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By Alina Selyukh and Liana B. Baker WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dish Network Corp is ramping up its Washington-centric campaign to thwart Japanese firm SoftBank Corp's bid for Sprint Nextel Corp, hoping to convince lawmakers and government reviewers that it poses national security risks. On Wednesday, Dish ads appeared in Washington publications the Washington Post, Politico, The Hill, Roll Call and the National Journal as well as online news sites, including Reuters.com. ...

By Jim Finkle (Reuters) - Twitter Inc unveiled technology to boost security for its users, following a spate of attacks on accounts of prominent media outlets including the Associated Press, the Financial Times and The Onion. The micro blogging site, which transmits some 400 million messages a day, said on Wednesday that it had begun rolling out an optional "login verification" service to thwart hackers seeking to hijack accounts with stolen passwords. ...

Twitter has added two-step verification to increase its security after all the recent hacks into high profile media accounts, but you should go sign up for it right this minute — because everyone's vulnerable to password attacks these days. Or maybe not right this minute, since there are some reports that Twitter is a little overwhelmed and others have reported the two steps aren't showing up for everyone. But at some point in the very near future, you get on that. Here's why, even if the new cellphone hiccup seems cumbersome.

Don't expect to see Apple's iWatch until the second half of next year, says KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc began introducing new technology on Wednesday to shore up security for users, responding to a spate of recent attacks on prominent accounts including those owned by the Associated Press and Financial Times. Twitter said in a blog post it has begun to introduce "login verification," a form of two-factor authentication in security industry parlance. The feature asks users to confirm their identity after a typical log-in, by sending a six-digit code to smartphones that must then be typed in to complete a sign-on. ...

The evolution of gaming is about to make a quantum leap. Here's what you need to know.

By Jim Finkle (Reuters) - Cybersecurity researcher HD Moore discovered he could use the Internet to access the controls of some 30 pipeline sensors around the country that were not password protected. A hacking expert who helps companies uncover network vulnerabilities, Moore said he found the sensors last month while analyzing information in huge, publicly available databases of Internet-connected devices. "We know that systems are exposed and vulnerable. ...

Perhaps it was odd enough that Sen. John McCain asked Tim Cook why he kept having to update the apps on his iPhone, but one question was even more painful.

By Liana B. Baker (Reuters) - Dish Network Corp has rolled out an advertising campaign suggesting a deal by a Japanese company to acquire Sprint Nextel Corp could threaten U.S. national security, hoping to sway lawmakers and win support for its rival offer. The campaign, which so far appears on the Internet and in Washington-area newspapers, is Dish's most public lobbying effort yet against Japan-based SoftBank Corp. Dish has been pushing the national security angle hard in Washington. ...

It took months of painstaking research and development for an engineer to build a light-up ring for his fiance that activates when he's nearby.

Microsoft confirms Xbox Live Arcade games from Xbox 360 won't carry over to the next-generation platform.

Some things you take for granted, like the fact that in Star Trek, there’s a computer that’s always listening, always observing, always standing by cataloging data. Who owns that data? Where’s it stored? Who determines how it’s used? Who knows. The shows chose to slide by those questions and focus on others. ...

The online music service spruces up its Web site and mobile apps to ease the process of sharing music on Facebook.

By Andrew Osborn and Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) - Google Inc's tax affairs came under renewed scrutiny in Britain on Wednesday when the leader of the opposition Labour party accused the Internet company of wrongly going to "extraordinary lengths" to avoid paying tax. In comments designed to politically outflank Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of next month's G8 summit on what has become a high-profile issue, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, said he was disappointed that Google paid so little tax. "I can't be the only person here who feels disappointed that such a great company as Google ...

Jood Jod, jrumble disjruntled Tumblr hardlinrs

The internet - and especially the recently-sold content sausage machine Tumblr, epicentre of the animated gif rebirth - is reeling today at the news that when referring to image files formatted as .gifs one should pronounce it "jif".…

LONDON (Reuters) - Pearson's Penguin said on Wednesday it would pay $75 million in damages plus costs and fees as part of an agreement with the United States over alleged price-fixing in the e-book market. Pearson, which will take an extra provision on its accounts this year after setting aside $40 million in 2012, had already reached an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department in the e-book pricing case. The latest deal settles the case with individual states in the country. ...

By Sylvia Westall KUWAIT (Reuters) - After two lackluster decades, Kuwait is experiencing a quiet revival of an arts scene once known as the most avant garde in the Gulf, thanks to a new generation eager to tackle sensitive issues using cutting-edge art forms. The artists have been exhibiting works in the graphic arts, photography, animation and fashion in private galleries but also bypassing traditional venues and arts groups - and possible censorship - by showing their work online to reach an audience beyond the 3.7 million people in Kuwait. ...

A day after the next-gen console's unveiling, U.K. tech retailer Zavvi is asking for a whopping 400 pounds, or about $608, for the next-generation Xbox One.

The same Live Gold membership can be used on both the Xbox 360 and the upcoming Xbox One. And multiple accounts will be able to tap into that single membership.

LONDON (Reuters) - Publisher Pearson said on Wednesday it would pay $75 million in consumer damages plus cost and fees as part of a deal with the United States to settle anti-trust claims relating to eBook pricing for its Penguin division. Pearson said it had made a $40 million provision for a settlement in its 2012 accounts. An incremental charge will be expensed in the group's 2013 accounts. Penguin has also committed to the State Attorneys General to abide by the same injunctive relief as previously agreed in a separate settlement with the Department of Justice, it said. ...

It was nice knowing you, radio - thanks for all the jingles

BMW is to offer access to Brit streaming music service Rara in its new Series 5 motors. Is this the beginning of the end for broadcast radio?…

By Tom Bergin LONDON (Reuters) - Apple's ability to shelter billions of dollars of income from tax has depended on an unusual loophole in the Irish tax code that helps the country compete with other countries for investment and jobs. A U.S. Senate investigation revealed Tuesday that Apple, maker of iPhones, iPads and Mac computers, channeled profits into Irish-incorporated subsidiaries that had "no declared tax residency anywhere in the world. ...

By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Google Inc's tax affairs came under renewed scrutiny in Britain on Wednesday when the leader of the opposition Labour party accused the Internet company of wrongly going to "extraordinary lengths" to avoid paying tax. In comments designed to politically outflank Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of next month's G8 summit on what has become a high-profile issue, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, said he was disappointed that Google paid so little tax. "I can't be the only person here who feels disappointed that such a great company as Google ... ...

Rap star's publisher slaps copyright claim on Home ad

Rapper Eminem's song publisher Eight Mile Style is accusing Facebook and its ad agency of (slim) shady dealings with one of his songs.…

We hope you have plenty of spare time, you'll need it

Sky will next month shut down Acetrax, a website that streams movies and offers downloads of DRM-encrypted films to paying punters.…

By Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two years after resigning from Congress in a lewd photo scandal, former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner announced in a video message early on Wednesday he is running for New York City mayor. "I made some big mistakes and I know I let a lot of people down, but I also learned some tough lessons," Weiner said in the video. "I'm running because I've been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it my entire life. ...

Adolescents overshare, astonishing survey finds

Teenaged kids are handing out more private information on social media than ever before, with little thought for the consequences, a not-so-surprising survey has found.…

Our annual snapshot of the top 100 women in business, politics, celebrity, philanthropy, billionaires, media and technology.

By Tim Kelly TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp cut its sales targets for digital cameras, smartphones and tablets by 13-17 percent for the year to end-March 2015, but said there were "encouraging" signs of a revival in its electronics business. CEO Kazuo Hirai told a press briefing on Wednesday that Sony would assess a proposal from its biggest shareholder, billionaire Daniel Loeb's Third Point LLC hedge fund, that the group should sell up to a fifth of its music and movies business, which includes artists such as Adele and hit franchises like "Spider-Man". ...

Wildly fast on the 240GHz band

It won't make fibre-optic networking obsolete anytime soon, but it's still an impressive achievement: German researchers have demonstrated a one-kilometre point-to-point wireless transmission at 40Gbps.…

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Sony Corp lowered its sales target for digital cameras to 1.3 trillion yen ($12.7 billion) for the fiscal year to end-March 2015, from a previous estimate of 1.5 trillion yen. Sony also cut its sales target for smartphones and tablets to 1.5 trillion yen in its 2014 fiscal year from an earlier outlook of 1.8 trillion yen. ...

The parents of an American software engineer who believe their son was murdered last year in Singapore withdrew from the inquest Wednesday, saying they have no confidence in the city-state's legal process. ...

By Kevin Lim and Joyce Lim SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The parents of a U.S. engineer found dead in Singapore last year said on Wednesday they will not take part in the rest of a coroner's inquiry into his death, which they say was linked to a project involving the transfer of sensitive technology to China. In a statement issued through their lawyers, Rick and Mary Todd said they had lost confidence in the system investigating the death of their 31-year-old son, Shane, who was found hanging in his Singapore apartment last June. The Todds did not appear in court on Wednesday, the day after a U.S. ...

BEIJING (Reuters) - A court in the city of Chongqing has charged six people with working together to blackmail government officials by recording videos of them having sex, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. The six were charged with extortion on Monday, Xinhua said, citing a statement from judicial authorities in Chongqing, where they are slated to be tried. Investigators said the group "lured officials into having sex with women and secretly recorded their encounters to blackmail them from 2008 to 2009", Xinhua said. ...

Plus 600 call-centre bods face 'voluntary redundancies', says union

More than 3,000 helpdesk staff at mobile network O2 will be transferred to outsourcing giant Capita and around 600 made redundant by August, according to the Communications Workers Union.…

Office supplies... mmm. We hear there's money in that

Groupon's head of retail is leaving the beleaguered voucher bazaar after just one year in the job.…

Puckering ensues at Cisco, Juniper, Brocade

Not content with shaking up storage and servers, Facebook is creating an open source switch to help it save money on networking equipment and stop it being dependent on technologies pioneered by any single company.…

Chrome tool could ransack music vault, says coder

Spotify has tweaked the music player on its website after someone apparently found a way to harvest every single MP3 file from the audio-streaming service.…

Liberty Global appoints Tom Mockridge

A veteran News Corp exec is to become the next chief of Virgin Media once US cable giant completes its acquisition of the telco.…

Data center switches, service provider routers start to pick up

The top brass at Juniper Networks are breathing a little bit easier as the company turned in numbers that show it is growing despite taking a big hit in sales of gear, software, and services to the US government in the first quarter.…

If you've got it, Big Blue will manage it

First virtualization chewed up processors and regurgitated them as a pile of fungible compute resources, then it started gobbling storage, and now it's turned its hungry eye to networks, and IBM wants to help VMware, OpenStack, and others, do the chewing.…

Radio network between stock exchanges hits 357 million MPH

“Time? They ain’t making any more of it, so you gotta get in and get out, or you’ll get your f*****g face ripped off,” screamed an old Chicago Merc floor trader at my grad school class during a field trip.…