Selling flak jackets in the cyberwars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When the Israeli army and Hamas trade virtual blows in cyberspace, or when hacker groups like Anonymous rise from the digital ether, or when WikiLeaks dumps a trove of classified documents, some see a lawless Internet. But Matthew Prince, chief executive at CloudFlare, a little-known Internet start-up that serves some of the Web's most controversial characters, sees a business...

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Merry Christmas, America-Haters?

When TNT was preparing its annual special "Christmas in Washington" with the president of the United States, you'd think the last star musician they would consider to join the official caroling would be Psy, the South Korean rapper. What on Earth is Christmasy about this man's invisible-horse-riding dance to his dorky disco-rap hit "Gangnam Style"? It's not exactly the natural flip-side to "O Holy...

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Why does Google build apps for its rival Apple's iPhone?

Why help a key competitor? Two words: Advertising and data There isn't any other way to say it: Apple and Google really don't like each other. Apple CEO Steve Jobs vowed to destroy the Google geniuses behind the Android operating system for allegedly stealing the basic mechanics of the iPhone. Apple and Google-partner Samsung are constantly at one another's throats over patents. And most recently...

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Samsung Smart TVs: The next frontier for data theft and hacking [video]

Smart TVs, particularly Samsung’s (005930) last few generations of flat screens, can be hacked to give attackers remote access according to a security startup called ReVuln. The company says it discovered a “zero-day exploit” that hackers could potentially use to perform malicious activities that range from stealing accounts linked through apps to using built-in webcams and microphones to spy on...

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Huge Wave of Google App Updates Hits iOS, Android

Google just brought iPhone and Android phone users a holiday gift. Google Maps has returned to the iPhone, this time in the form of its own separate app, while Google Currents -- the company's Flipboard-style online magazine app for Android -- received a substantial update as well. Besides the two big updates, about a half-dozen other apps for Android and Google TV received bug fixes and new features,...

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Strict Gun Control - Fewer Shootings in Australia, Japan and the UK; Would It Work in US?

Six days after the tragic shooting in Newtown and one day after President Obama announced a gun control task force, hundreds of you wrote in asking about future legislation and the consequences of this new task force.Pam Ramagano tweeted asking "What can the president really do? Doesn't he need the approval of Congress to do anything?"Kevin Boutelle wondered "What about the support that is so desperately...

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Cricket-NZ board to meet former captains to improve communication

Dec 21 (Reuters) - New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will meet with former skippers in a bid to improve communication within the national set-up in the wake of the controversy surrounding the handling of Ross Taylor's demotion from the captaincy.Taylor was stripped of the one-day and Twenty20 captaincy this month at the recommendation of head coach Mike Hesson following their tour of Sri Lanka and the disgruntled...

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Australian boy's egg collection turns into snakes

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A 3-year-old Australian boy was lucky to escape uninjured after a collection of eggs he found in his yard hatched into a slithering tangle of deadly snakes.Reptile specialist Trish Prendergast said Friday that young wildlife enthusiast Kyle Cummings could have been killed if he had handled the eastern brown snakes — the world's most venomous species on land after Australia's...

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3-year-old Australian boy's egg collection hatches into slithering tangle of 7 deadly snakes

CANBERRA, Australia - A 3-year-old Australian boy was lucky to escape uninjured after a collection of eggs he found in his yard hatched into a slithering tangle of deadly snakes.Reptile carer Trish Prendergast said Friday that young wildlife enthusiast Kyle Cummings could have been killed if he had handled the eastern brown snakes — the world's most venomous species on land after Australia's inland...

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Tennis-Zvonareva misses Australian Open with shoulder injury

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Former world number two Vera Zvonareva of Russia has pulled out of the Australian Open with a shoulder injury, organisers of the opening grand slam of the season said on Friday."Sorry to report that Vera Zvonareva has withdrawn from the AO due to a continuing right shoulder injury," organisers of the Jan. 14-27 event said on their Twitter account.The injury-prone 28-year-old 2010...

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