12,000 miles in an electric vehicle or bust

Norman Hajjar, research director at Recargo Recargo Call it a publicity stunt with a higher purpose -- or at least one with more than the usual pursuit of narrow self-interest. There's that, too, but when Norman Hajjar completes his 12,000...

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Brock Davis: An artist who gets the Net (Q&A)

Minneapolis artist Brock DavisBrock DavisSome folks struggle to keep up with the Internet's unceasing generation of new services -- Flickr, Blogger, Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook, Imgur, Twitter, Behance, Vimeo, and whatever turns up tomorrow.Brock Davis is not one of those people.The Minneapolis artist thrives with the Net as...

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Music multitasking: How background listening enhances life

Geoffrey Morrison/Memorex There's an attitude, particularly among those who style themselves dedicated audiophiles, that boils down to judging others for how they listen to music. It says that people who stop all else and do nothing but...

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BlackBerry sales tumble 64% amid weak BB10 adoption

BlackBerry CEO John Chen speaking at an event at Mobile World Congress in late February. Brian Bennett/CNET BlackBerry continues to struggle in getting customers to adopt its newer BlackBerry 10 platform.The embattled smartphone maker posted...

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Apple aims to keep your iPhone juiced based on your behavior

How often does your smartphone conk out before the day is even done? Apple has proposed a couple of ideas to keep the juice flowing. Published Thursday by the US Patent and Trademark Office, a patent called "Inferring user intent from battery usage level and charging trends" suggests a way to preserve battery power by determining how and when you use your smartphone. The technology envisioned would keep track of when you...

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Facebook makes wrong call on anti-Semitic page

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Credit: James Martin/CNET) For the past several years, Facebook and several other prominent social-media companies have been wrestling with how to respond when their popular platforms are being abused by bigots to spread racist speech and hateful propaganda, including Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism....

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Bitcoin nabob: Yes, there’s life after Mt. Gox (Q&A)

Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam Coinbase Bitcoin's been very much in the news of late for all the wrong reasons.In February the Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox declared bankruptcy after some $400 million in bitcoins got stolen. Bitcoin bank Flexcoin...

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NSA's reported Huawei hack gives glimpse of agency's role in 'cyber Cold War'

A new report based on the trove of secret NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden gives a glimpse of the agency's role in the cyber-intrigues taking place between the US and China, with files showing that the NSA hacked into Chinese router-maker Huawei's servers with the hope of gaining info on government plans and of exploiting the company's products to spy on other foreign rivals. The New York Times reports that the NSA...

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Mom tries to Facebook-shame daughter, gets pizza on face

I do love parenting videos. (Credit: DdiPankara/YouTube; screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET) Some parents believe in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a Facebook post for a Facebook post. Children, they think, sometimes need to learn lessons the hard way. Because the power of the hard way hasn't yet been disrupted...

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Seagate Backup Plus Slim (1TB, Red)

The Seagate Backup Plus Slim is the thinnest portable drive on the market that gives you up to 2TB of storage space. While it might not hold that title for long, at the current street price of just around $120 for 2TB (or about $70 and $50 for 1TB and 500GB, respectively), it sure is affordable. And in my testing, the new drive proved to...

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Get a Fluance Fi30 Bluetooth speaker for $99.96

The Fluance Fi30 is a shiny, stylish Bluetooth speaker available in white or black. (Credit: Fluance) First up, thanks for the incredible response to yesterday's post about Microsoft Office. Lots of good discussion, lots of very fair points on all sides. (Note that CNET's commenting system is down for the moment, so you...

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How a selfie with a rapper can improve your Facebook status

The man who helps you get women. (Credit: DJVlad/YouTube; screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET) On occasion, I'm forced to disappear to the Wine Country in order to commune with nature. If I feel that the last vestige of niceness is disappearing from me, a few hours spent in the company of the people of Napa and their grape...

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ZTE Sonata 4G (Aio Wireless)

For just $80 off-contract, you might be able to look past the ZTE Sonata 4G's chunky design, so-so screen quality, and underwhelming camera. Overall, the unassuming Android phone -- sold on AT&T's prepaid Aio Wireless network -- gives you decent value when you consider its strong 4G network speeds and reliable call performance. Still,...

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Glassholes: at least you know who they are

Google Glass Explorer Edition (Credit: Jason Cipriani/CNET) Google Glass has provoked a lot of angst among those worried about the electronic eyewear is rude, weird, or creepy -- and for good reason. Among the concerns Glass raises are that the wearer could be recording video, audio, or photos of other people or that the...

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Why a Comcast merger could be good for TWC customers

Time Warner Cable CEO Rob Marcus thinks the $45.2 billion megamerger with Comcast is a win for Time Warner Cable subscribers. Speaking at the Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom Conference in Palm Beach, Fla., earlier this week, Marcus called the deal a "dream combination" that allows the companies to "innovate at a rapid pace."...

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