states

A State Department press briefing gives some insight into why the U.S. government requested that Twitter postpone a scheduled downtime during a crucial period in the post-election upheaval in Iran.

"I think, as I was following this, these developments over the weekend...I began to recognize the importance of new social media as a vital tool for citizens' empowerment and as a way for people to get their messages out," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Tuesday, according to a transcript of the department's daily press briefing (which was not held specifically to address the Twitter … Read more

The Golden State Warriors don't play defense--except, perhaps, when it comes to the indefensible.

Please imagine you're a disgruntled Warriors fan. For two seasons, everything seemed to suddenly and strangely go well. After what felt like 20 seasons of desperation, playoffs were reached. No. 1 seeds were defeated.

Then, for reasons that seem all too evident to those who give the Warriors money (disclosure: myself included), there is a handbasket drifting downward from purgatory with a large Warriors logo printed on its side.

Naturally, fans voice their views on various sites. One of which is WarriorsWorld.net. Much … Read more

Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster lashed out in a blog post at South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster for threatening to prosecute him and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark.

Buckmaster was responding to McMaster's accusations that Buckmaster, Newmark and Craigslist were engaging in illegal acts. This is the latest chapter in the effort by law enforcement officials from several states and cities to force Craigslist to do more to prevent ads for prostitution from appearing on the site. In an apparent move to placate attorneys general, Craigslist last week announced that it would replace the controversial "erotic section" with … Read more

Clickfree just announced its new Traveler external hard drive that uses the same file-based transfer software we reviewed in the Clickfree Portable Backup Drive back in January. The difference is that this device uses solid-state technology for faster transfers and increased durability.

Clickfree stresses that its file-based software is different from other backup solutions that only create an image of the host computer onto their drives. During this "total backup," the drive will restore operating systems and applications, but also winds up restoring viruses, malware, and corrupt files.

Clickfree's automatic backup software only restores your "irreplaceable … Read more

RipNAS announced their latest network attached storage devices this week--the Statement series--in solid-state drive and hard-disk drive formats. The RipNAS Statement is purported as the first CD ripping NAS device to come equipped with the former.

Based on the Windows Home Server OS and housed in a silver aluminum casing (designed to eliminate noise pollution), the Statement is capable of CD ripping, media streaming, and networked storage on either the 500GB SSD configuration (2 x 250GB SSDs) or the 3TB HDD configuration (2 x 1.5TB HDDs). The entire case measures 10 x 43 x 38 cm and is powered … Read more

They say that many people now get much of their news from satire. Which might make you wonder where they get their satire from.

However, researchers at the Ohio State University wanted to get into the bowels of the political satire phenomenon and were perhaps a little surprised at how it is all being digested.

They subjected 332 people of varying political bents to a three-minute clip of "The Colbert Report." They then produced their own report, fetchingly entitled "Political Ideology and The Motivation to See What You Want to See in the Colbert Report."

The … Read more

If a little-known but influential alliance of state politicians, large retailers, and tax collectors have their way, the days of tax-free Internet shopping may be nearly over.

A bill expected to be introduced in the U.S. Congress as early as Monday would rewrite the ground rules for mail order and Internet sales by eliminating what its supporters view as a "loophole" that, in many cases, allows Americans to shop over the Internet without paying sales taxes.

Currently, Americans who shop over the Internet from out-of-state vendors aren't always required to pay sales taxes at the time … Read more

There are those who believe that the NCAA is an iniquitous organization.

It takes advantage, they say, of unpaid student/athletes while large-stomached coaches enjoy huge deals from sneaker companies and colleges make their fortunes.

It's the equivalent of slave labor, so the story goes.

Surely not. Surely one can see this as an organization of America's brightest minds anticipating every downturn and recession and insulating itself smartly by ensuring the wages of workers are kept far beneath the level of inflation.

Which is why I was unsurprised to see that the NCAA's enterprising spirit has come … Read more

Updated at 3:45 p.m. PDT with additional information throughout.

Intel released a fix for its solid-state drives Monday, addressing an issue first reported back in February.

"We are releasing an end-user firmware update for our X-25M and X-18M SSD drives today," Intel said Monday.

Intel said this addresses a problem first introduced by technology Web site PC Perspective in February. "This update implements several continuous improvements and optimizations to the drive algorithms including a resolution for a performance issue first reported by the PC Perspective," Intel said.

The PC Perspective review, titled "Long-term … Read more