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Boston Globe
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Apr 24, 09 5:05 PM CDT
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Accused Craigslist killer Philip Markoff’s parents visited him for the first time today at the Boston jail where he is being held, the Boston Globe reports. Richard Markoff and Susan Haynes, who are divorced, did not speak to the press. Asked by reporters what the parents dreaded most about the visit, their son's attorney, John Salsberg, responded, “All of you.”
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Boston Globe
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Apr 24, 09 4:14 AM CDT
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Solid evidence is piling up against accused Craigslist killer Philip Markoff, the Boston Globe reports. A gun found at Markoff's home—concealed inside a copy of medical textbook Gray's Anatomy —matched the weapon used to kill Julissa Brisman in preliminary testing, and the suspect's fingerprints match those found on plastic restraints and duct tape left at the crime scenes, authorities said.
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ABC News
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Apr 23, 09 2:53 PM CDT
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Accused “Craigslist killer” Philip Markoff has been placed on suicide watch after his Boston jailers found evidence he had tried to hang himself, ABC News reports. “Shoelace marks were found on his neck,” a corrections official said. Markoff has been moved from the general population to a closely watched segregated unit. “I am deeply concerned for Philip's well being,” his lawyer said.
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Ars Technica
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Apr 22, 09 3:54 PM CDT
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Software that would automatically rate the credibility of blogs on a scale from highly credible to “little credible” is in the works in Austria, Ars Technica reports. The program analyzes the distribution of words in successive blog posts and also compares topics against stories covered in the mainstream media to judge timeliness and accuracy. The developers say they hope it will work without any human input.
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Christian Science Monitor
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Apr 22, 09 12:14 PM CDT
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Last week’s guilty verdict against the Swedes behind the Pirate Bay filesharing site not only hasn’t shuttered the operation—it’s boosted support for the cause of free information, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The affiliated Pirate Party, which advocates for copyright reform, has doubled its membership just since the verdict came down, becoming the fourth-largest party in Sweden. It’s our “ticket to the European Parliament,” the group’s leader said.
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New York Times
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Apr 22, 09 11:46 AM CDT
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A restaurant reviewer and her lawyers are after a man who’s been tweeting and blogging under her name, the New York Times reports. Adam Robb Rucinsky has been spoofing New York Daily News critic Danyelle Freeman, aka Restaurant Girl, imitating her distinctive style in posts using both her monikers. Freeman’s lawyers have asked Rucinsky to stop, citing trademark infringement, but he’s not planning to.
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ABC News
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Apr 22, 09 10:02 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The woman who survived a robbery at the hands of Craigslist suspect Philip Markoff did so by offering no resistance, ABC News reports. “I just complied with everything he wanted me to do,” said Trisha Leffler, whom Markoff met at a Boston hotel for a massage. “I didn’t resist him in any way and that’s why.” Leffler, who lost $800, has positively identified Markoff as her assailant.
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Network World
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Apr 21, 09 3:05 PM CDT
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Phonemaker Nokia is flummoxed as to why hackers are offering more than $32,000 in underground forums for old handsets, NetworkWorld reports—though bank fraud is a distinct possibility. “We have not identified any phone software problem that would allow” misuse, the company said. But a 2003 model manufactured at a certain plant in Germany can be used to intercept secure online banking codes—and voilà ! Free money.
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New York Times
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Apr 21, 09 2:27 PM CDT
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A search of the home of alleged Craigslist killer Philip Markoff turned up a handgun, ammunition, and plastic restraints, the New York Times reports. Boston police believe the ties are identical to ones used in two hotel robbery/assaults that left one woman dead by gunshot last week. Markoff pleaded not guilty today. Meanwhile, investigators tell the Globe they believe Markoff perpetrated the robberies to fuel a gambling addiction.
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San Francisco Chronicle
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Apr 21, 09 1:38 PM CDT
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San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom made his candidacy for California governor official today with nary a word, the Chronicle reports—except on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Though Newsom plans to publicize his run with in-person appearances, an adviser called the old sort of announcement “passé.” The state’s Democratic convention is just days away, with many potential office-seekers still unannounced.
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New York Times
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Apr 18, 09 8:03 AM CDT
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The blog-to-book cycle is speeding up as publishers seek fast cash from Internet funnies, the New York Times reports. Sites like Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves —featuring user-submitted photos of pets in bizarre outfits—have gone from startup to print in a matter of weeks, with the "authors" doing little but coming up with the idea.
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Wired
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Apr 16, 09 8:00 PM CDT
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YouTube's latest move to add Sony as a partner highlights the delicate balance it's trying to strike between Hollywood and its own roots in "homegrown video," writes Chris Snyder in Wired . The deals with Sony and others authorize the site—under pressure to curb unauthorized uploads—to show full-length movies and thousands of TV episodes in a new section of the site dubbed YouTube Shows.
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Ars Technica
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Apr 15, 09 4:26 PM CDT
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A web portal planned by some top media execs may be the way forward for beleagured newspapers. Journalism Online would act as a “one-stop shop” for pay content, writes Nate Anderson for Ars Technica. Consumers could buy subscriptions to many newspapers at low prices, and with a sliding scale of cost and access—on the thinking that readers will be more inclined to pay once than maintain several subscriptions.
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eWeek
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Apr 15, 09 3:31 PM CDT
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Spam e-mails consume 20% of companies' energy budgets, enough collectively to run 2.4 million houses, says a study commissioned by the security firm McAfee. Most of the waste results from end users sifting through the 62 trillion junk items sent annually, eWeek reports. Eliminating spam would be the equivalent of taking one car off the road for each 200 employees in a 1,000-person company, according to the report..
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Time
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Apr 15, 09 12:50 PM CDT
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When TMZ got the poop on the Obamas' new dog, it sent a message to Washington: The celebrity gossip site has arrived. TMZ, co-owned by AOL, has scored exclusives before—like the photo of Rihanna’s bruised face and the report of Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic rant—but Bo's arrival was the first big get for its year-old Washington bureau, Time reports. And it could be the tip of the iceberg.
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Silicon Alley Insider
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Apr 12, 09 7:23 PM CDT
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Hey, you! Yes, you, the guy who keeps posting video of your nephew batting a ball into your brother’s family jewels. You’re going to kill YouTube, warns Benjamin Wayne of Silicon Alley Insider. Owner Google will lose $470 million this year on YouTube because, he writes, “less and less of YouTube’s library will be revenue-contributing, while the costs of delivering that library will continue to grow.”
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CNET
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Apr 10, 09 1:02 PM CDT
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Apple has sold 928 million programs to mobile users and plans to celebrate its billionth App Store download by awarding a random customer a huge haul of merchandise, CNET reports. The lucky customer will walk away with a MacBook Pro, a 32GB iPod Touch, and a $10,000 iTunes gift certificate. Which of the 30,000 apps available propelled Apple to these heights? The Facebook app tops the free column, while the most customers paid for Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D.
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AFP
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Apr 9, 09 2:40 PM CDT
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The French legislature has put a stop—for now—to an anti-piracy law that would deny Internet access to repeat offenders, AFP reports. The law, a pet of President Nicolas Sarkozy, would deal the ultimate blow to illegal downloaders after three strikes, and replace the current regime of fines and prison time. An opposition leader called the vote, encouraged by the telecom industry and privacy advocates, a “personal defeat” for Sarko.
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Washington Post
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Apr 9, 09 12:35 PM CDT
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The Federal Communications Commission is beginning to draw up a plan to deliver broadband internet to every home in the US, the Washington Post reports. But as the FCC accepts public comment and reviews policy in the year it has to draft the plan, broadband providers will be using stimulus cash to build new infrastructure—without the guidance of a national blueprint.
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Reuters
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Apr 8, 09 1:03 PM CDT
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Fear of computer viruses is now one of the major reasons people are getting them in the first place, Reuters reports. According to Microsoft, seven of the 25 top threats come in the form of fake security programs, which users terrified of malware like Conficker are installing indiscriminately. Losing market share to the bugs they try to defend against has flummoxed above-board Internet security firms.
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