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Watch Kim Jong-un throw nuclear bomb, hoops in video game

Perhaps Kobe Bryant's teammates feel the same way.

They stand back and watch their supreme leader perform as no other man can. Or no other man thinks he can.

In this case, on one team is North Korea's "Supreme Leader" Kim Jong-un, partnered by his new bosom chum, Dennis Rodman.

On the other team are two Americans -- one of whom, curiously, isn't an American.

The genesis of this sparkling video game is the recent visit of Rodman, the former Chicago Bull great and "Celebrity Apprentice" not-so-great to North Korea. … Read more

Kim Jong-un has HTC phone, not iPhone or Galaxy?

When I hear that Kim Jong-un, North Korea's "supreme leader," has released a little movie about a missile attack on the U.S., one thought enters my head: I wonder what sort of phone he has.

There is a part of me that believes he must be sporting a flip phone, in order to show solidarity with his fellow people, most of whom couldn't afford a flipped pancake, never mind a phone.

Yet TechInAsia offered me the startling news this morning that the man who is often portrayed with a cigarette in his hand -- like … Read more

Google's Eric Schmidt to meet Kim Jong-Un?

Wouldn't you like to be a wall on the flight?

Can you imagine what Google's Eric Schmidt will be muttering to other members of a U.S. delegation that is reportedly going to Pyongyang, North Korea for a little diplomatic pying-pyong?

According to the Associated Press, this trip might even happen in the next few weeks, with former Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson also in the party.

Naturally, details of this alleged trip are being kept very close to official chests. But one can surely hope for nothing more than a meeting between Schmidt and North Korean … Read more

Extract files from a RAR archive with unRAR

unRAR is a simple utility that unpacks RAR archives under Mac OS X. unRAR lists for 99 cents. Released by the originators of the RAR format, unRAR is available from the App Store and many Web sites. It installs easily.

Using unRAR is simple: drag a RAR archive over the unRAR icon. Tell the utility where to extract the files to, and let it run. unRAR supports password-protected RAR archives and will prompt for the password if applicable. You can drag and drop multiple RAR files and have them processed in a batch if you wish. unRAR does not create … Read more

Berners-Lee warns against changes to Net at UN conclave

If you ask the folks who had a hand in the creation of the Internet, odds are you'll get a very different read on a regulation idea likely to turn into a lightning rod for controversy at a highly anticipated meeting of the UN's International Telecommunications Union.

The conference was called to rewrite a 1988 treaty that governs international communications traffic, called the International Telecommunications Regulations (PDF).

But in the run-up to the conclave, which takes place this week in in Dubai, several technology companies and Internet free-speech advocates, as well as the European Parliament and the United … Read more

Hackers steal and publish e-mails from U.N. nuclear agency

Hackers have made their way into one of the servers of the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency, according to Reuters. The agency confirmed that the hackers stole information and published it online.

"The IAEA deeply regrets this publication of information stolen from an old server that was shut down some time ago," agency spokesperson Gill Tudor told Reuters. "The IAEA's technical and security teams are continuing to analyze the situation and do everything possible to help ensure that no further information is vulnerable."

A group that calls itself "Parastoo" claimed responsibility … Read more

Chinese news site falls for Kim Jong-un 'sexiest man alive' tale

Sexy is in the eye of the beholder. The beholder of the whip, that is.

Many Western news sites couldn't contain their titters after they heard that China's official Communist mouthguard -- the People's Daily -- announced that North Korea's cherubic-faced youth, Kim Jong-un, had been voted "The Sexiest Man Alive."

No, he wasn't voted by the People's Daily. This wasn't even People magazine. It was that sensitive publication dedicated to the human image, the Onion.

As the Associated Press pictured it, the People's Daily decided to honor this momentous … Read more

Russians back down from leaked U.N. Internet proposal

The Russian Federation has revised a controversial proposal to turn Internet governance over to the U.N.'s International Telecommunications Union, CNET has learned.

The revised proposal tones down some of the anti-Internet rhetoric of the original, but still calls on the UN to help member states seize control of key Internet engineering assets, including domain names, addresses and numbering.

Both the original proposal (PDF) and Saturday's revised version (PDF) have now been posted on WCITLeaks, a Web site operated by researchers at George Mason University.

On Friday, CNET was first to report on the original proposal, which leaked … Read more

Russia demands broad UN role in Net governance, leak reveals

commentary The Russian Federation is calling on the United Nations to take over key aspects of Internet governance, including addressing and naming, according to documents leaked on Friday from an upcoming treaty conference.

The Russians made their proposal on November 13 in the lead-up to December's World Conference on International Communications in Dubai. The conference will consider revisions to the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs), a treaty overseen by the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The treaty has not been revised since 1988, before the emergence of the commercial Internet.

Russia's proposals would, if adopted, dramatically affect Internet … Read more