary. ZTE’s newly announced Nubia Z5 packs a 5-inch...

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Xbox SmartGlass updated with second-screen ESPN and NBA Game Time app experiences

Little by little, Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox SmartGlass app is becoming more useful. Microsoft Director of Programming for Xbox LIVE Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb announced on Monday the release of the Sports Picks app, which allows users to “make picks, compete with your Xbox LIVE friends and fight for domination of the leaderboard.” Xbox SmartGlass also has new ESPN and NBA Game Time experiences that provide...

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Nintendo's TVii a replacement for the remote

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nintendo is switching on a television service that transforms the tablet-like controller for its new Wii U game console into a remote that changes the channel on your TV and puts programs from the Internet just a few finger taps away.The TVii service will debut in the U.S. and Canada on Thursday, the company said. That's a delay from previous plans to have the service available...

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News summary: Nintendo's TVii replaces the remote

TVii LAUNCH: Nintendo if flipping on its TVii service Thursday, a month after sales started for its Wii U game console. The service turns the GamePad controller into a TV remote control, channel guide and Web video surfer.SALES HOPES: Nintendo hopes the free service boosts sales of the console after recording 425,000 sales in the first week since its Nov. 18 launch.HEAD START: It's the first time...

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Wii U finally gets Nintendo’s TVii service on December 20th

After a month-long delay, Nintendo (NTDOY) will launch its Nintendo TVii service for the Wii U on December 20th in the U.S. and Canada. Nintendo TVii is the company’s take on organizing all of the various video streaming and DVR services a user might subscribe to and then displaying them in an easy-to-navigate touchscreen-based interface on the Wii U GamePad. With Nintendo TVii, Nintendo hopes to...

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Shooting renews argument over video-game violence

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In the days since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., a shell-shocked nation has looked for reasons. The list of culprits cited include easy access to guns, a strained mental-health system and the "culture of violence" — the entertainment industry's embrace of violence in movies, TV shows and, especially, video games."The violence in the entertainment...

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Bringing Sunlight to Light an Underground Garden

Imagine an inviting green park with tall, shady trees and wide swaths of grassy lawn where you can hear live music or see theater or simply sit quietly soaking up the noonday sun.Now, imagine that all underground in an old disused parking garage … but still with trees and grass in the bright sunlight - a little less bright, of course, on cloudy days.This paradoxical vision is already halfway to becoming...

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Cancer Immunotherapy Where Are We Going?

The compelling concept of utilizing the patient's own immune system for a stronger and more effective way to attack cancer cells is not a new one. William Coley observed in 1891 that infections produced in patients with inoperable cancer following an injection of streptococcal organisms (Gram-positive bacteria) led to tumor shrinkage especially when the patients developed fever and other signs of...

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Viral Video Recap: Funniest Memes of the Week

A cat stuck in a box. A dramatic reading of Fifty Shades of Grey from George Takei. And another "Gangnam Style" remix. These are just three examples of the top videos that the web world watched this week.We rounded up the most viral videos from this past week for your holiday weekend viewing pleasure. After all, what's better than explaining the significance of a philosophic cat to your mother at...

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Top 5 Apps for Kids This Week

1. I Spy With Lola HDAges 3-8 Overall rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars Why we like it: This app effectively takes the common hunt-and-find play pattern down a notch by way of a series of carefully leveled challenges, clear labels and a playful theme. Need to know: Don't confuse this with the Scholastic I SPY titles. This is a different kettle of fish. And get the paid version. It is well worth the $2 --...

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Telepresence robots let employees 'beam' into work

Engineer Dallas Goecker attends meetings, jokes with colleagues and roams the office building just like other employees at his company in Silicon Valley.But Goecker isn't in California. He's more than 2,300 miles away, working at home in Seymour, Indiana.It's all made possible by the Beam — a mobile video-conferencing machine that he can drive around the Palo Alto offices and workshops of Suitable...

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