The year's 9 most hilarious New York Times corrections

Egregiously, the Gray Lady mistook My Little Pony's Fluttershy for Twilight SparkleThe internet has unquestionably made it easier for readers to interact with big media organizations — and that includes calling them out on mistakes. Still, you've really got to hand it to The New York Times. Internet or no, the paper of record has long exhibited unrivaled diligence when it comes to issuing corrections....

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The grassroots movement to get Piers Morgan deported: Could it actually work?

More than 60,000 people have signed a petition to get the CNN commentator kicked out of the country for his outspoken views on gun controlCan a foreign-born political commentator be deported for making political comments? That's the question — and the goal — of more than 60,000 Americans who have signed a petition to deport British journalist Piers Morgan for his outspoken views on gun control. On...

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Acer's $99 tablet: Just what the world needs?

The PC maker reportedly plans to unveil a gadget that will undercut the gadgets that undercut the iPadAcer, the world's fourth largest PC maker, is reportedly becoming the first heavy hitter in the industry to make a tablet that — at $99 a pop — will be inexpensive enough to be within reach of a wide range of buyers in developing countries. Chinese companies making no-name budget tablets should be...

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Seven Things Parents Can Do Post-Newtown Without Government

These simple common-sense steps are adapted from a post I published on my blog after the horrific Newtown, Conn., massacre. Our hearts ache, but we are not completely helpless or hopeless in the face of evil and the unknown. And we are not alone. This Christmas, cherish life, keep faith and practice self-empowerment.7. Teach our kids about the acts of heroes in times of crisis. Tell them about Newtown...

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State-Run Broadcasting Pushes for Taxes

A "serious" proposal is one that has a reasonable expectation of resolving a conflict. Anyone studying Speaker Boehner's Plan B proposal knows it wasn't serious. Why are so many defending it and bemoaning its defeat?It tells you an awful lot about the dishonest nature of politics in America today.Republicans — fiscally conservative Republicans — have argued since forever that tax increases diminish...

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Samsung Smart TVs: The next frontier for data theft and hacking [video]

Smart TVs, particularly Samsung’s (005930) last few generations of flat screens, can be hacked to give attackers remote access according to a security startup called ReVuln. The company says it discovered a “zero-day exploit” that hackers could potentially use to perform malicious activities that range from stealing accounts linked through apps to using built-in webcams and microphones to spy on...

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Huge Wave of Google App Updates Hits iOS, Android

Google just brought iPhone and Android phone users a holiday gift. Google Maps has returned to the iPhone, this time in the form of its own separate app, while Google Currents -- the company's Flipboard-style online magazine app for Android -- received a substantial update as well.Besides the two big updates, about a half-dozen other apps for Android and Google TV received bug fixes and new features,...

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Valve Confirms New Game Console on Its Way

In an interview with Kotaku's Jason Schreier at the Spike TV Video Game Awards, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell confirmed that a "living-room-friendly PC package," designed to "compete with next-gen consoles from companies like Microsoft and Sony," will be available for purchase starting next year.What makes a PC a PCMost of the machines Newell described, which he expected "companies" would "start selling"...

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$35 Raspberry Pi computer gets its own app store

DIY developers adore the $35 Raspberry Pi and huge communities have enabled the Linux-powered computer to do cool things like emulate Super Nintendo games and run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. What’s next for the cheap computer? The Raspberry Pi Foundation announced it’s launching the “Pi Store” – an app store created in partnership with IndieCity and Velocix. Anyone will be able to download and...

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Is the Christmas card dead?

Author Nina Burleigh says the holiday photo is dead — and the internet killed itEvery year around the holidays, countless Americans sit down at their dining room tables to thoughtfully scribble pen-and-paper updates about how they are and what they've been doing with their lives to a select number of friends. These messages are usually written on the back of a recent family photograph (sometimes with...

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Kids given healthier snacks eat fewer calories

- Kids given a combination of cheese and vegetables will eat only about a quarter as many calories as those given potato chips, according to a new study."Like it or not, children like foods that are energy-dense and not those that are nutrient-rich. That is because children are still growing. That is basic physiology," said Adam Drewnowski, director of the Nutritional Sciences Program at the University...

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FDA approves Roche's Tamiflu for infants with new flu symptoms

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday expanded the use of Tamiflu, the flu drug from Roche, to children as young as two weeks old who have shown flu symptoms for no more than two days.The FDA said the drug cannot be used to prevent flu infection in this age group. The drug is currently approved as both a flu treatment and preventative flu drug for children ages 1 and older, and adults. It...

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Spending on food advertising to kids fell in '09 - U.S. FTC

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Food companies spent considerably less to advertise to children in 2009 than they did in 2006 as they shifted to the Internet, and products pitched to kids got slightly healthier, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said in a report on Friday. Cereal makers, fast food restaurants and other food companies spent $1.79 billion to advertise to children aged 2 to 17 in 2009, down almost...

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Chelation doesn't help kids with autism: study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Removing heavy metals from the body through a process traditionally used to treat mercury and lead poisoning doesn't help relieve autism symptoms, a new analysis suggests.During chelation therapy, patients are given injections of a chemical that binds to heavy metals, lowering their concentration in the blood and ultimately allowing the metals to be excreted through urine.Chelation...

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Violence, fear & suspicion imperil Pakistan's war on polio

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani health worker Bushra Bibi spent eight years trekking to remote villages, carefully dripping polio vaccine into toddlers' pursed mouths to protect them from the crippling disease.Now the 35-year-old mother is too scared to go to work after masked men on motorbikes gunned down nine of her fellow health workers in a string of attacks this week."I have seen so...

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Pressure mounts on Obama to change tactics on Iran

Arguing that further sanctions "are unlikely to stop Iran's nuclear pursuits," a group of Iran experts and senior former officials are calling on the White House to pursue realistic, "serious, sustained negotiations" with Tehran that they say are the best chance to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. The letter to President Obama, from 24 signatories whose professional careers have often been marked by...

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South Korea's president-elect promises 'new era of change'

South Korea’s President-elect Park Geun-hye signaled today the tough policy toward North Korea that she’s likely to pursue when she embarks on her five-year term as president in February. She began the day after winning the presidential election by visiting the national cemetery, bowing before the grave of her father, Park Chung-hee, the long-ruling dictator who was assassinated by his intelligence...

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In India, a Hindu nationalist rebuilds image with Muslim votes

The Hindu nationalist leader of the western state of Gujarat, known for his alleged role in the 2002 riots in which 1,000 Muslims were killed, won his fourth consecutive term as chief minister in a landslide on Thursday. The victory puts the controversial figure on track to be a strong contender for prime minister of India in 2014. Despite the controversy surrounding Chief Minister Narendra Modi,...

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Estela de Carlotto hunts for Argentina's grandchildren 'stolen' decades ago

Estela de Carlotto isn't like most grandmothers. Instead of easing herself into retirement and enjoying the slower pace of life it affords, she remains a dogged workaholic. Every weekday she rises early without fail in order to make the 70-mile round trip from her hometown of La Plata to an office in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. "I had other ideas about what I'd be doing with my life, such...

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Syria fires more Scud missiles as refugee projections climb

A daily summary of global reports on security issues. The head of NATO condemned the Syrian government's return to firing Scud-type missiles yesterday, saying they were "acts of a desperate regime approaching collapse." NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that surveillance captured evidence of the firing of fresh rounds of missiles yesterday morning, Reuters reports, while American officials confirmed...

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Yemen army shells tribesmen for blocking pipeline repairs

The Yemeni army launched an assault on Sunday using tanks and rockets on tribesmen blocking repairs to the country's main oil export pipeline, tribal sources said.Earlier this month, the military launched a major offensive against tribesmen suspected of repeatedly blowing up the Maarib pipeline and attacking power lines. At least 17 soldiers were killed in an ambush by suspected al Qaeda militants."Armed...

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Egypt's constitution approved in vote, say rival camps

 A constitution drafted by an Islamist-dominated assembly was approved by a majority of Egyptians in a referendum, rival camps said on Sunday, after a vote the opposition said drove a wedge through the Arab world's most populous nation.The Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled President Mohamed Mursi to power in a June election, said an unofficial tally showed 64 percent of voters backed the charter...

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Israel says Syria chemical weapons are secure for now

 Syria's chemical weapons are still secure despite the fact that President Bashar al-Assad has lost control of parts of the country, a senior Israeli defense official said on Sunday.Amos Gilad told Army Radio that the civil war between Assad and opposition forces fighting to topple him had become deadlocked, but that the Syrian leader showed no signs of heeding international calls to step down."Suppose...

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Exclusive: Pakistan's army chief makes Afghan peace "top priority"

WANA, Pakistan/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's powerful army chief has made reconciling warring factions in Afghanistan a top priority, military officials and Western diplomats say, the newest and clearest sign yet that Islamabad means business in promoting peace with the Taliban.General Ashfaq Kayani is backing dialogue partly due to fears that the end of the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan in...

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North Korea could have U.S. within missile range, says South

This month's rocket launch by reclusive North Korea shows it has likely developed the technology, long suspected in the West, to fire a warhead more than 10,000 km (6,200 miles), South Korean officials said on Sunday, putting the U.S. West Coast in range.North Korea said the December 12 launch put a weather satellite in orbit but critics say it was aimed at nurturing the kind of technology needed...

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Why the Slowest Investors Win the Race

Anyone who attended kindergarten remembers Aesop's fable about the tortoise and the hare. The story's moral has implications for investors: Slow but steady wins the race.Hare investors try to sprint to the finish line of a comfortable retirement without girding their portfolios against the perils of volatility — frequent ups and downs in asset value. So they tend to lag far behind tortoise investors,...

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