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U.K. Bishops Urge Lenten 'Tech Fast,' U.S. Taps Ashton for Russian Geek Summit

by Warren Riddle on February 17, 2010 at 11:58 AM


Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines....
  • Last year, a Roman Catholic bishop urged believers to give up text messaging for Lent, and, this Ash Wednesday, other religious leaders are expanding on that suggestion. Instead of encouraging church members to avoid chocolate or other trivialities, a group of English bishops has asked that Anglicans engage in a complete "technology fast" this Lenten season. [From: The Telegraph]
  • The United States is dispatching a team of tech all-stars to Russia today for a week-long technology summit. The U.S. team will include Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, as well as officials from eBay, Cisco, and Mozilla. But, the U.S. is also apparently trying to surreptitiously reignite the Cold War, as mega-tweeter Ashton Kutcher is somehow included in the delegation. That should put the "Annoy" back in "A"-Bomb. [From: The Washington Post]
  • Privacy advocates have criticized the use of full-body scanners in airports for several years, and now a powerful new ally has joined the crusade against the intrusive, revealing machines. The Islamic Fiqh Council of North America has urged Muslims to refuse the scanners and to instead ask for pat-down searches because "The Qu'ran has commanded the believers, both men and women, to cover their private parts." [From: Daily Tech]
  • At its debut, Google's Buzz was immediately met with criticism over privacy issues, particularly the fact that Gmail subscribers were automatically signed up for the networking service. The Electronic Privacy Information Center is now voicing its displeasure, and has complained to the Federal Trade Commission in order to inspire Google to enable an "opt-in" feature. But, unlike other social networking sites, Google has actually taken an active approach in addressing the issues. [From: NPR]
  • Hulu helped revolutionize the way people watch television, and, since its introduction, seemingly every major network (that's not represented on Hulu) has attempted to create its own streaming service. HBO is now set to debut its own version of Hulu, dubbed HBO Go, which will provide HBO subscribers with three-times the amount of content that is available with HBO On Demand. [From: Business Insider]
  • A group of Russian companies is attempting to construct a 759-mile underwater Baltic Sea pipeline in order to distribute natural gas to Europe, but construction has been hampered by submerged mines and bombs that still remain from WWII. A British company is addressing the explosive problem by dispatching underwater robots that can safely detonate the bombs and then clean up the resulting debris. [From: Infrastructurist]

Tags: ashton kutcher, AshtonKutcher, baltic sea, BalticSea, buzz, google, google buzz, GoogleBuzz, hulu, lent, morningxtra, roman catholic church, RomanCatholicChurch, russia, top

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