national

Democrats launch McCainpedia

The primary season hasn't ended, but Democrats have already begun the online battle against Republican presidential nominee John McCain with the launch of McCainpedia. The site is a wiki about McCain, but it's funded by the Democratic National Committee. The goal? To "centralize research material, allowing the general public to use it as they see fit," according to the site's "about" page. In other words, the McCainpedia is a one-stop shop for talking points that can be used to argue against the Republican candidate.

While its name is partly inspired by Wikipedia, the … Read more

FBI rescinds secret order for Internet Archive records

The FBI has backed down on a secret request for information about a user of the Internet Archive digital library, thanks to a legal challenge from two prominent advocacy groups.

The case, which was brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the archive, dates to last year but only became public on Wednesday. That's because the type of request involved, known as a national security letter (NSL), is accompanied by a gag order that forbids the recipient from disclosing its existence or discussing it with anyone except his attorneys, who are … Read more

A journey through the 'Gadget Nation'

Ever heard of bird diapers? A talking toilet paper dispenser? A kosher lamp? Reporter and self-proclaimed "invention groupie" Steve Greenberg has.

Greenberg, also known to TV audiences as the "Innovation Insider," traveled America looking for clever offbeat products. His journey brought him face-to-face with hundreds of garage inventors, some of whom spent years, and even their retirement savings, in a quest to turn an idea into the next gadget bonanza.

In his new book, Gadget Nation, Greenberg tells the stories of these inventors--and more than 100 of their weird, and sometimes wonderful, innovations. These include the … Read more

Sina.com's anti-CNN imagery is violent

The logo looks like something CNN would cook up at the dawn of a new military campaign, but this time the computer-generated bullet holes are in the CNN logo itself.

"Will" at Imagethief noticed this banner on a special page devoted to resisting "Western" media coverage about Tibet and China in general.

The text, according to Will's translation, which is about as good as I can do as well, reads: "Rise up! Angrily resist the demonization of the Tibet affair! / Chinese netizens roast CNN and other Western media!"

Here's a good Global Voices post … Read more

Red heart spreads as MSN and QQ symbol of Chinese patriotism

Xinhua and a Zhejiang province news website report on the spread of "Red Heart China" on IM and e-mail platforms.

The Zhejiang News Center link, auto-translated here, says the word is spreading via QQ, a top instant message platform in China.

Hexun.com carries step-by-step instructions in how to inscribe your MSN account with slogans declaring "I love the Olympics" and encouraging them to go on strongly.

This is all part of an extensive reaction to foreign press coverage on the recent events in Tibet. Other websites, including anti-cnn.com, have emerged to point out examples … Read more

NAB: Will DVRs thwart rise of online TV shows?

LAS VEGAS--Big TV networks are rushing to attract Internet audiences, but there are signs that the payoff won't be that sexy.

One of the burning questions television broadcasters face is whether the Web can be mined for big advertising dollars. NBC Universal, CBS, and Viacom are just a few of the media conglomerates moving quickly to offer full-length TV shows over the Web.

What will surely be debated here this week at the National Association of Broadcasters' annual conference--which gets rolling on Monday--is whether the masses will welcome TV on a PC.

What about commercials? Will audiences resent being … Read more

FCC greenlights text message emergency alert system

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a plan on Thursday to team up with wireless carriers for emergency text message alerts.

Cellular service providers can opt into the new system, called the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS); then, their customers will receive three varieties of text message from a not-yet-specified government agency.

There will be "presidential alerts" for major national emergencies like terrorist attacks, "imminent threat alerts" for localized emergencies like hurricanes and tornadoes, and Amber Alerts for missing children--which have been broadcast to cell phones since 2005.

A release from the agency hinted that as … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 692: Shine on, Chumby

Chumby is the wave of the future, Shine is...shiny? And tomorrow is Molly's Day Without Google--and maybe yours, too. In other news, if you can call it that, Adobe Systems changes its Photoshop Express terms of service, while the rest of the Internet keeps theirs the same. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 692

Yahoo targets women with 'Shine' http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9905786-7.html http://www.calacanis.com/2008/03/31/ content-owners-should-drop-yahoo-for-google/

Dignan: Yahoo brings media sense to the table http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=8329

Vista eventually goes down in pwn to own http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/03/29/ pwn_to_own_vista_finally_falls_when_adobe_flash_is_installed.html… Read more

U2 signs 12-year deal with Live Nation

U2, one of the world's biggest music draws, has signed a 12-year deal with Live Nation.

Live Nation, a concert promotion company that has already inked a so-called 360 deal with Madonna, announced Monday that it will oversee the Irish music group's touring, merchandise, and Web site.

"We've been dating for over 20 years now, it's about time we tied the knot," lead singer Bono said in a statement. "With regards to U2.com, we feel we've got a great Web site, but we want to make it a lot better." … Read more