18897016
submission
Suki I writes:
CHINA has blocked the word "Egypt'' from the country's wildly popular Twitter-like service, while coverage of the political turmoil has been tightly restricted in state media.
China's ruling Communist Party is sensitive to any potential source of social unrest.
A search for "Egypt'' on the Sina microblogging service brings up a message saying, "According to relevant laws, regulations and policies, the search results are not shown.''
The service has more than 50 million users.
News on the Egypt protests has been limited to a few paragraphs and photos buried inside major news websites, but China Central Television had a report on its midday broadcast.
China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the events in Egypt.
18675032
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Suki I writes:
Facebook has "temporarily disabled" a controversial feature that allowed developers to access the home address and mobile numbers of users.
The social network suspended the feature, introduced on Friday, after only three days. The decision follows feedback from users that the sharing of data process wasn't clearly explained and criticism from security firms that the feature was ripe for abuse.
8713550
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Suki I writes:
"Sure, it’s terrific for turning human actors into big blue alien Na’vis. But the photorealistic CGI technology James Cameron perfected for Avatar could easily be used for other, even more mind-blowing purposes—like, say, bringing Humphrey Bogart back to life, or making Clint Eastwood look 35 again. “How about another Dirty Harry movie where Clint looks the way he looked in 1975?” Cameron suggests. “Or a James Bond movie where Sean Connery looks the way he did in Doctor No? How cool would that be?”"
The article goes on to quite James Cameron as saying you still need actors to play the roles and "bringing back" dead actors still requires someone to play them.Link to Original Source
8316514
submission
Suki I writes:
From the LA Times: 'Avatar' soars into $1-billion territory
"Strong foreign ticket sales help make the science-fiction movie the fifth in history to pass the watermark."
"One of the riskiest movies of all times is now officially one of the most successful at the box office.
When "Avatar" opened, its solid but far from stellar results left 20th Century Fox uncertain about whether the $430 million that it and two financing partners had invested to produce and market the 3-D film would pay off."
8285842
submission
Suki I writes:
"The suit claims that AT&T should turn over unused balances on the calling cards of consumers whose last known address was in Washington, D.C. and have not used the calling card for three years.
"AT&T's prepaid calling cards must be treated as unclaimed property under district law," the attorney general's office said in a statement.
According to the attorney general's office, that sum, known in the industry as "breakage," represents some 5 to 20 percent of the total balances purchased by consumers who use the calling cards.
States and municipalities have often similarly used unclaimed property laws, known as escheat laws, to claim ownership of unused retail gift card balances.
A spokesman for AT&T declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The case is: District of Columbia vs. AT&T Corp, Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
(Reporting by Emily Chasan; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Matthew Lewis)"
Radley Balko of Reason Magazine covers it here: D.C. to AT&T: All Your Unused Minutes Are Belong to Us (props for the cool title :)Link to Original Source
