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NewsFactor - Verizon Wireless has apologized to President-Elect Barack Obama after several employees took a peek at his cell-phone records, but privacy advocates say what happened to Obama is just an example of what is happening to thousands of Americans.
AFP - Barack Obama tapped the power of the Web to win the US presidential election and now that he's heading to the White House powerful online actors are mobilizing to help define his agenda and ensure the public retains a voice.
NewsFactor - While there is plenty of buzz around Google's new SearchWiki, another Google experiment is quietly disappearing: SearchMash. Once located at SearchMash.com, the service was Google's experimental search interface, a non-branded search engine that Google used to test new technology.
Reuters - Apple Inc is the target of a lawsuit that claims a technology the iPhone uses to surf the Web infringes on a patent filed by Los Angeles real estate developer Elliot Gottfurcht and two co-inventors.
NewsFactor - The Web's rumor mill kicked into overdrive during the weekend, with speculation that Microsoft is preparing to rebrand its Live Search service. Several sites noted that the software giant has taken control of a domain that could be the new Live Search -- Kumo.com.
Reuters - More Internet retailers will offer special promotions on Cyber Monday, the day following the Thanksgiving weekend touted as the kickoff of the online holiday shopping season.
AFP - The US State Department announced plans on Monday to promote online youth groups as a new and powerful way to fight crime, political oppression and terrorism.
NewsFactor - The advertising and marketing company hired to create Apple's commercials poking fun at Microsoft's Vista operating system might get new material to work with. After Microsoft tried to protect its top brass from testifying in a case involving "Windows Vista Capable" PCs, a judge has ordered CEO Steve Ballmer to give a deposition.
Reuters - In the fast-paced world of celebrity news, stars are increasingly turning to their own Web sites and blog postings to talk about themselves in a do-it-yourself approach to managing their public images.
AP - Gang members slitting the throats of their rivals and beating up strippers. Combatants hacking away with chain saw-equipped assault rifles. Football players taking steroids and celebrating game victories with hookers.