washington

It's appropriate that Facebook, over the years, has liked to talk about itself as a sort of digital sovereignty. Way back in January of 2009, when CEO Mark Zuckerberg proudly announced on the company blog that the social network had 150 million users around the world he added the factoid, "If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria."

Facebook is now approaching half a billion active users, making it more populous than every country on Earth except for India and China. So what'… Read more

Rumors that three universities had banned the use of Apple's iPad ran rampant across the blogosphere last week, leaving some to wonder whether the device had some type of hidden problem.

Those rumors, it turns out, were false.

However, iPad owners at all three--Cornell, Princeton, and George Washington universities--have faced varying degrees of connectivity issues.

CNET contacted all three institutions, and they all categorically denied that the iPad was ever banned on their campuses.

"Absolutely not," Steve Schuster, interim executive director of information technologies at Cornell, told CNET. "In fact, I checked around and I don'… Read more

Updated at 4:28 p.m. PST with additional details about the 747-8F.

EVERETT, Wash.--With all the recent hoopla about the first flight of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, true aviation buffs may be the only ones aware that the most iconic jumbo jet of all time was also preparing for a crucial step forward.

And on Monday, it happened: the 747-8 Freighter, the next generation of Boeing's 40-year-old flagship jet, took off from Paine Field here, the first flight of the cargo version of what will be the longest commercial plane in the company's history, a very important advancement for the venerable 747 program.

The 747-8 is considered an essential airplane for Boeing, even as it proceeds with the 787 Dreamliner, because the former will be the aviation giant's entry in the more energy-efficient roster of planes that airlines and freight carriers are demanding for long-haul flights with high capacity for passengers and cargo. (The passenger version of the plane is set to arrive about a year after the cargo model.)

And while the passenger version of the 747-8 is perhaps sexier than the freighter that took off at 12:39 p.m. PST on Monday, the 747-8F's first flight is vital evidence that the 747 program is alive and well, and ready to move solidly into the 21st century.

Boeing says that the 747-8 will be quieter and far more fuel-efficient than the existing 747-400 series. It is thought that the passenger version will hold as many as 467 passengers, 51 more than on a current 747-400. The freighter version will offer 21 percent more lower-hold revenue cargo volume than the 747-400 and cost about 8 percent less per seat mile to operate, the company says.

A big part of the plane's improved efficiency comes from an innovative wing design which features double-slotted flaps inboard, and single-slotted flaps outboard, fly-by-wire spoilers and outboard ailerons. The plane also features GEnx-2B67 engines, similar to the GEnx engines that will power the 787 Dreamliner. The engine features a high-pressure compressor that is the most efficient and compact GE has yet produced, Boeing says. The result is said to be high fuel efficiency and low noise.

Boeing said the 747-8F will offer the lowest cargo cost-per-mile in the business. It weighs 154 tons, has a range of 4,390 nautical miles, a height of 63 feet, 6 inches, a wing span of 224 feet, 7 inches, and a length of 250 feet, 2 inches. It can reach Mach 0.85

The Monday takeoff was delayed by nearly three hours by low cloud cover, and the flight was scheduled for about four hours in the air, with a series of initial tests intended to demonstrate the plane's airworthiness.

But as Boeing deputy test program manager Brian Johnson said, Monday's flight was much more "a chief pilot time," as it marked the first opportunity for Capt. Mark Feuerstein, the man in that role in the 747 program, to have "four hours in the cockpit to just get comfortable with" the plane. … Read more

It's one thing for a man to be denied his opportunity to work. It's quite another for a man to be denied his opportunity to Twitter.

The microblogging site, a bastion of free, spontaneous speech, has lost one of its more amusing denizens.

Perhaps you have been buried so deeply in the machinations of your new Nexus One to breathe, wipe the pizza stains from your shirt, or notice that Gilbert Arenas, the slightly waning star of the Washington Wizards, has been suspended indefinitely without pay by the NBA.

The Wizards' hometown Post has described in some delicious microdetail … Read more

A newborn baby, wrapped in towels and abandoned in Fairfax, Va., is discovered by two 15-year-olds in 1989.

Bonded by the experience of discovering the baby and getting the baby girl help, the teens stay friends for 20 years, never learning what became of the child. One day two weeks ago, Facebook helped provide the answer.

"After all these years, the little girl they had found had found them," writes reporter Michael Ruane in Thursday's edition of The Washington Post.

This nice holiday story only mildly involves technology. But it is the latest illustration of what can … Read more

Google has often been seen as a competitor to traditional newspapers, but the search giant is now teaming up with two major papers for a new experiment in presenting news online.

Google announced on Wednesday "Living Stories," an experimental new feature designed to deliver news stories, updates, editorials, and multimedia focusing on specific topics, all on one single Web page.

Each Living Story, whether it's on health care, global warming, or the war in Afghanistan, has a permanent URL that you can follow. That page displays everything from headlines to summaries to in-depth articles on that subject. … Read more

404 dear friend and marketing expert Rana Sobhany is back on The 404 Podcast today in lieu of Jeff who is taking a day off from his hard video game reviewing work. Rana always brings us something when she comes on the show, last time she brought cupcakes, so we definitely owe her a batch; however, this time she brings us exciting news that she's currently unemployed! Hooray! After building Medialets up into the iPhone powerhouse that it is today, Rana's ready to jump into a new project, but not before taking a bit of a break and focusing more on brand consulting. So congrats to Rana on her new horizons!

Of course, with Jeff away the show is left in the hands of the very capable Wilson G. Tang, who handles the board with the finesse and delicacy of a heavyweight-class UFC fighter. The first story on today's rundown is about Pepsi's controversial new app that supposedly helps men "score" with women by offering dozens of stereotypes with targeted pickup lines, talking points, and a scoreboard to "keep track of their conquests." Since we just so happen to have a stunning female in the room with us today, we have to try out a few pick up lines...and you can see where this is going.

Rana also brings us news about Twitter-branded wine! That's right, the popular social networking site has partnered with San Francisco-based winery Crushpad that lets users select a wine (only pinot noir and chardonnay for now) and even customize the label on the bottle! I wonder how The 404's own wine would taste...I'm thinking very bitter with an awful aftertaste.

Also, a big thanks goes out to Tony and Ashton from Lacey, Washington who called in this week to tell us that their entire second period Science class listens to The 404 together! Although we never considered The 404 to have any parochial merit, one thing is for sure: you have the coolest science teacher ever! I never had any high school teachers that let us listen to podcasts during class time...speaking of which, get to work! Study hard, and one day you can invite us as guests on your podcast! Speaking of which, we want the whole class and your teacher to call and leave us a voice mail, 1-866-404-CNET!

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

Five state attorneys general have joined the opposition to Google's settlement with book authors and publishers, objecting to the way the settlement distributes unclaimed funds.

The attorneys general for Connecticut, Missouri, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington joined the chorus of opposition to the settlement this week, filing briefs with Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York before the October 7 hearing to determine whether the settlement should be approved. The states involved are not pleased with the way the Books Rights Registry set up as part of the deal appears to … Read more

If you're anxious to develop an iPhone app but don't know where to start, the University of Washington offers iPhone and Cocoa development certificates that teach the basics of iPhone and Mac development.

The courses include Programming with Objective-C and Cocoa Framework, Developing with the iPhone SDK, and Advanced Cocoa and Mac OS X Development. Currently, the courses aren't offered online, but the university hopes to have online versions next year. You can download a program overview (PDF) of these courses for more information.

Experienced iPhone and Mac developers from Apple, Disney Interactive, Google, Microsoft's Mac … Read more