Big brouhaha over Big Bird

Mitt Romney ruffled a few feathers during the first presidential debate with suggestions that days may be numbered for Big Bird of "Sesame Street" fame, hatching a social media backlash and in turn illustrating the power of sites like Twitter in politics.

A number of satirical Big Bird accounts popped up on Twitter after the Republican presidential nominee implied the famed yellow bird would meet an untimely demise, along with PBS subsidies, if he were elected president.

"100 Retweets and I'm going to make my nest outside Romney's bedroom window," read one tweet from BigBirdRomney. Additional avian accounts SadBigBird, BIGBIRD, and Fired Big Bird joined in the feathered fray.

PBS was so moved by the outpouring of support that it purchased a promoted tweet tied to one of the hottest terms to come out of the debate. As a result, anyone searching Twitter for the term "Big Bird" saw a promoted tweet from PBS that reads, "PBS is trusted, valued and essential. See why at http://www.valuepbs.org."

A Portland-based activist took the defense of Big Bird a step further and posted a campaign on Indiegogo after the debate titled "Keep Your Mitts Off of Big Bird!" The flexible funding campaign will send all funds raised -- regardless of whether the $100,000 target is reached -- directly to PBS.
•  A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for @FiredBigBird

More headlines

Wireless shakeup: T-Mobile to merge with MetroPCS

Deutsche Telekom says that it has reached an agreement with MetroPCS to combine the smaller prepaid carrier with T-Mobile USA, its nationwide U.S. wireless operator.
•  T-Mobile CEO: MetroPCS deal is no Sprint-Nextel repeat
•  T-Mobile, MetroPCS look to eat Sprint's prepaid lunch

Samsung claims Apple patent verdict tainted by jury foreman

Korean electronics giant argues that the foreman failed to reveal he was once sued by former employer Seagate, a company in which Samsung is a major investor.
•  Samsung makes good on threat of patent suit against iPhone 5
•  Judge dissolves U.S. ban on Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1
•  Latest smartphone stats: Apple gaining ground on Samsung
•  Apple hit by patent suit over Passbook
•  Judge lashes out against overuse of patent protections

Apple starts production of iPad Mini, claims WSJ

Get ready: Mass production of the smaller iPad has begun, the paper reports, citing Asian component suppliers within Apple's supply chain.
•  iPad Mini already in production in Brazil, says report
•  iPad Mini suffers from production woes, analyst says

Swedish police raid former Web host for Pirate Bay, Wikileaks

Owner of Internet service provider PRQ believes police investigations into his company have to do with sites that deal in illegal file-sharing.
•  Researchers say Gainesville, Fla., is America's 'pirate capital'

Waiting for Apple's next big thing

It's been one year since Steve Jobs died and Apple is as strong as ever. Does CEO Tim Cook need another "holy cow" product to keep his company rolling?
•  Apple in the post-Jobs era: Five hits and misses
•  Apple honors Jobs on anniversary of death

YouTube upgrades Content ID, expands appeals process

The Google unit's system for policing copyright violations will get smarter, thanks to a better appeals process and updated algorithms designed to identify unintentional claims before they do damage.
•  YouTube to air presidential debates live on Elections page
•  YouTube cedes to Turkey and uses local Web domain

Facebook explains ad moves to try to prevent privacy freakout

The social networking giant's privacy engineer says it has taken many steps to safeguard users' information, including substituting "hashes" for e-mail addresses in its Custom Audiences feature.
•  Confused by Facebook? Meet its new Help Center
•  Facebook wants 'Like' button to be exempt from child privacy laws

White House confirms 'spearphishing' intrusion

Official confirms report by veteran Pentagon reporter Bill Gertz saying hackers linked to China's government "broke into one of the U.S. government's most sensitive computer networks."
•  Hackers post data from dozens of breached college servers
•  Web security protocol HSTS wins proposed standard status

Apple rolls out fix for iPhone 5 Wi-Fi network data bug

Bug allowed Apple's new handset running on Verizon to consume precious cellular data while connected to a Wi-Fi network.
•  Verizon won't penalize iPhone 5 owners for Wi-Fi bug
•  iPhone Wi-Fi glitch may affect users on other carriers
•  Apple apparently fixes bug that stifled iOS app downloads

Apple backtracks on 'most powerful' map app claim

The Web page describing the beleaguered map application has dropped a claim that it's the "most powerful mapping service ever."
•  The New Yorker's view from 9th Avenue -- via Apple Maps
•  Google Maps to insert Street View into mobile Web app

'Netflixed' author talks Hastings' glory, hubris, white lies (Q&A)

In her upcoming book, author Gina Keating uncovers Netflix's "secret" history and looks at what some have called CEO Reed Hastings' "social IQ of zero."
•  'House of Cards' to premier on Netflix in February
•  Netflix makes 'Just for Kids' iPad friendly

Also of note
•  Ellen Pao says she has been fired by Kleiner Perkins
•  Lost Steve Jobs time capsule still missing, 29 years later