[DANNY WOOL, SV411]
My teacher always said that when you learn a new word, try and use it ten times a day. My word for the day is refudiate(2). That’s what people tried to do with Sarah Palin. They tried to refudiate(3) her message that building a mosque on or near Ground Zero is “a stab in the heart of the families of the innocent victims …” Not only did New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg respond. So did a group of New Yorkers, who wanted Facebook to refudiate(4) Palin’s call to stop the mosque as unwarranted “hate speech.”
At first they thought
Continue reading Facebook Refuses to Refudiate(1) Sarah Palin
[DANNY WOOL, SV411]
After months of uncertainty, Google has announced that China has renewed its license to operate in China. The statement came after the search engine company stopped redirecting its Google China URL to a Hong Kong-based page. Hong Kong, while officially part of China, is much more lenient about censorship than the People’s Republic.
The news about the license was kept low key, with Google’s Chief Legal Officer David Drummond making the announcement in a [url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/update-on-china.html]single sentence blog post[/url]: “We are very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP license and we look forward to continuing to provide web
Continue reading Google Goes Back to China
[DANNY WOOL, SV411]
What do former Secretary of State George Schultz, former Golden Girl Betty White, and current Internet bad boy Mark Zuckerberg have in common? They’ve all been inducted into the California Hall of Fame.
Joining Zuckerberg from Silicon Valley entrepreneurs is John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins.
Zuckerberg will be the youngest member of the Hall of Fame and also the most recent addition to California. He only moved to the state in 2004.
The induction ceremony for this year’s new Hall of Famers will take place in the California Museum in Sacramento on December 14.
Read More at CBS5.
[VALLEYWAG]
Dennis Crowley might be on top of the world now, but the Foursquare founder might want to tame his growing hubris. The CEO who called Google “hopeless” has been dissing Microsoft, too.
In a comment over at ReadWriteWeb, Microsoft’s Director of Social Engagements Mark Drapeau described how Crowley and his honchos thwarted his many attempts to open a dialog with the company. Drapeau wanted to discuss a partnership to create a Foursquare “badge” for a Microsoft event, but there’s no telling how far talks might have gone: Foursquare wouldn’t even let Microsoft into its office.
Crowley had time for other tech players.
Continue reading Tech’s Cocky Little ‘King’ Insults Microsoft
[DANNY WOOL, SV411]
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg probably won’t be visiting Pakistan soon. That country’s Deputy Attorney General is investigating his role in the recent Draw Muhammad contest that was hosted on the website, claiming that it violates Section 295-C of the Pakistani Penal Code, which states, “Use of derogatory remark etc, in respect of the Holy Prophet, whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also
Continue reading Mark Zuckerberg Faces Death Sentence in Pakistan
Sometime today, Facebook will release “drastically simplified” privacy controls for its popular website. The move comes after weeks of condemnation by bloggers, the media, and internet privacy groups about how the company had violated its users’ basic right to privacy in order to turn a quick buck.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg responded in a Washington Post op ed piece, saying that “Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls; but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark.”
He went on to say that they intend to make Facebook privacy controls “even stronger.” The
Continue reading More Privacy Coming to Facebook
 [DANNY WOOL, SV411]
Andrew McLaughlin was a leading Google lobbyist before he became the White House CTO. Even then, Consumer Watchdog, a non-partisan group that monitors the influence of the special interests on politicians in Washington, expressed concern about McLaughlin’s new position. It is now calling for his resignation, after McLaughlin used a private email account to conduct government business, and after he discussed government policy with his Google staff on issues including net neutrality.
A memo released by John Holdren, who directs the Science and Technology Policy team at the White House, says that an “unnamed staff member” was “reprimanded on
Continue reading CTO Reprimanded by White House
[DANNY WOOL, SV411]
People have been saying a lot of bad things about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, so “blasphemers” is hardly a blip on their radar screen … or is it?
At the center of the controversy is the Facebook group, “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!” which mocks the Islamic restriction of depicting any prophet (not just Muhammad, but not including L. Ron Hubbard). Muslims want the group shut down, and they mean business.
A Swedish cartoonist, Lars Vilks, was recently attacked by angry Muslims during a lecture and his home was set on fire, while South Park has come under more fire and even
Continue reading Facebook Banned in Pakistan
 [MERCURY NEWS]
The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters made history Friday when it allowed eight county residents to register to vote by writing their signatures on iPads, iPhones and other mobile touch-screen devices.
It was the first time an election official in the United States, possibly in the world, permitted anyone to register to vote that way. Voting rights advocates cheered the news as a major milestone in making it easier for millions of people to register to vote, but critics worry that digital signatures could be difficult to verify and pave the way for voter fraud.
County Registrar Jesse Durazo made
Continue reading iPhone Voter Registration
 [DANNY WOOL, SV411]
There’s something about apples and being a prude. Adam and Eve took a bite of the Apple and said, “Oh no! We’re nekkid.” Born of that were bloomers and chadors, as well as Borat’s oddly enticing mankini. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” so eat your apples, kids, and stop playing doctor.
Now Apple is getting into the apple game, by disallowing apps on its iPhones and iPads that celebrate the naked
Continue reading Apple Bares Prudish Fruit
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