The U.K. media is atwitter this weekend over a controversy about press gag-orders known as “super-injunctions” that have recently been disobeyed on Twitter. It’s an unlikely combination of celebrities, sex, social media, and press freedoms that has exploded into a scandal that led Twitter this week to break its U.K. traffic record …
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Deadly Explosion at iPad Production Plant in China
An explosion at a Foxconn plant in Chengdu, China has killed two people and injured 16 others, reports the Wall Street Journal. The Chengdu plant is one of two facilities owned by Foxconn that produces iPads for Apple.
The explosion happened at around 7:00 Friday night in a "polishing plant" thought to be "at the end of the production
…
Sony Internet Provider Hacked, Financial Theft Occurs This Time
The Sony-owned “So-net” internet service provider has confirmed that its customer rewards website was recently breached, with the person or people responsible making off with “customers’ redeemable gift points worth about $1,225,” as first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
This event comes hot on the heels of Sony’s infamous …
Google’s Financial Comparison Tools Rolled into ‘Advisor’ Site
Sticking to its big-picture plan of organizing the world’s information, Google has recently rolled its various financial advice sites and features into a single site called Google Advisor.
According to a company blog post:
“With Google Advisor, you enter information about what you’re looking for in a mortgage, credit card, CD, or
…
Chrome Web Browser Can Hide Address Bar from Sight
Oh no. I hope it isn’t true.
“You hope what isn’t true?”
Someone’s saying that Google might try to kill the URL bar. I really hope not.
“Google might kill the what?”
You know, the URL bar. Or the Address Bar.
“The what?”
The thing at the top of your browser window that displays the URL, the address, of the website …
Contactless Cell Phone Payment System Goes Live in U.K.
The U.K.’s first cell phone contactless payment system went live today.
The launch is the result of a co-operative effort by a lot of different companies.
The network operator is Orange, the banking is coming from Barclaycard‘s QuickTap, and the hardware is a cheap-and-cheerful Samsung Tocco Lite.
QuickTap purchases are limited …
Zuckerberg Is Planning Another Trip to China
The founder of Facebook is coming to China. Time to bust out the fireworks, firecrackers and fanfare… except Facebook is blocked to China (and has been, for a while).
Therein lies the problem. It’s clear the Facebook CEO wants to make an imprint on one of the largest internet markets, but the Chinese population doesn’t have …
Infrared: Just Kill It, Already!
Over at TIME.com, my Technologizer column this week is about using smartphones as universal remote controls–and especially about using Peel, a neat software-and-hardware package that turns an iPhone into an uncommonly slick TV remote. As we move towards an era in which just about everybody has a smart phone on his or her person at all …
French Hackers Create Sign Language Reader from Kinect Camera
Once again, leave it to hackers to turn something trivial and fun into something useful. A group of French hackers have repurposed a Kinect to become, as they call it, “a gesture recognition system” – in other words, something that can potentially read and translate sign language.
(Leave the annotations on in the above video, unless …
Sony: PSN Password Issue Was Exploit, Not Hack
Sony’s weighed in on the question of whether its PlayStation Network online login was “hacked” yesterday.
Its verdict: not a hack, just an “exploit.”
“We temporarily took down the PSN and Qriocity password reset page,” said Sony spokesperson Patrick Seybold on the PlayStation blog, adding “Contrary to some reports, …
Bottle Opener Concept Connects to Facebook, Invites People Over
Wouldn’t it be grand if every time you opened a beer, Facebook automatically created an event and invited all your friends over? I know that every time I sit down to enjoy a series of smooth draws from a delicious craft IPA after a long day of work, I’m thinking, “Hey, I wish everyone I knew on Facebook could be here to watch me drink …
Apple May Have Inked a Streaming Music Deal with EMI
What does Apple have that Google doesn’t have? Deals with major record labels. According to CNET, Apple’s already signed a deal with EMI so it can stream music to a device nearest you.
The report also says deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music are almost done. Well, well, Google. It looks like Apple’s stepping up its …