cain

Just as the economy has dominated headlines in recent weeks, it is likely to be the overriding issue Wednesday night in the third and final debate between John McCain and Barack Obama.

The presidential candidates will take to the podium at 6 p.m. PDT, this time at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. Moderating the debate--which is to focus in on domestic policy as well as economic matters--will be Bob Schieffer, the chief Washington correspondent for CBS News and host of the show Face the Nation.

Both McCain and Obama this week released new proposals on ways to reinvigorate … Read more

YouTube has rejected a request from John McCain's presidential campaign for a legal review of political videos that are the subject of deletion requests.

The Google-owned company said Tuesday evening in a response to McCain's organization (PDF) that it could not give campaigns special treatment and that it was "not in a position to verify" whether infringement complaints made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act were legitimate or not.

The McCain camp is upset that some of its political ads and videos, which used brief snippets of news broadcasts and other copyrighted material, have been the … Read more

John McCain's presidential campaign is protesting YouTube's video-removal policy, which has resulted in the deletion of some political advertisements the campaign believes are perfectly legal and protected by fair use.

In a letter (PDF) sent to YouTube CEO Chad Hurley and company attorneys on Monday, the campaign charges that "our advertisements or Web videos have been the subject of DMCA takedown notices regarding uses that are clearly privileged under the fair use doctrine." The DMCA is, of course, the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act that allows copyright holders to submit takedown notices.

The letter cited "… Read more

With just four weeks to go until Election Day, John McCain and Barack Obama met again Tuesday night in the second of three presidential debates.

The White House hopefuls covered familiar ground on topics ranging from the economy and the government's financial rescue plan to how to handle complex foreign policy hot spots, including Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran.

On the tech front, not much was said in the debate, which followed a town-hall format, though McCain suggested that he has considered former eBay CEO Meg Whitman as a potential Secretary of the Treasury. Whitman got second billing, though--McCain first … Read more

First Gov. Sarah Palin's e-mail account was hacked, and now a laptop with strategic information to help the Republican ticket in a critical swing state has been stolen.

A Dell laptop belonging to the Republican party's regional coordinator in Independence, Mo., was stolen on the night of September 30 out of the party's "Kansas City Victory Office." The Independence-based office supports Republican party operations at all levels, from the presidential ticket down to candidates for regional state representative seats.

The laptop contained "information you'd expect the coordinator for a GOP national campaign to … Read more

When you start out by setting the bar low, you don't need high expectations. We kick off the show with a discussion of Pirates 2, sequel to the highest budget adult film of all time. In other news, MySpace finally enters the music biz, plastic surgeons ban unfeasibly large breasts, and Justin is an albatross.

Dan the Mantern here. Somehow today's banter turned to the topic of haggard Chinese dudes who play supporting roles in action movies. Despite their recognizable faces and remarkable performances, too often these evil henchman and characters used to advance a plot line are stripped of the accolades they so deserve. I'd like to take this opportunity to initiate a new tradition at The 404: The Supporting Actor Hall of Fame.

For the first installment, we'll remember the career of the late Victor Wong. Known for his quirky haircut and lazy eye, Wong's breakthrough role as Egg Shen in Big Trouble in Little China had us reeling. Wong went on to portray The Old Man in Eddie Murphy's The Golden Child, Fighter in Bloodsport, and Grandpa Mori Shintaro in 3 Ninjas, 3 Ninjas Kick Back, 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up, and 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain. Unfortunately, we lost this timeless actor in late 2001. Rest in peace, Victor Wong, we miss ya buddy.

As part of CNET News' election coverage, we thought we'd turn the Crave Friday Poll to a burning question on the minds of so many voters. If the two major presidential candidates were tech gadgets, which would they be?

Last week we asked you which gadget Democrat Barack Obama would be. The iPhone (aka the JesusPhone) handily beat out the other three options, taking 43.3 percent of the vote. Windows Vista was second at 27.5 percent, Facebook third with 19.3 percent, and Baby's First Walkman last with just 10 percent of the vote.

Today we … Read more

John Palfrey, one of Harvard's leading thinkers on the Internet, has recently finished a study on kids raised in the digital age. He now has a few tips to share about Web porn, online piracy, and Sen. John McCain's lack of tech know-how.

Palfrey, a Harvard law professor and director of the school's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, visited CNET's headquarters on Tuesday to discuss the findings of a recent study of a group he calls "digital natives." These are people who don't know life before cell phones, computers, and the Internet. … Read more

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina's gift of glib gab backfired on her Tuesday when she became too candid for her own political good.

Fiorina, an economic adviser to Sen. John McCain, was asked on KTRS Radio whether she thinks Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has the experience "to run a major company like Hewlett-Packard."

"No, I don't," Fiorina said. "But you know what? That's not what she's running for."

So she doesn't have the chops to run a company but can handle the role of president of the United States? … Read more