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DirecTV Inc. on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter loss after absorbing a hefty merger charge. The nation’s largest satellite TV operator also added 60 percent fewer new subscribers as discounted bundles from competitors and a weak economy took their toll on growth.

DirecTV has benefited from cable companies losing ground in the battle for subscribers. However, it is up against aggressive marketing from fellow satellite TV operator Dish Network Corp. which has offered hefty promotions aimed at stealing away bargain-hunters. Dish says its ads — which claim DirecTV service is more expensive — are bringing in customers. DirecTV is suing Dish for false advertising.

DirecTV still remains one of the brighter lights in the subscription TV industry. It has focused on customers with higher credit scores, and won higher-paying viewers by ramping up the number of high-definition channels and offering its exclusive NFL Sunday Ticket package that airs football games from other cities. Later this year, DirecTV will offer sporting events and movies in 3-D.

Still, the company isn’t immune to the drag of competition that has lured customers with promises of cheaper TV. DirecTV’s cancellation rate rose in the quarter. Read the rest of this entry »

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – An online survey of 895 Web users and experts found more than three-quarters believe the Internet will make people smarter in the next 10 years, according to results released on Friday.

Most of the respondents also said the Internet would improve reading and writing by 2020, according to the study, conducted by the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University in North Carolina and the Pew Internet and American Life project.

“Three out of four experts said our use of the Internet enhances and augments human intelligence, and two-thirds said use of the Internet has improved reading, writing and the rendering of knowledge,” said study co-author Janna Anderson, director of the Imagining the Internet Center. Read the rest of this entry »

ROME (AFP) – Politicians and Internet activists in Italy have denounced a page on the social networking site Facebook that calls for children with Down Syndrome to be used for target practice.

Police were trying to track down who set up the page, which features a photo of a Down Syndrome baby with the word “idiot” superimposed on it, and by late Sunday had attracted nearly 1,700 members.

The page proposed what it said was “an easy and amusing solution” to get rid of “these foul creatures”: use them as targets at shooting centres.

Equality minister Mara Carfagna, promising legal action against those responsible for the page, denouncing it as “unacceptable and dangerous.” Read the rest of this entry »

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A prestigious Chinese university and a lesser-known vocational school have denied a report they were the source of recent cyber attacks on Internet giant Google and other U.S. corporations, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

A representative of Shanghai Jiaotong University, considered one of China’s best, said the allegations in a New York Times report were baseless and even if the school’s computers appeared to be involved, it did not mean the hackers were based there.

“We were shocked and indignant to hear these baseless allegations which may harm the university’s reputation,” Xinhua quoted the unnamed Jiaotong University spokesperson saying.

“The report of the New York Times was based simply on an IP address. Given the highly developed network technology today, such a report is neither objective nor balanced.” Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Apple has begun removing risque iPhone and iPod Touch applications from its online App Store, including some which had previously been approved for sale, according to reports.

Technology blog TechCrunch and The Wall Street Journal said the new policy towards adult-themed contents had resulted, for example, in the deletion of applications featuring bikini models.

TechCrunch said Apple had begun notifying application developers earlier this week that apps with “overtly sexual content” were being removed.

“If we find these apps contain inappropriate material, we remove them and request the developer make any necessary changes in order to be distributed by Apple,” the Journal quoted an Apple statement as saying. Read the rest of this entry »