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Censorship

US Gov't Mistakenly Shuts Down 84,000 Sites 296

Posted by samzenpus from the our-bad dept.
Chaonici writes "Last Friday, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seized ten websites accused of selling counterfeit goods or trafficking in child pornography. However, in the process, about 84,000 unrelated websites were taken offline when the government mistakenly seized the domain of a large DNS provider, FreeDNS. By now, the mistake has been corrected and most of the websites' domains again point to the sites themselves, rather than an intimidating domain seizure image. In a press release, the DHS praised themselves for taking down those ten websites, but completely failed to acknowledge their massive blunder."
Microsoft

Ballmer Turns To Geeks For Salvation 370

Posted by CmdrTaco from the good-luck-with-that dept.
jfruhlinger writes "One of the critiques of Steve Ballmer as Microsoft CEO is that, as someone who came up through sales, he doesn't really get what running an innovative tech company is about. With the company board starting to question his performance — he didn't get his bonus last year because of the Kin debacle, for instance — it appears that Ballmer is planning to install engineers in high places to turn the company around."
Nintendo

Nintendo 3DS Launching On March 27 For $250 120

Posted by Soulskill from the coming-soon-to-a-kneebiter-near-you dept.
Sam writes "Nintendo executive Reggie Fil-Aime today revealed US availability and pricing for the Nintendo 3DS at an event in the Nintendo World store in New York City. The 3DS will launch on March 27, 2011 with a retail price of $250 and will be available in two flavors: Aqua Blue and Cosmo Black. There will be roughly 30 games released between the launch day and E3 2011 (June 7 to June 9). These include Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Madden NFL Football, The Sims 3, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, and LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. The device will have the same form-factor as the DSi and will be backwards compatible with both DS and DSi games. Users will also be able to download games via an online store, called the eShop. In Europe, the 3DS will launch on March 25, 2011. While Europeans will get the device two days early, pricing is not good news. Nintendo held a second event in Amsterdam today and said that pricing would be left up to retailers. Retailers in the UK are reportedly planning a £229.99 ($367.64) price tag, while other European retailers are going with €249 ($336.00)."
Media

US To Host World Press Freedom Day 614

Posted by samzenpus from the enjoy-the-freedom dept.
rekrowyalp writes "From the press release: 'The United States is pleased to announce that it will host UNESCO's World Press Freedom Day event in 2011. The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals' right to freedom of expression. At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information.' Oh the irony."

Submission + - Dec 7th: 1st revolution attempt on banking system (bankrun2010.com)

Submitted by Ariastis
Ariastis writes: On December 7th, a social revolution attempt will be taking place in Europe and all over the World. The Bank Run 2010, a movement started in France, invites citizens all over the world to empty their bank accounts in order to cause a meltdown of the traditional banking system by making the banks run dry on hard currency (Most banks keep only around 10% of their total account value in hard currency). In their own word : We, the citizens of the 21st century, heirs of generations who have sacrificed so that we may live free and dignified, demand the creation of a CITIZENS BANK- serving citizens, a bank that would put our money away from speculative fever, free of all financial bubbles designed to burst one day, free of operations that transform our loans & assets and use our debt to buy other assets."

Submission + - Twitter Appears to Censor Wikileaks-Related Trends (studentactivism.net)

Submitted by Sheep
Sheep writes: This past week I found it weird that none of the words #wikileaks, #cablegate, #cables, #Assange, etc. were actually "trending" on Twitter. Today, my fears of some secret censorship going on, are slowly coming true. It appears that Twitter is censoring all these keywords, essentially trying to minimize the effect Wikileaks can have on the world through Twitter's democratized popularization of information. It's ironic that last year Twitter suspended their own scheduled server maintenance in order to not interrupt its users from tweeting on Iran's revolution, and now it appears to censor, and manipulate public opinion as it sees fit!
Idle

Submission + - In China, kids attach condoms to their phones (cnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In what's apparently a move to display the message "I play safe," some Chinese kids are attaching condoms to their cell phones. Instead of keeping their jimmy hats in their pockets or wallets like us puritan Westerners, the young and hip of the Far East are just putting it out there, saying, "Look, I use condoms." Good for you, proactive Chinese teens!
The phone charms are called "Interesting Imported Condoms," and the wrappers feature zodiac signs or popular cartoon characters such as Astroboy. This, it seems, helps the phone charms appeal to teens, a demographic for whom condoms can be important.
We're not saying, though, that these "Interesting Imported Condoms" should be brought over here. In fact, InventorSpot notes that the condoms are generic, with no manufacturer, type, or expiration date shown. This writer wouldn't trust his health, or the next 18 years of his life, to a mystery like that. He thinks that instead he'll stick with the dispensers in his local dive bar.
Then again, maybe these condoms aren't meant to be used but rather just to say, "Seriously, I'm careful, you should be too." If so, there's nothing wrong with that.

Read more:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20024626-1.html#ixzz17FU3MMf8
http://www.chinahush.com/2010/10/31/condom-cell-phone-chain-for-emergency-use/

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