Facebook loses geography networks, adds privacy features[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:03:06 EST ]Facebook users will soon lose the ability to join a network of friends who live in the same area but will gain the widely desired ability to control who sees every piece of information they post.

Racist Obama image spotlights Web search process[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:52:31 EST ]When a racist image of first lady Michelle Obama surfaced from the ugliest corners of the Internet last week to top Google's image search results, the episode shined a spotlight on the mysterious workings of search engines.

Leaked e-mails stir climate controversy[ Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:15:58 EST ]The director of a British research unit that has been at the center of a row over climate change data said he is standing down from his post while an independent review is conducted. A series of e-mails obtained by a hacker also caused controversy in Washington, where a congressional hearing was held Wednesday.

Microsoft plays down anti-Google search plans[ Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:36:16 EST ]Read full story for latest details.

Early peek at Bing Maps: Very cool, but limited[ Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:42:02 EST ]Microsoft's Bing took a major step forward Wednesday in adding rich mapping and image data to its search engine, but until it assembles more data, pretty pictures aren't enough to beat the Google Maps juggernaut.

Alaskan town on the brink of extinction[ Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:49:48 EST ]For the hardy people of Shishmaref, Alaska, climate change is not a policy issue. The sea is eating away at the village's thawing coastline, threatening to send it toppling into the ocean. | FULL COVERAGE |

Big explosion reveals most massive star known[ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 19:43:37 GMT ]Astronomers have spotted a new type of extremely bright cosmic explosion they think originates from an exceptionally massive star.

Earth could plunge into sudden ice age[ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 20:03:36 GMT ]In the film "The Day After Tomorrow," the world gets gripped in ice within just a few weeks. Now research now suggests an eerily similar event might indeed have occurred in the past.

Hair reveals ancient Peruvians were stressed[ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 18:53:54 GMT ]People in the past were very stressed out, suggests a new study that found high amounts of a stress hormone in the hair of Peruvian individuals who lived between 550 A.D. and 1532.

Search for aliens costs school employee his job[ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 20:46:47 GMT ]A former school district employee is accused of using school computers in an experiment to find space aliens, costing the worker his job and the district more than $1 million.

Facebook to overhaul privacy structure[ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 03:06:26 GMT ]Facebook is about to begin a major overhaul of its privacy structure, the company said in an announcement posted on the service Tuesday night.

Cosmic Log: Collider weathers power cut[ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 20:26:56 GMT ]Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Europe's Large Hadron Collider was knocked offline due to a faulty electrical cable, just a couple of days after the accelerator broke a proton-power record.

MySpace Music launches in Britain[ Thu, 3 Dec 2009 00:30:10 GMT ]More than a year after launching in the United States, MySpace Music is crossing the pond and arriving in Britain.

10 best Nintendo DS games of the year[ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 14:09:38 GMT ]Whether the gamer on your list loves puzzle, role-playing, adventure, or music games, you’re sure to find a few “must-have” DS titles that are guaranteed to make them happy.

7 ways microbes may solve our energy woes[ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 14:09:38 GMT ]Microscopic organisms – archaea, bacteria and fungi – have the potential to reshape the world's power supply.

Cosmic Log: Pick your geek gift[ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 22:40:37 GMT ]Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: What do you give a budding science geek? A perfume chemistry set? A brainwave-operated toy? Vote for the top geek gift of 2009.

Intel sees rush to Netbook app store[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:26:00 PST ]The head of Intel's software developer network says app makers are "jumping all over this" to be ready to go when the store debuts next year.

Acer: We'll have the first Chrome OS Netbook[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:18:00 PST ]The company's chairman says in an interview that Acer has been working on it since earlier this year.

Verizon nixes holiday ads to continue AT&T-bashing [ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:25:43 PST ]Marketing exec says once the company saw third-party research on 3G networks that convinced it of its own superiority in that area, it radically changed ad strategy.

Google Maps for Mobile stars synced maps[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:47:00 PST ]An update to Google Maps for Mobile for Symbian and Windows phones connects your favorite maps online and on your mobile phone.

Google runs a fade pattern on home page[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:50:00 PST ]Visitors to Google.com will see only the search bar when they first arrive unless they move their mouse, in which case links to various Google properties will appear.

Apple OKs Super Mario app; expect removal [ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:01:00 PST ]A non-Nintendo-blessed Super Mario app arrives at Apple's App Store, but probably won't be there for long.

Character limitations in passwords considered harmful[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:09:55 PST ]Some Web sites only allow alphanumeric characters (letters and numbers) in their passwords. This invites bad passwords, lowering security for everyone.

Wireless operators stop whining about ads[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:14:00 PST ]AT&T and Verizon Wireless have dismissed lawsuits against each other claiming their advertisements were misleading.

Wicked online cash grab out of Tiger Woods scandal[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:37:55 PST ]A Yahoo Sports editorial about Tiger Woods' marital and image woes is adorned by a web ad from the Professional Golf Association offering to reveal Phil Mickleson's secrets.

Disease-detecting device vibrates with potential[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:21:00 PST ]GE announces the first commercial application of magnetic resonance elastography, developed at the Mayo Clinic, to detect disease through both imaging and low-frequency sound waves.

Follow Friday: Shopping tweets[ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:27:52 EST ]OK, so if you're reading this you've probably just finished your yearly, post-Thanksgiving rugby scrum of consumerism.

Dating a 'stud or dud?' Ask your phone[ Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:39:44 EST ]If that dreamy blind date seems too good to be true, or the guy at the bar with a martini and a pencil-thin moustache looks a little sketchy, the truth about them -- or at least some of it -- could be found on your phone.

Oscar winner tweeting from jail?[ Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:25:14 EST ]Roger Avary, who won an Oscar for co-writing "Pulp Fiction," appears to be tweeting from a California jail, where's he's serving time for vehicular manslaughter.

Defending bloggers' free speech[ Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:59:35 EST ]Bernard Bailyn, the Harvard historian who won a Pulitzer for his 1967 book "The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution," wrote about the critical role pamphlets played in 18th century America.

Microsoft investigating 'black screen of death'[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:10:19 EST ]Microsoft said on Monday that it is looking into reports that its latest security updates are causing some serious problems for certain users.

Debris no threat to space station, NASA says[ Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:04:02 EST ]NASA is tracking a piece of space debris that may lead the international space station's two-man crew to move to an escape pod, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Google strengthens walls for free news content[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:12:20 EST ]In a nod to the growing debate on free access to news stories on the Web, Google has updated options to help news organizations limit access.

Facebook loses geography networks, adds privacy features[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:03:06 EST ]Facebook users will soon lose the ability to join a network of friends who live in the same area but will gain the widely desired ability to control who sees every piece of information they post.

Obama image spotlights Web searching[ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:52:31 EST ]When a racist image of first lady Michelle Obama surfaced from the ugliest corners of the Internet last week to top Google's image search results, the episode shined a spotlight on the mysterious workings of search engines.

An Alaskan town on the brink[ Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:26:22 EST ]For the hardy people of Shishmaref, Alaska, climate change is not a policy issue. Rising seas and thinning ice caused by warming temperatures are threatening life as they know it.

Shark fins traced to endangered populations[ Tue, 1 Dec 2009 19:21:07 GMT ]For the first time, DNA tools have successfully pinpointed the geographic origin of shark fins sold dried in markets to satisfy the demand for shark fin soup, a Chinese delicacy.

8 ‘extinct’ species found alive and kicking[ Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:48:36 GMT ]Amid all the doom and gloom of an extinction crisis, a bit of fleeting good news appears every now and again, when a species thought gone for good surprisingly reappears.

Satellite debris misses space station[ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 01:28:53 GMT ]A tiny piece of a defunct Russian satellite zipped by the International Space Station Tuesday, but was far enough away the crew didn’t have to strap into their lifeboat to wait out the close shave.

Facebook and MySpace ban N.Y. sex offenders[ Tue, 1 Dec 2009 23:01:21 GMT ]New laws passed in 25 states are making it easier for social networking giants Facebook and MySpace to purge their membership lists of convicted rapists, gropers and child molesters.

‘Black screen of death’ for some Windows users[ Tue, 1 Dec 2009 23:21:32 GMT ]Microsoft says recent security updates made to computers running Windows 7, Vista and XP operating systems are not to blame for the "black screen of death" some users are seeing.

Will piracy crackdown bring iPod border checks?[ Tue, 1 Dec 2009 12:34:18 GMT ]Laptops and iPods examined by border guards and airport security looking for pirated content? That’s the scenario painted by some.

Super Earths may be superior at fostering life[ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 00:34:34 GMT ]A handful of planets found orbiting distant stars are more Earth-sized. This gives hope to astrobiologists, who think we are more likely to find life on rocky planets with liquid water.

No more one size-fits-all point-and-shooters[ Tue, 1 Dec 2009 13:55:27 GMT ]Whether you're shopping for a socialite, an advanced photographer, a YouTube star, or your crazy uncle, you'll find the perfect camera.

Facebook to overhaul privacy structure[ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 03:06:26 GMT ]Facebook is about to begin a major overhaul of its privacy structure, the company said in an announcement posted on the service Tuesday night.

Cosmic Log: Balloon hunt goes viral[ Tue, 1 Dec 2009 21:30:13 GMT ]Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: More than 300 teams have signed up for a $40,000 balloon hunt organized by the Pentagon's think tank to study how social networking works.

EFF sues feds for info on social-network surveillance[ Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:07:00 PST ]After agencies fail to provide info requested on policies for using Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks in investigations, Electronic Frontier Foundation sues.

New research suggests porn is overly demonized[ Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:09:18 PST ]Study finds that pretty much all men consume pornography, mostly online, averaging 20 to 40 minutes a week, and without resulting "pathological" behavior.

Facebook and MySpace delete NY sex offenders[ Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:16:00 PST ]New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo praised Facebook and MySpace for purging their roles of more than 3,500 New York-based registered sex offenders.

At last, Google has some parasites[ Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:55:57 PST ]Canadian car rental company AutoShare and indie band the Editors both find inspired ways to use Street View to advertise themselves.