The world is better off with Best Buy alive than dead

A Lenovo Yoga convertible ultrabook on display at a Los Angeles Best Buy. It's still the best place to comparison shop for gadgets in a physical store.(Credit:Brooke Crothers)Despite all the flak Best Buy gets from consumers and financial analysts, the world is probably a better place with it than without it. For those who don't follow Best Buy as a business, existential questions have been dogging...

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Is than an Oreo in the sky or are you just using Nokia's Lumia?

With the Oreo Skies app, Nokia Lumia owners can leave messages for their friends in the stars.(Credit:Oreo)Fresh off winning the Super Bowl, or at least the social media advertising wars during the NFL's championship, Oreo is now setting out to conquer the stars in the skies.The cookie giant has teamed up with Nokia to release a stargazing app for Lumia Windows phones that could result in the heavens...

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Anonymous leaks alleged data on BofA execs, surveillance

In its latest salvo against the financial industry, Anonymous claims to have leaked sensitive information related to Bank of America executives and the company's alleged effort to "spy and collect information on private citizens."Par:AnoIA, a group that identifies itself as the Anonymous Intelligence Agency, said in press release (PDF) yesterday that it had released 14 gigabytes data on hundreds of...

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Man-and-woman Mars trip by 2018? Can you say 'couples counseling'?

An artist's concept of a proposed Mars flyby spacecraft equipped with an inflatable habitat module.(Credit:Inspiration Mars)A wealthy space tourist announced plans today to launch a high-risk manned flight to Mars in 2018, sending a man and a woman on a bare-bones 501-day round-trip flyby, passing just 100 miles above the Red Planet before heading back to Earth.Dennis Tito, the first private citizen...

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Yelp: We compete with print -- not Google or Facebook

Google, who? Facebook, huh? Yea, that's right. The Internet behemoths don't pose any threat to business reviews site Yelp and its still-blossoming local advertising business. Well, that's Yelp's attitude anyhow. "Today, we're really competing with print, radio, and television," Geoff Donaker, Yelp's chief operating officer, said Tuesday when speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom...

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Clear and manage recent places in OS X

When you save items to a folder in the Finder, OS X will save this location in a "Recent Places" listing that is available the next time you save another document. This allows you to quickly access the folders you are currently using for your workflow, so you can better manage your projects without needing to manually set up temporary favorite folders or collect all of your documents in a generic...

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YouTube code refers to paid channel subscriptions

Paid channel subscriptions on YouTube may be closer than previously thought.After reports last month that YouTube was considering offering channels that would require a fee to access, code has now appeared that suggests Google is already laying the software foundation for subscription channels.According to Android Police, the latest version of YouTube for Android includes two lines of code that refer...

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The Facebook mistakes people make after a date

February can make people excitable.A new year is barely old. Hope springs eternal. And then there's Valentine's Day to add a little piquancy to their emotional state.Sometimes, though, lovers suffer from a certain lack of self-control. This can manifest itself on society's everyday manifest: Facebook.I was moved, therefore, that someone had taken the time to list the major faux pas that occur when...

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NYPD creates special team to recover stolen Apple devices

Smartphones are so common now that it's easy to forget criminals will steal them, if you give them the opportunity.Apple device thefts in New York got so bad that the NYPD created a dedicated team to recovering stolen iDevices, the New York Post reported today. The team works with Apple to obtain ID numbers -- known as an International Mobile Station Equipment Identity number -- for devices and track...

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U.S. attorney: Criticism of Aaron Swartz prosecution is 'unfair'

Carmen Ortiz, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts(Credit:U.S. Department of Justice)Carmen Ortiz, the embattled U.S. attorney who charged the late activist Aaron Swartz with multiple felonies, has responded to critics by saying complaints about any prosecutorial overzealousness are "inaccurate" and "unfair."Ortiz, 57, said in a radio interview that a wave of criticism -- which includes a congressional...

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Curiosity's drill delivers first sample in major milestone

This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows the first sample of powdered rock extracted by the rover's drill. The image was taken after the sample was transferred from the drill to the rover's scoop. In planned subsequent steps, the sample will be sieved, and portions of it delivered to the Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument and the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument.(Credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS...

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Google stock hits new record, closes above $800

Google Stock Chart(Credit:CBS News/Google)Google's stock closed at an all-time high of $806.85 today, becoming the first tech firm to pass the $800 mark and signaling that Wall Street approves of the company's rumored move into retail stores.The stock has jumped 14 percent since the start of the year, more than double the Nasdaq's 6.4 percent gain. Its record high comes amid a report, since echoed...

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New HTC One hasn't debuted and already has a clone

The GooPhone One is a clone that beat the original to the punch.(Credit:GizChina)HTC's anticipated flagship phone, reportedly dubbed the HTC One, won't be officially revealed until tomorrow, but it's already been cloned.GizChina reports that the GooPhone One is based on the HTC One (also known by the code name M7) and was being shown off in renderings a few days before the HTC media event.GooPhone...

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Why Google's stores shouldn't look so much like Apple stores

Is this really different enough?(Credit:Crave CNET UK)Some engineers have never dated a real person.They've tried to, but it's hard for them to appreciate that real people don't necessarily use data to make decisions -- especially when it comes to love.Perhaps their most embarrassing moments come when they try to mimic what non-engineers do in order to make themselves more attractive.This mirrors...

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Russian meteorite: The conspiracy theories

A strange time for a military attack?(Credit:CNN; screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)A good hearty conspiracy theory can shine a sharp light on two of humanity's most enduring traits.One, of course, is humanity's boundless imagination. The other is humanity's essential suspicion of humanity.So while you might be deeply immersed in Bill Nye's explanation of the Russian meteorite, those with darker...

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Crave Ep. 109: The greatest drinking game ever

The greatest drinking game ever, Ep: 109Subscribe to Crave:iTunes (HD) | iTunes (SD) | iTunes (HQ)RSS (HD) | RSS (SD) | RSS (HQ) This week on Crave, William Shatner has some choice words for J.J. Abrams, and we toss one back in the greatest drinking game ever invented. Cheers! Plus, we dodge a bullet the size of a football field as an asteroid nearly collides with Earth. Phew....

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Desktop search declined for the first time in 2012, report says

Looks like those reports last year suggesting that desktop search is in decline were correct: total searches dropped 3 percent in 2012, according to a new report from ComScore.The main reason for the decline, according to the report, is that individuals are searching less: about 7 percent fewer searches per user. That's enough to cause the decline, even though the number of searchers is up 4 percent....

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Apple claims Einhorn lawsuit tries to hold investors 'hostage'

Apple accused an activist hedge fund manager of attempting to hold investors "hostage" in his effort to get the electronics giant to share more of its massive cash reserves with investors.The charge came today in Apple's response to a lawsuit filed last week by Greenlight Capital, which asserts that the company needed to distribute preferred stock to current shareholders and that Apple had balked...

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Shatner: J.J. Abrams a 'pig' for taking on 'Star Wars'

William Shatner speaks to Movie Fanatic.(Credit:Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET)J.J. Abrams is a busy man. The director who breathed new life into the "Star Trek" film franchise recently agreed to helm the new "Star Wars" movie. This may have fueled geeky fever dreams of crossover "Star Trek"/"Star Wars" projects, but it also led to some head-scratching. Does Abrams really have time to head...

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How we test: Monitors

CNET's monitor testing encompasses both the taking scientific measurements as well as making subjective judgements on quality.(Credit:Eric Franklin/CNET)To evaluate a display's performance, CNET uses a variety of DisplayMate test screens in conjunction with diagnostic equipment, and our most important tool, the human eye. Each test screen we use is specifically designed to emphasize a particular area...

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