Apple called on to pull 'gay cure' app from iTunes

Apple on Monday was under pressure to yank a so-called "gay cure" application from its iTunes shop for software for iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices.
More than 110,000 people had electronically signed an online petition at a change.org website calling for Apple to remove the Exodus International application from iTunes.
Exodus, a Florida-based Christian group that advocates freeing oneself from homosexuality through religion, has publicly condemned the petition as an assault on free speech and an improper spin on the application's purpose.
The free software program links users to Exodus information including videos, podcasts, a Twitter feed, and the group's page at social networking service Facebook.
Exodus boasted at its website that Apple ranked its program as containing "no objectionable material."
"This application is designed to be a useful resource for men, women, parents, students, and ministry leaders," Exodus said.
"We hope to reach a broader demographic and readily provide information that is crucial for many seeking hope and encouragement," the message continued.
The online petition picking up momentum on Monday expressed shock at iTunes approving an app from "a notoriously anti-gay organization" that used "scare tactics, misinformation, stereotypes and distortions."
Exodus advocates "reparative therapy" to change the sexual orientation of homosexuals.
"No objectionable content?" a message at the petition page at change.org asked rhetorically. "We beg to differ. Exodus's message is hateful and bigoted."

US man arrested in hacker stock fraud scheme

US authorities Monday arrested and charged a Texas man accused of masterminding a scheme using a Russian hacker and an email spam campaign to pump up the value of fledgling companies, the Justice Department said.
Christopher Rad, 42, of Cedar Park, Texas, was arrested by FBI agents on a federal indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and transmit commercial email messages with fraudulent information.
The scheme employed hackers, including at least one in Russia, to distribute computer viruses to infect computers around the world and create so-called "botnet" computers that were used to manipulate stocks, a Justice Department statement said.
"In addition to relying on unsuspecting investors to buy into the spam promotions, the hackers also hacked into the brokerage accounts of third parties, liquidated the stocks in those accounts, and then used those accounts to purchase shares of the manipulated stocks," the statement said.
"This created trading activity in the manipulated stocks and increased the volume of shares being traded, further creating an impression that the manipulated stocks were worth purchasing."
Rad is the second person charged in the so-called "pump and dump" scheme.
James Bragg, 42, pleaded guilty on October 20 to charges linked to his role in hiring botnet operators and engaging in mass email campaigns to pump up the value of stock prior to dumping shares, the Justice Department said.
The scheme began as early as November 2007 and continued through February 2009, and allowed the perpetrators to gain control of so-called "penny stocks" which were not traded on major exchanges.
In some cases, the conspirators would trade the stock among themselves to give the impression of trading volume to increase market interest.
The conspiracy count with which Rad was charged carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

'Worst song ever' tops 30 million YouTube views

A song by a California teenager that has been mercilessly panned by music critics has topped 30 million views on YouTube and rocketed up Apple's iTunes charts.
"Friday," sung by 13-year-old Rebecca Black, was uploaded to YouTube last month by Ark Music Factory, a Los Angeles-based company that was hired by the girl's parents to produce the song for their daughter.
"It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday, everybody's looking forward to the weekend," the chorus goes. "Partying, partying, partying. Fun, fun, fun, fun. Looking forward to the weekend."
The video attracted scant attention until a popular comedian linked to it on his blog 10 days ago saying "Songwriting Isn't for Everyone."
As the tune began to attract attention on YouTube, a Yahoo! music blog called it a "mind-meltingly horrific song" and asked readers "Is YouTube Sensation Rebecca Black's 'Friday' The Worst Song Ever?"
Time magazine described "Friday" as a "train wreck" and the video as "hilariously dreadful."
The poor reviews only fueled more interest in the video and it has become a viral hit, racking up millions of YouTube views, spawning a slew of parodies on the video-sharing site and making Black an Internet sensation.
A total of around 17,000 YouTube viewers have hit the "like" button on YouTube for the song while the vast majority -- 133,100 -- have gone for "dislike."
"Friday" was nonetheless number 45 on the iTunes list of best-selling 99-cent singles on Monday.
Amid the deluge of venom, Black has shown considerable poise and dignity in interviews and appearances in which she has addressed her numerous detractors.
The aspiring singer told ABC's Good Morning America that some of the comments had made her cry.
"When I first saw all these nasty comments I did cry," Black said. "I felt like this was my fault and I shouldn't have done this and this is all because of me.
"Now I don't feel that way," she said.
"I think I have talent on some level," Black told Good Morning America. "I don't think I'm the worst singer but I don't think I'm the best singer."
Asked who she would most like to sing a duet with, the YouTube star said Justin Bieber, the Canadian teen idol who was also discovered on YouTube.
"I have Bieber fever," she said. "I am in love with Justin Bieber."

Microsoft says Android e-reader violates patents

Microsoft on Monday accused Taiwan electronics colossus Foxconn and US book seller Barnes & Noble of using its patented technology in e-readers running on Google-backed Android software.
Taiwan-based Inventec Corporation was also targeted in Microsoft's legal filings with the US International Trade Commission and a federal court in Washington state where the software giant has its headquarters.
"By bringing this case, we are protecting our investments on behalf of our customers, partners and shareholders - just as other companies do," Microsoft deputy general counsel Horacio Gutierrez said in a blog post.
"Our firm view remains, however, that licensing is the best way forward for the industry."
The legal filings assert that the bookseller's Nook e-reader and Nook Color tablet violate Microsoft patents.
Patents at issue include being able to page through on-screen windows using tabs and to annotate text without altering digital documents, according to Gutierrez.
The filings raised to 25 the total number of Microsoft patents that are the subjects of infringement litigation centered on smartphones, tablets or other devices powered by Android software.
Taiwan-based HTC Corp. last year bought a license from Microsoft to cover technology in Android-powered smartphones, the attorney said.
The legal filings came after more than a year of talks with Barnes & Noble, Foxconn, and Inventec failed to culminate in a licensing deal, according to Microsoft.

Facebook buys startup to link with more mobile phones

Facebook is buying an Israeli startup that specializes in software that connects any type of mobile telephone to the leading online social network and other popular Internet destinations.
Facebook on Monday confirmed that it is acquiring Snaptu with an eye toward extending its reach to the hundreds of millions of mobile phones that don't feature the computer-like Internet capabilities of smartphones.
"As part of our goal to offer people around the world the opportunity to connect and share on mobile devices, we're excited to confirm that we recently signed an agreement to acquire Snaptu," Facebook said in an email response to an AFP inquiry.
"As part of Facebook, Snaptu's team and technology will enable us to deliver an even better mobile experience on feature phones more quickly."
The deal was expected to close in a few weeks. Financial details were not disclosed.
Snaptu was founded in 2007 with the stated goal of making available on "feature phones" innovative services people access routinely on smartphones.
Nearly 1.6 billion mobile phones were sold worldwide last year, with 296.6 million of those being sophisticated smartphones, according to figures released last month by industry tracker Gartner.
In January, Facebook launched a new software application for feature phones that was co-developed with Snaptu.
"We'll be working hard to offer a richer and more advanced Facebook app on virtually every mobile phone," Snaptu said.

German 'incest trucker' jailed

A German court on Tuesday jailed a former lorry driver for 14 and a half years for sexually abusing his daughter, stepson and stepdaughter, with whom he fathered eight children.
Spies "was utterly selfish. He treated his family as his own personal property to do with as he wished," presiding judge Winfried Hetger told the court in Koblenz, western Germany, as he passed sentence.
"He had his family in his clutches to such an extent that he didn't even have to lock anyone up.... He told his victims that what he was doing to them was 'allowed'."
In a trial that has shocked the country and drawn comparisons with the infamous 2009 case of Austrian Josef Fritzl, Spies subjected his family to an ordeal lasting more than 20 years in and around the tiny village of Fluterschen.
The court heard how he would abuse his daughter Jasmin and stepdaughter Natascha on a regular basis from their 12th birthdays onwards, raping his daughter for the first time on the back seat of his Toyota in a forest.
Spies also prostituted both girls out to other men dozens of times either in their flats, in a shed or in the back room of one of the men's Turkish doner kebab shop, the judge said.
He would sometimes watch and masturbate during these ordeals. He would be paid 40 deutschmarks and later 30-50 euros (42-69 dollars) each time, the court heard.
Spies was found guilty of 28 counts of sexually abusing minors, 42 counts of serious sexual assault of children, and 63 counts of sexually abusing people under his care.
"When you add all these crimes together you come to a total sentence of 500 years and 10 months," judge Hetger said.
"German law however does not allow such a sentence."
Visitors in the packed courtroom cheered as the sentence was handed down, while the small, thin and unremarkable-looking Spies stared at the floor, showing no emotion, as his stepchildren, now adults, sat opposite.
Spies had admitted fathering eight children, one of whom died, with his stepdaughter, who is now 28. This was however not part of the trial.
The sentence demanded -- 14 years and six months -- was just under the maximum possible of 15 years, because on Monday he had made a full confession through his lawyer. After the sentence he will be in preventive custody.
Several German media outlets have compared Spies to Fritzl, who held his daughter Elisabeth as a sex slave in a cramped, homemade dungeon in Austria for 24 years. He was jailed for life in 2009.
Fritzl raped Elisabeth thousands of times, fathering seven children with her and letting one of the newborn babies die. He was sentenced to life in prison in March 2009.
This latest case has also laid bare the failure of neighbours and authorities to detect what was going on, with social workers having conducted interviews with the family -- but with Spies present.
"If you are a trained social worker, you are supposed to go there and interview the victims without the perpetrator being present, and not all together," stepson Bjoern said previously.
It emerged on the first day of the trial that there was a criminal investigation in 2002 but that it was abandoned because the daughter disputed the accusations against her father, while the stepdaughter said nothing.
Spies was arrested on August 10, 2010.
The mother of the three victims, who is in her 50s, appeared as a witness in the trial and prosecutors have not charged her with any offence.
"This verdict is also an appeal to all other victims out there not to keep quiet, but to have the courage to speak out," Hetger said.
"Only then will the hurting stop."

A Small Story For Boy and Girl

A boy and a girl were playing together. The boy had a collection of marbles. The girl had some sweets with her. The boy told the girl that he will give her all his marbles in exchange for her sweets. The girl agreed.
The boy kept the biggest and the most beautiful marble aside and gave the rest to the girl. The girl gave him all her sweets as she had promised.
That night, the girl slept peacefully. But the boy couldn’t sleep as he kept wondering if the girl had hidden some sweets from him the way he had hidden his best marble.
Moral of the story: If you don’t give your hundred percent in a relationship, you’ll always keep doubting if the other person has given his/her hundred percent..
This is applicable for any relationship like love, employer-employee relationship etc.,
Give your hundred percent to everything you do and sleep peacefully!